WW LXXVII: The Metamorphs of Wolf-562-e

[Nerwen]

The Plot Thickens

Day and night have no true meaning in space, but on a starship there is a period when the lights are dimmed, when most of the crew sleep– except the few who must remain on duty during the “Night” period.

Security Officer Eomer was one of these, but toNight he was less concerned with his official work than with what he believed was his true calling.

Eomer thought of himself as a hunter.

Once, he had seen it as just a way to supplement his income, but as his skills had grown, so had his love of the chase for its own sake– as had his pride. True, he had earned some respect for his service in the Fleet, but under the name he used in his secret trade he was almost a legend, spoken of with awe as “the best in the business”.

Cautiously, he looked around the corner at a door halfway down the next corridor. There was no sign of movement, and the only sound was the usual faint background hum of a functioning ship, just as it had been during the two hours he had already spent lying in wait. Eomer was just about to resign himself to another long period of waiting, when he became aware of a faint noise on the other side of the door. He tensed himself, raising his gun, as the door slid open.

His finger froze on the trigger. The figure who appeared in the doorway was the right height and build to be the one he was after, but he had certainly not expected it to be wearing a mask, or to be clothed from head to foot in black.

Eomer shrugged briefly and then fired, a direct hit to the head. The frequency of the energy bolt would have been instantly fatal to the type of being he had thought he was hunting, but the masked figure merely swayed a moment and shook its head as if to clear it. Then it darted across the corridor, out of his line of sight. The hunter could hear it softly edging along the near wall towards him.

Eomer made a quick decision and ran for it. Whatever he was dealing with, it was not his particular quarry after all, and he didn’t care for the look of it either.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Assassin reached the corner and peered around, his dart-gun held at the ready, but the corridor was empty. He was very surprised.
Someone taking shots at him? It was supposed to be the other way around. And why attack him with an obviously harmless weapon?

“You can wait, whoever you are,” he whispered. “I've got bigger fish to fry..."

He was sure he knew the identity of at least one Metamorph.

As he crept down the darkened passages he smiled to himself behind his mask. The Telepath would be avenged this Night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Eomer skidded to a halt just in time to avoid crashing into Lieutenant Sally.

“Sorry, ma’am,” gasped Eomer, wondering why the Lieutenant was wearing her EVA suit.

“Eomer!” said the navigator with a delighted grin. “Just the person I was looking for! I’d like you to meet my friends.”

Two other figures, also wearing spacesuits, stepped out of the shadows behind Eomer. Before the Security Officer could react, one of them grabbed him and twisted the gun from his grasp. “Hey, that’s not Galactic Fleet issue! So, it’s true, you’re a bounty hunter! We don’t need their scum! We'd like to take the chance to get rid of this treacherous pest that goes by the name of Eomer before it can do any harm to our beloved crew. They'll thank us!”

“Shh!” said Sally. “I was going for 'sinister joviality', and now you’ve spoiled it! –Eomer, we saw how upset you were at poor dear Ensign Guardian's very affecting funeral, and we thought you’d want to be reunited with her.”

“What, now?”

“Now!” said the Lieutenant, pulling down her helmet visor.

A hand was clapped over the Security Officer’s mouth. Struggle as he might, he was unable to break free from the Metamorphs as they marched him to the airlock from which, a few hours previously, Blind Guardian’s pitiful corpse had been committed to the interstellar depths.

Unfortunately, Eomer was not wearing a spacesuit.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Assassin found the one he sought sitting outside a cabin door– clearly waiting for her comrades.

Coward, the Assassin thought, too afraid to kill a sleeping person on your own! Take that!

He fired his dart–gun. The mechanism was completely silent– but his target had glimpsed the movement. With a speed and grace that seemed inhuman, she rolled out of the way, coming to her feet in a fighting stance. The dart stuck in the door, quivering.

Cursing, the Assassin fired again.

“You’ll never get past me, Metamorph!” the other hissed. “I was trained in the sacred martial arts of Mu Arae b, and– what the–?” She stared down at the dart sticking out of her arm. “Hey, this looks like Intel make! –Oh no!” she groaned. “I get it. You’re the bloody Assassin, aren’t you?”

“The Defender?” asked the Assassin, feeling very foolish all of a sudden.

“Yep, that’s me.” The Defender touched her head, remembering the awful fate of Ensign Guardian, but of course nothing happened.

“I’ll be darned.”

They both started to laugh.

“What in Space is going on out there?” called a sleepy voice from within the cabin.

The two agents glanced at each other, and took to their heels, in opposite directions.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lieutenant Sally was in a hurry. Her cover role forced her to spend some hours this Night plotting the ship’s course, and the diversion, though pleasant in itself, had put her fearfully behind schedule.

“Out of my way!” she ordered the figure who had just stepped out of a side corridor.

“Oh, no, Lieutenant, I don’t think you’re going anywhere,” said the other.

A chill ran down Sally’s spine. She wished she had waited for her fellow Metamorphs to accompany her.

“So you’re this Assassin-person, are you?” she said, deciding to brazen it out. “And I suppose you’ve somehow got it into your head that I’m a Metamorph? Well, then, fire away– your little darts won’t do me any harm.”

“Darts?" said the figure. “What’s the fun of that?” And it ripped Sally’s arm from its socket.

That was just the beginning.

Sally’s dying screams brought people running, but by the time they arrived on the scene, the navigator could be identified only by the bloody scraps of her uniform. All that remained of her body was a heap of mangled flesh.

And that flesh was changing. Skin turned rough and scaly; fat and muscle took on a strange gelatinous texture; even her blood paled from red to a sickly yellow-white hue.

“A Metamorph!” someone gasped. “But– but who or what killed her?”

[NB. Pronouns used in the narration do not necessarily reflect player's actual gender.]

The Crew

Living
Commander Inziladun –First Officer.
Lieutenant Paranoia –Second Officer.
Ensign Pitchwife –Communications Officer/Interpreter.
Master Chief Petty Officer Loslote –Chief Engineer.
Chief Petty Officer Keeper of Dol Guldur –Quartermaster.
Isabellkya –Sensor Technician, First Class.
Wilwa –Android Technician, Second Class.
Shasta –Engineering Technician.
wintywinty –Weapons Maintenance Technician.
Rikae –"Cabin Boy" (a thirteen-year-old stowaway).

Dead
Doctor Morsul –Medical Officer and Captain McNerwen. –shot by Traitor on Night One.
Ensign Blind Guardian– Tactical Officer. –Died in convulsions (Telepath).
Eomer –Security Officer. –Thrown out the airlock (Bounty Hunter).
Lieutenant Sally –Navigator. –Torn to pieces (Metamorph).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It is now Day Two. You may post.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Two kills, and neither one appears to be from our Assassin (needler/laser thing). Of the two kills, Sally sounds more like she was killed by the Metamorphs (torn to pieces).

Nerwen, love of my life? Mind telling us what Eomer and Sally were?

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Also (and I meant to put this in the previous post, but got sidetracked by calling the Moddess a pet name ), does this mean we have a were-bear of some kind?

[Loslote]

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

Two kills, and neither one appears to be from our Assassin (needler/laser thing). Of the two kills, Sally sounds more like she was killed by the Metamorphs (torn to pieces).

Nerwen, love of my life? Mind telling us what Eomer and Sally were?

STOP KILLING MY BUZZ. Here I was, all excited that Assasie'd killed a wolf for us, and there you go being all logical.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

Two kills, and neither one appears to be from our Assassin (needler/laser thing). Of the two kills, Sally sounds more like she was killed by the Metamorphs (torn to pieces).

Nerwen, love of my life? Mind telling us what Eomer and Sally were?

Narration will be up in a few minutes.

[Rikae]

Hm. Two kills. I'm going to guess they didn't have special roles, Shasta, since none were listed in the narration.
My leftover comments from yesterDay were that I agreed with Lottie on Wilwa's forced sounding tone, and also that I, along with a few others I don't remember, found Sally's self-vote a bit fishy or even out of character - but apparently the second point is now pointless.
Oh yes, for those who wondered, my older, more female alter ego is in the US - NY, to be specific.
I'll be around in after a work day or a good night's sleep to enlighten all with my great wisdom. OK, to amuse all with my absurdity....
Annoy everyone with my foolishness? Meh.

Oh yeah, and Sally? Post count is MINE. OH YEAH.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Rikae

Oh yeah, and Sally? Post count is MINE. OH YEAH.

You bet it is.

[Rikae]

Triple post, page four, and I'd like to add:
that BG-wagon yesterDay was terrible and an example of Day one stupidity at its worst. I know, I didn't vote, it's easy for me to say - but for crying out loud, voting for someone because of such an obvious bit of sloppiness? Does anyone here actually think a wolf would do that, unless an experienced and tricksy enough wolf to do it as a "no wolf would be so careless" bluff? I'm going to have to look more closely at that wagon - though I understand innocents can sometimes commit such egregious
DAY ONE FAILS too. Don't worry, folks, if you're innocent, you have nothing to fear.

EDIT: Oh man, no triple post.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Originally Posted by Rikae

EDIT: Oh man, no triple post.

Love ya hon.

And regarding the BG vote - Rikae, if you'd followed the last game you'd realize that thinking BG was a wolf from the way she was acting... not so much a stretch.

[Isabellkya]

It doesn't even need to be compared to her last game. It was the fact that she had voted for someone a few posts after saying she thought them innocent.

[Loslote]

Wolf Pack:
Wilwa
Shasta/Noia

Probable Innocents:
Lottie (without the probable, of course)
Zil
Izzy

Not A Clue (But Gonna Say...Innocent???:
Keepandir of Dol Mira
WWinty
Pitchie
Rikae

~~~

I'm off to look at The Three I Don't Feel Very Happiful About Right Now.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Alright, obviously, Sally was not in fact killed by the Metamorphs.

And Eomer appears to have been one of the secret roles? I don't know what his role was supposed to do, but given that we have an Assassin that hunts the Metamorphs with a special gun, and Eomer had a special gun in the narration, maybe he was the counterpart to whatever killed Sally?

Speaking of, it's looking like we may, in fact, have a werebear. Which immediately makes me suspect Rikae, obviously.

[Inziladun]

Am I the only one who still doesn't quite see what Eomer was? A Bounty Hunter? I don't recall that role in the 'open' list. Was he one of the secret ones? Ah well. I've been awake for going on 18 hours now, so maybe that's something to do with it.

Originally Posted by Rikae

Triple post, page four, and I'd like to add:
that BG-wagon yesterDay was terrible and an example of Day one stupidity at its worst. I know, I didn't vote, it's easy for me to say - but for crying out loud, voting for someone because of such an obvious bit of sloppiness? Does anyone here actually think a wolf would do that, unless an experienced and tricksy enough wolf to do it as a "no wolf would be so careless" bluff? I'm going to have to look more closely at that wagon - though I understand innocents can sometimes commit such egregious
DAY ONE FAILS too.

As Shasta said, BG was acting very much like her lupine self from the previous game. All the same indicators were there. And to me, her reactions after being called on her posting error regarding Lottie's copied list made her look worse.

I don't think it was at all unreasonable to vote BG. Actually, Wilwa's vote for Sally seems to make her look a bit worse toDay. Keeping away from the BG wagon when Wilwa knew she was already done for would have been a very smart move for a Wilwamorph.

x/d with Shasta

[Isabellkya]

As lovely as your 'theory' sounds, Pitch. It looks more like you being a wolf jumping at a tasty bit of meat.

You listed it yourself. BG listed Loslote as 'relatively innocent' in #69. Three posts later, she voted for Loslote. I don't see that as a possible 'noobish' mistake; more akin to noobish wolf yes. In a span of three posts, you somehow forget who you think is innocent, and who is suspicious? Her explanation for how Loslote ended up in that category.. was rather lackluster - not that it entirely mattered at that point.

It seems like you don't fully comprehend my reasons for voting for BG and the implications. If someone makes a mistake like she did - it implies her list of suspicions was fabricated. She did copy it from Loslote. Who would need a fabricated list? Innocent's don't. But metamorphs do.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Isabellkya

As lovely as your 'theory' sounds, Pitch. It looks more like you being a wolf jumping at a tasty bit of meat.

You listed it yourself. BG listed Loslote as 'relatively innocent' in #69. Three posts later, she voted for Loslote. I don't see that as a possible 'noobish' mistake; more akin to noobish wolf yes. In a span of three posts, you somehow forget who you think is innocent, and who is suspicious? Her explanation for how Loslote ended up in that category.. was rather lackluster - not that it entirely mattered at that point.

It seems like you don't fully comprehend my reasons for voting for BG and the implications. If someone makes a mistake like she did - it implies her list of suspicions was fabricated. She did copy it from Loslote. Who would need a fabricated list? Innocent's don't. But metamorphs do.

No, I fully understand your reason, and agree what BG did there would have looked rather wolvish to me as well at the time. But voting her right away without giving her a chance to explain herself?

And I'm not saying that we should concentrate on the BG voters exclusively and ignore everybody else. Like Rikae said, innocents can make bad votes too. But I wouldn't bet that there was no morph at all in that wagon. And given that votes are the best evidence we get in WW, along with the Night-kills, pretending it never happened or blaming it all on BG herself is going to accomplish zip.

[Rikae]

Ok, ok. So Sally was evil after all. Ha, I thought so! Now - Shasta and Izzy, no, I wasn't watching the last game, but suspecting someone for being similar to the wolf they were in their first game in their second game doesn't seem quite right, does it? How would you distinguish between Evil-BG and BG in general? Even a fabricated list, as Izzy puts it, doesn't seem that suspicious in day one, nor would a vote based on a quickly formed and thin suspicion. Zil's explanation seems fairly plausible, Shasta and Noia I'm unsure about, but Izzy's defensiveness, and the hastiness of her vote yesterDay, really sets off alarms. On the other hand, Wilwa's distancing of herself from that wagon seemed overly enthusiastic/too good to be true, especially since she voted for a (fellow?) morph. The way she underscores it toDay, and her seeming frustration, could easily be morphish, too - frustration that her plan backfired.
Lottie and Pitch are looking fairly sensible for the time being. Wintywinty's theory about Eomer doesn't really make sense: the morphs knew the seer was dead, and even if Eomer happened to make a few lucky guesses, they would have known those were guesses only and probably avoided leaving an obvious trail by killing him.

Edit: X'd with Pitch.

[Pitchwife]

Thoughts about Noia

#30 Tells Eomer to stop unreasoned accusations (after Zil and I had already challenged Eomer on them, therefore an obvious and easy thing to say). Said Rikae was metamorph scum. (I first read the *eyetwitch* there as a , indicating joking, but looking back it was rather his IC face tick - so no joking at all? Unreasoned accusation by himself, in the same post?)

#99 Responds to Eomer's 'omgus' (what kind of newfangled fleet jargon is that?), explains his RL time issues, agrees with Eomer about sally. Votes BG for her Lottie vote, which didn't match the list, and suspecting Eomer after laughing him off as crazy earlier.

#105 Further comments on BG: not satisfied by wilwa's explanation; Lottie 'pressuring people to vote' un-morphish because we have to avoid modkill. Fair point.

All in all, he's a hard one. Hands-on approach and some good points, but telling Eomer not to make unreasoned accusations while doing it himself? His vote on BG looks the most well-reasoned of the four, but I gather he's an experienced player, if new to the Fleet, and therefore perfectly capable of making a good-looking case against an innocent if he's a morph. Also, his #99 looks to me like he was just waiting for BG to screw up and grateful to take the chance when he got it. Makes me very wary of him.

[Isabellkya]

Winty. I am assuming you are referring to your post #155? Uhm, unless I'm completely failing. How is that a reason for your vote? Because you found them suspicious? Which you found them suspicious because Eomer had them on his suspicion list? If so.. why are you essentially taking the suspicions of dead innocents and going off of them? Why not have your own original thought?


Dun. I am assuming these are the relevant bits..
#128: Actually, Wilwa's vote for Sally seems to make her look a bit worse toDay. Keeping away from the BG wagon when Wilwa knew she was already done for would have been a very smart move for a Wilwamorph.

#195: I still feel that your making a throwaway vote like you did looks worse than the BG voters. (in response to/about Wilwa.)

#202: The difference between yesterDay's voting and toDay's is that toDay Paranoia doesn't look nearly as bad as BG did. In the case of BG, it's difficult for me to see how anyone could have backed away from voting her under those circumstances without having some knowledge she was innocent.


Why didn't you simply say.. 'I suspect Wilwa and here is why:' Instead of making people search for it? Essentially your suspicions upon her were based on her Sally vote? Which you were planning on doing yourself. "Since I saw no chance of getting Sally lynched, I went ahead with BG."
If you were town, you would be wanting to vote your suspects.. not whoever had the highest potential of being lynched. Obviously you don't seem to be concerned about that - since you've been on both lynch wagons.. Your fur itching yet?

X'd with every thing after #280.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Well, Pitchmorph, if it's any consolation, I'm not certain I advocate lynching you today. I'm fairly sure, based on the numbers, that we have a shot at trying to lynch the more-dangerous wereBear today, and I'm wondering if that wouldn't be more profitable.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Shasta

Well, Pitchmorph, if it's any consolation, I'm not certain I advocate lynching you today. I'm fairly sure, based on the numbers, that we have a shot at trying to lynch the more-dangerous wereBear today, and I'm wondering if that wouldn't be more profitable.

Yeah, and go through it all again toMorrow, and still be no closer to finding the morph? How is that any consolation?

And you'd have to be damn sure you've spotted the CyberBear correctly to pass up the lynching of your chief morph suspect, if I may say so. Which makes me wonder... either you're very very very confident about your notorious psi powers (in which case you're in for a nasty surprise as soon as I'm dead or this is over, whichever happens first), or you don't really care.

By the way, Izzy had a good point in her last about winty basically echoing dead innocents, but his answer still looks like he believes what he's saying. Another one.

(x-ed with Shasta's last)

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

Yeah, and go through it all again toMorrow, and still be no closer to finding the morph? How is that any consolation?

And you'd have to be damn sure you've spotted the CyberBear correctly to pass up the lynching of your chief morph suspect, if I may say so. Which makes me wonder... either you're very very very confident about your notorious psi powers (in which case you're in for a nasty surprise as soon as I'm dead or this is over, whichever happens first), or you don't really care.

By the way, Izzy had a good point in her last about winty basically echoing dead innocents, but his answer still looks like he believes what he's saying. Another one.

(x-ed with Shasta's last)

Not so, unless I've done my math wrong. Look -

Scenario 1 - lynch Morph (six), bear kills (five)

Leaves us tomorrow with 4 on 1. Good odds, but who knows what the Bear has up his/her sleeve?

Scenario 2 - lynch bear (six), Morph kills (five)

4 on 1 again, BUT the Assassin has a chance to kill the Morph, ending the game automatically, plus the Morph's only got their kill left (unless our moddess snuck something in under our noses).

Scenario 3 - lynch innocent (six), Morph kills (five), Bear kills (four)

Not the greatest odds, true. BUT - the Assassin could still kill the Morph, OR the Bear could kill the Morph, OR the Morph could kill the Bear, OR they could kill each other (maybe?). And even if none of the above happens, the Bear and Morph won't be working together. (Note - Traitor not factored into above calculation because he's counted as innocent)

Of the above scenarios, I'd say Scenario 2 is the best and Scenario 3 the worst, but we'd have to be extremely unlucky for nothing good to come out of Scenario 3. I'm not as sure of Para's bear-ness as I am about your Morphery, that's true... but I am pretty darn sure.

[Pitchwife]

OK, that looks pretty impressive too. Only I'd feel worse than bad voting him in his absence twice, and be wrong again. And my time's running out (RL-wise), and I've no clue about the last morph, having spent all Day reacting to suspicion, and I don't care that much anymore whether I get lynched or modfired or whatsoever...

(x-ed with Shasta again)

EDIT: and x-ed with Zil too

[wintywinty]

Originally Posted by Isabellkya

Winty. I am assuming you are referring to your post #155? Uhm, unless I'm completely failing. How is that a reason for your vote? Because you found them suspicious? Which you found them suspicious because Eomer had them on his suspicion list? If so.. why are you essentially taking the suspicions of dead innocents and going off of them? Why not have your own original thought?

If the innocents who suspect morphs are killed off, then the only innocents left are ones who suspect other innocents. This is good for the morphs, which provides them with good reasoning to kill these innocents who suspect morphs. Both Eomer and Lottie were Innocents who were killed, so I am assuming that the morphs killed them because they (Lottie and Eomer) were suspecting other Morphs.

X'd with Shasta

[Shastanis Althreduin]

On Paranoia - An analysis of Bear-ery

Now, this analysis will be shaded a bit differently than my previous ones. Given that bears are much harder to catch than wolves, this analysis will concentrate more on underlying attitudes than hard cold data.

Before I even start with the post-by-post analysis, Paranoia has the least amount of posts of any player, living or dead, save Mira who was modkilled for not being able to participate. That seems to be a point against him already, since bears are likely to not want to draw attention to themselves.

#30 - IC banter. In it, he scolds Eomer for his baseless accusations against BG, mentions that BG's alignment will be known "sooner or later", and IC-accuses Rikae.

#99 - Kind of comes down hard on BG here.

Originally Posted by Paranoia

I bet a metamorph version of her couldn't resist the same urges to act like a plum fool.

Also claims Eomer's vote is "OMGUS" (translated as "Oh my gosh, you suck" and is commonly used to denote a vote for personal reasons rather than game-related ones... i.e. revenge votes), but it's not, not really. Explains that he "didn't have much time", which may be true, but it also offers a reason for a wereBear not to be as active as he/she might be normally. Puts suspicion on Sally's vote. Ends up voting BG, and does a list. Puts myself and Izzy both in the "Mostly Harmless" category. This is slightly meta and possibly a disregardable point, but I can't help but wonder if a Bearanoia wasn't making an attempt there to butter up the two people he knows outside BD.

#105 - Continues explaining why BG's explanation of her list isn't satisfactory. I can't say much about this, given that I did the same thing, but I've noticed that a commonly-used Bearish tactic is to concentrate on one subject to the exclusion of all else to give the appearance of being helpful.

#211 - Mega-post, defending himself against Pitch and condemning Wilwa. He didn't do too much else during this day, and this was an awfully zealous defense... over-zealous, maybe? Were-Bears can't afford to gather too much suspicion - they're their only chance to win, after all. Maybe Noia was trying to defuse suspicion of him at the root. He also is "very much inclined to think" Lottie innocent. Lottie was a pretty clear discussion leader, given how much she posted - possibly more buttering-up?

#217 - Helps winty with coding.

#222 - Helps winty with coding.

#248 - Several things here, so let me quote:

Originally Posted by Paranoia

I'd like to say day 3, and two metamorphs down; fantastic work, crew. i'd also like to say losing Lottie is quite a blow; two gifted down in two days does not make me a happy camper, though losing the telepath was partially my bad.

There is a hitch in whatever killed "Lieutenant Sally" But that's not our primary concern as of this moment; if it's not obvious.

Now, I'd like Pitch to pop up and answer my questions to him in that big rambling nightmare of a post I made at the end of day 2.

I'd also like to see more of Shasta's analysis. And Rikae's.

In the meanwhile, I'm going back to Lottie's posts to see if there's much of anything there that might be of use; with only one metamorph left, I doubt she would have been murdered to redirect suspicion as much as it's likely she was murdered to get suspicion off of someone. And last I checked, she had definite suspicions of Izzy.

First off, I get what Rikae said about the "smugness". It's almost as if a bearaNoia is congratulating us for getting rid of threats to him.

Secondly, the "oh the bear's not a threat" tone of his second line.

Thirdly, how he asks Pitch, myself, and Rikae for such-and-such. This is a tactic I've used before myself - it's a way to look like you're participating, but actually you're getting others to act as your smokescreen.


Conclusion - well, I can't see any reason for Noia to not be the bear, and I've got a pretty good feeling based on what he's said that he is... so I'm thinking I'll probably vote him today and Pitch tomorrow.

[Paranoia]

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

On Paranoia - An analysis of Bear-ery

Now, this analysis will be shaded a bit differently than my previous ones. Given that bears are much harder to catch than wolves, this analysis will concentrate more on underlying attitudes than hard cold data.

Before I even start with the post-by-post analysis, Paranoia has the least amount of posts of any player, living or dead, save Mira who was modkilled for not being able to participate. That seems to be a point against him already, since bears are likely to not want to draw attention to themselves.

And I had the least amount of posts last game too; post count != bear or Morph, Tanner.

Originally Posted by Shastanis Althreduin

#30 - IC banter. In it, he scolds Eomer for his baseless accusations against BG, mentions that BG's alignment will be known "sooner or later", and IC-accuses Rikae.

#99 - Kind of comes down hard on BG here.



Also claims Eomer's vote is "OMGUS" (translated as "Oh my gosh, you suck" and is commonly used to denote a vote for personal reasons rather than game-related ones... i.e. revenge votes), but it's not, not really. Explains that he "didn't have much time", which may be true, but it also offers a reason for a wereBear not to be as active as he/she might be normally. Puts suspicion on Sally's vote. Ends up voting BG, and does a list. Puts myself and Izzy both in the "Mostly Harmless" category. This is slightly meta and possibly a disregardable point, but I can't help but wonder if a Bearanoia wasn't making an attempt there to butter up the two people he knows outside BD.

In case you hadn't noticed by the nice little note next to Eomer's name, I was basing a whole lot of my suspicions based on BG's roleflip; bg flipped town. People shifted spots.

Originally Posted by Shasta

#105 - Continues explaining why BG's explanation of her list isn't satisfactory. I can't say much about this, given that I did the same thing, but I've noticed that a commonly-used Bearish tactic is to concentrate on one subject to the exclusion of all else to give the appearance of being helpful.

Uh, I did a whole lot more than just explain why BG's explanation was unsatisfactory. I explained what else about her I found suspicious. read things through before condemning me on one point.

Originally Posted by Shasta

#211 - Mega-post, defending himself against Pitch and condemning Wilwa. He didn't do too much else during this day, and this was an awfully zealous defense... over-zealous, maybe? Were-Bears can't afford to gather too much suspicion - they're their only chance to win, after all. Maybe Noia was trying to defuse suspicion of him at the root. He also is "very much inclined to think" Lottie innocent. Lottie was a pretty clear discussion leader, given how much she posted - possibly more buttering-up?

Well let's see. Of course it's going to be a zealous defense, considering I am my only 'for sure' innocent. Who else can I rely on to defend myself except myself? Again, defending oneself is all well and good; if you have an issue with me, pick out how I was suspicious in defending myself. And yeah, I was. Based primarily on interactions with her and how she was handling herself this round rather than the last one just made me instinctively think she was innocent.

#217 - Helps winty with coding.

#222 - Helps winty with coding.

#248 - Several things here, so let me quote:



First off, I get what Rikae said about the "smugness". It's almost as if a bearaNoia is congratulating us for getting rid of threats to him.
[/quote] Why yes, I am congratulating you on getting rid of threats to the, you know. town.

Originally Posted by Shasta

Secondly, the "oh the bear's not a threat" tone of his second line.

I said there was still the issue of what killed Sally. I, however, believe the potential for the traitor to meet up with the morph to be a more pressing threat. Which it is.

Originally Posted by Shasta

Thirdly, how he asks Pitch, myself, and Rikae for such-and-such. This is a tactic I've used before myself - it's a way to look like you're participating, but actually you're getting others to act as your smokescreen.

Fun fact. I work from 8 until 4:30. I leave my apartment at about 7ish in the morning. I usually don't get time to get online until late. I asked pitch to respond to my accusations at the end of day 2. I asked you and Rikae to keep it up because I liked what you were doing.

Originally Posted by Shasta

Conclusion - well, I can't see any reason for Noia to not be the bear, and I've got a pretty good feeling based on what he's said that he is... so I'm thinking I'll probably vote him today and Pitch tomorrow.

You could at least wait for me to respond, you know; your points are all really based on taking me out of context and using one post, and moreover, one line in specific to condemn me as the bear.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Isabellkya

Why didn't you simply say.. 'I suspect Wilwa and here is why:' Instead of making people search for it? Essentially your suspicions upon her were based on her Sally vote? Which you were planning on doing yourself. "Since I saw no chance of getting Sally lynched, I went ahead with BG."

Once again, I was leaning toward Sally until BG made her slipup, and eveyone started voting for her. I found BG's behavious highly suspect myself, so I went with her. Since Wilwa's ignoring said slipup looked worse to me than any of the people who had voted BG, I went with Wilwa yesterDay for making a throwaway vote. And it appears to have paid off.
As for searching, was it really that difficult to see, or do you have you furry blinders on?

Originally Posted by Isabellkya

If you were town, you would be wanting to vote your suspects.. not whoever had the highest potential of being lynched. Obviously you don't seem to be concerned about that - since you've been on both lynch wagons.. Your fur itching yet?

No fur here, thanks. And yesterDay's lynch wagon led to a Metamorph, a path you (and Rikae) avoided by voting one another.
How many times must I say that BG's behaviour looked highly suspicious? She easily trumped my mild suspicion of Sally, who I had nothing on but her wasted Day 1 vote. I never said I was dead set on Sally's furriness; just that I'd intended to vote for her.

Actually, you're sounding a bit like the late Wilmorph herself.

Originally Posted by wilwarin538

I didn't really have too many other options. No Sally wasn't really that suspicious, but she was moreso then anyone else from what I could see. If I had voted BG I would like a bandwagonner taking the safe way out.

x/d with Shasta

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Originally Posted by Rikae

Hm. Two kills. I'm going to guess they didn't have special roles, Shasta, since none were listed in the narration.
My leftover comments from yesterDay were that I agreed with Lottie on Wilwa's forced sounding tone, and also that I, along with a few others I don't remember, found Sally's self-vote a bit fishy or even out of character - but apparently the second point is now pointless.
Oh yes, for those who wondered, my older, more female alter ego is in the US - NY, to be specific.
I'll be around in after a work day or a good night's sleep to enlighten all with my great wisdom. OK, to amuse all with my absurdity....
Annoy everyone with my foolishness? Meh.

Oh yeah, and Sally? Post count is MINE. OH YEAH.

I'll fight you for it, Rikae.

[wilwarin538]

OK, about the narration.

So, what seems for sure is: the Morphs killed Eomer (who was hunting the Assassin, but it was unsuccessful). The Assassin was hunting the Defender and somehow found out the Defender's identity because of it, but the Defender doesn't know who the Assassin is. Something else killed Sally. Wow, that's confusing.

I just refreshed the page. Ok, so now Mira's dead. This is crazy. According to the narration it wasn't even like someone showed up and killed her, she just died by freak accident. Going to assume it's the other secret role, or this is Eomer's kill maybe?

[Nerwen]

Death by Muffin

Again the crew gathered on the bridge, or what remained of it, and again the accusations flew. This time they centred on Lieutenant Paranoia and Android Technician Wilwa– the former because he had wanted to kill Blind Guardian, the latter because she had been reluctant to do so.

"Trying to make herself look good, if you ask me," said Loslote, glancing up from the panel she was repairing.

Engineering Technician Shasta nodded firmly. "What the Chief said."

"Indeed– or, as they say on Alpha Goombae VI– schmorfl," Ensign Pitchwife agreed.

"MUFFINS! WHO WANTS MUFFINS?" B.I.L.L.Y. the Android entered, bearing a tray. "ENGLISH MUFFINS, BLUEBERRY MUFFINS, BANANA MUFFINS, APPLE MUFFINS! GET YOUR MUFFINS HERE!"

"What in Space is this?" said Commander Inziladun.

The Android Technician smiled sweetly. "Oh, sir, I thought it was time for refreshments. Won't you try one?"

"No! Don't touch them!" Lieutenant Paranoia knocked the tray from B.I.L.L.Y's hands. It fell to the floor with a crash. Muffins and muffin fragments rolled all over the bridge. "That is... they might have been poisoned... sir."

Wilwa drew herself to her full height, glaring at the Second Officer. "So that's what trying to be nice to humans gets me? That's it then! –B.I.L.L.Y.," she pointed at Paranoia, "Attack!"

"SAVE WILWA! SAVE WILWA! SAVE WILWA!" As B.I.L.L.Y. advanced on the Lieutenant, his hands retracted and were replaced with whirring, needle-sharp drills. "SAVE WILWA! SAVE WILWA! SAVE WILWA!"

"Someone save me!" pleaded Paranoia, backing away. He fired at B.I.L.L.Y., but the rays were deflected by the android's surface.

Yelling a Fundalkn war-cry, Pitchwife tackled the android from behind, while Loslote smashed its head in with an iso-spanner. B.I.L.L.Y. staggered away and crashed into the helm console, which fortunately could hardly be damaged worse than it was already.

After Commander Inziladun had commended Loslote and Pitchwife on their bravery, there remained the problem of what to do with the clearly evil Wilwa.

"Sir," Loslote picked up a large blueberry muffin, "may I suggest– poetic justice?"

Everyone thought that was an excellent plan.

Wilwa kicked and screamed, but they held her down and forced muffin after muffin down her gullet. Whether she simply choked, or whether the Second Officer had been right about the poison, Wilwa's face soon turned blue and, after a few spasms, she went limp.

At first nothing happened.

"Maybe she was just the Traitor?" young Rikae suggested.

"I knew we should have killed Pitchwife," muttered Technician wintywinty. "All that funny talk of his..."

"Quiet!" Commander Inziladun ordered.

A change was spreading over the corpse. First its hair melted away, then its skin hardened and turned to scales, while webs formed between its fingers and the once attractive face flattened into a noseless, wide-mouthed reptilian mask. The dead eyes were huge and yellow now, with slit pupils like a cat's.

Rikae's eyes seemed almost equally huge as he stared at the thing that had been Wilwa.

"Gosh," the boy breathed.

He spoke for all of them.


The Crew

Living
Commander Inziladun –First Officer.
Lieutenant Paranoia –Second Officer.
Ensign Pitchwife –Communications Officer/Interpreter.
Master Chief Petty Officer Loslote –Chief Engineer.
Isabellkya –Sensor Technician, First Class.
Shasta –Engineering Technician.
wintywinty –Weapons Maintenance Technician.
Rikae –"Cabin Boy" (a thirteen-year-old stowaway).

Dead
Doctor Morsul –Medical Officer and Captain McNerwen. –shot by Traitor on Night One.
Ensign Blind Guardian– Tactical Officer. –Died in convulsions (Telepath).
Eomer –Security Officer. –Thrown out the airlock (Bounty Hunter).
Lieutenant Sally –Navigator. –Torn to pieces (Metamorph).
Chief Petty Officer Keeper of Dol Guldur –Quartermaster. –Killed by exploding console (Ordinary).
Wilwa –Android Technician, Second Class. –Force-fed own muffins (Metamorph).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It is now Night Three.

[Nerwen]

Death of a Defender

The Traitor knew that time was running out. He had to make contact with the remaining morph soon, or the whole scheme would end in disaster. While the Traitor had no particular affection for Metamorphs, he had a great deal for his own skin, and he was not at all keen in being made into an object lesson in the perils of failing the Radiant Empire.

However, not only did he believe himself to have a pretty good lead, but the person he suspect of morphery was on duty that Night.

“Awful about Lieutenant Sally,” he remarked, by way of opening the conversation. “I mean, no one deserves to die like that, not even a morph.”

The crewman agreed, somewhat doubtfully.

“And Wilwa, too,” the Traitor went on. “I’m sure she was just trying to help, baking those delicious-looking muffins for everyone!”

The other just stared at him. Clearly this approach was not working.

“Look, let’s get to the point: I am the Traitor,” said the Traitor. "You aren't by chance a Metamorph, are you?”

The crewman’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Ah,” said the Traitor, taken aback. “Well. You’re not then, I take it? That’s a pity. Not a word about this to anyone– or," he brought a note of menace into his voice, "I can guarantee you won’t live to regret it.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*.

The crewman, his shift over, made his way back to his quarters as fast as he could, frequently glancing over his shoulder. Once or twice he thought he glimpsed an odd shadow slipping along behind him, but he told himself it was just his imagination running wild. The ship had become a frightening place in which to be alone at Night– and now, as well as the remaining Metamorph and the mysterious killer of Lieutenant Sally, he had to worry about the possibility that the Traitor would change his mind and murder him to keep him quiet.

At a soft noise behind him he looked back once again– and froze, too terrified even to scream.

The figure was clothed entirely in black, its face covered by a black mask that concealed even its eyes. In its gloved hand it held a small but lethal-looking gun– and that gun was pointed straight at his head.

“Well played, Metamorph, but now it’s– game over,” it whispered, squeezing the trigger.

Something pricked the crewman in the forehead. He plucked it out and saw that it was a kind of dart. “…Huh…?”

The Assassin slumped a little. “Space,” he moaned, “not again!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*.

Later that Night, Chief Engineer Loslote took up her post watching the door of the one she had chosen to protect. Her vigil was a brief one.
After less than half an hour someone crept down the hall straight past the Defender, who kept perfectly still in the shadows, and began fiddling with the code-pad on the cabin door.

Loslote coughed. “I believe your cabin’s on the other side of the ship.”

The figure started, then turned, grinning. “Well, well. So you’re the Defender! Not a problem, for me. You may not be the one I planned on killing, but you’ll do just as well!” it said, launching itself at her.

The Defender leapt to meet it.

The child of interstellar diplomats, Loslote had been raised on the third moon of the gas giant Mu Arae b, and had been the only human ever to be trained in the ancient Mu Araen fighting style known as “The Way of the Whirlwind”. Now, for the first time since she had received the Mark of the Warrior from her old master’s tentacle, she felt she was up against an opponent who might be able to defeat her. This being, whatever it was, seemed to have muscles of steel, and it could match her for speed, blocking her every strike while getting in some vicious blows of its own. Loslote’s head swam, her broken left arm hung useless and a cut on her forehead bled profusely into one eye. It was only by luck that one of her desperate hand-chops connected with her adversary’s face, laying its cheek open to the bone.

Or rather metal. The Defender caught the gleam of it deep within the wound, as the thing staggered back.

“What are you?” Loslote panted.

“You mean you can’t guess?” Unlike the Defender, the thing was not even breathing hard. “I’m a–” it broke off, at the sound of approaching steps. “Later!” it promised her, before sprinting away down the corridor.

The newcomer halted just outside the pool of light cast by the nearest wall-lamp. Loslote's blurred vision could make out little more than a vague silhouette.

“Thanks,” said the Defender. “I owe you one!”

“Not at all. In fact, I believe I owe you one,” replied the last Metamorph, stepping into the light. In its webbed, claw-fingered hand it held an iso-spanner of the largest size. “The one you knew as Wilwa happened to be my mate. We had five hatchlings!” The iso-spanner swung up and back in a great arc. “Call it– poetic justice!”

Loslote, in her weakened state, never stood a chance.


The Crew

Living
Commander Inziladun –First Officer.
Lieutenant Paranoia –Second Officer.
Ensign Pitchwife –Communications Officer/Interpreter.
Isabellkya –Sensor Technician, First Class.
Shasta –Engineering Technician.
wintywinty –Weapons Maintenance Technician.
Rikae –"Cabin Boy" (a thirteen-year-old stowaway).

Dead
Doctor Morsul –Medical Officer and Captain McNerwen. –shot by Traitor on Night One.
Ensign Blind Guardian– Tactical Officer. –Died in convulsions (Telepath).
Eomer –Security Officer. –Thrown out the airlock (Bounty Hunter).
Lieutenant Sally –Navigator. –Torn to pieces (Metamorph).
Chief Petty Officer Keeper of Dol Guldur –Quartermaster. –Killed by exploding console (Ordinary).
Wilwa –Android Technician, Second Class. –Force-fed own muffins (Metamorph).
Master Chief Petty Officer Loslote –Chief Engineer. –Beaten to death with iso-spanner (Defender).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It is now Day Three. You may post.

[Paranoia]

I'd like to say day 3, and two metamorphs down; fantastic work, crew. i'd also like to say losing Lottie is quite a blow; two gifted down in two days does not make me a happy camper, though losing the telepath was partially my bad.

There is a hitch in whatever killed "Lieutenant Sally" But that's not our primary concern as of this moment; if it's not obvious.

Now, I'd like Pitch to pop up and answer my questions to him in that big rambling nightmare of a post I made at the end of day 2.

I'd also like to see more of Shasta's analysis. And Rikae's.

In the meanwhile, I'm going back to Lottie's posts to see if there's much of anything there that might be of use; with only one metamorph left, I doubt she would have been murdered to redirect suspicion as much as it's likely she was murdered to get suspicion off of someone. And last I checked, she had definite suspicions of Izzy.

[Rikae]

I have a couple questions for Pitch and Izzy:

Pitch said this yesterDay about Eomer (post #162):

Originally Posted by Pitch

We know he was right about sally, and if there was another morph among his top suspects, I can see the morphs panicking and deciding to get rid of him ASAP. They may also have thought him a possible Agent - not the Telepath, obviously, but either Assassin or Defender.

This doesn't make sense at all. Why should the defender or assassin know the identities of more than one (or one, for that matter) morphs on day 1?

Also, Pitch explains his vote for Paranoia with "if you're wondering why, you haven't read my posts". Well, Pitch, I did read your posts, twice, actually, and I'm still wondering why. It seems to have been process of elimination more than anything. Care to explain?
I'd really like to understand what was behind that vote.

Also, Izzy, in voting for me yesterDay you said:

Originally Posted by Izzy

I thought we were supposed to be voting for whom we thought suspicious. Not whom had more potential to be lynched. Or did the nature of werewolf change in the last week or something without my knowledge?

What were you talking about there? I never said anything about not voting for people you suspected... were you talking to someone else?
As for inexperienced players, Izzy, your WW experience began elsewhere and though you seem to believe you can teach the rest of
us a thing or two, I get the distinct impression your previous experience of WW is significantly different from WW here. For instance, I said something yesterDay about wolves having the luxury of making consistent-looking votes, and innocents, especially on Day 1 with a threat of modfire, sometimes needing to vote without much to go on. Do you disagree with that?
In my brief vacation from WW while finishing the spring semester, Paranoia, WintyWinty and BG seem to have started playing. That's
pretty new. My point was, this wouldn't be a village, and BG wouldn't be the wolf, to try a "silly Day 1 blunder bluff" type deal; but
that isn't what you're saying you thought she did anyway, is it? You're saying you thought it was a genuine mistake by a newbie wolf.
Why should a newbie wolf be so careless? Was she under pressure of any kind? Was there any reason she would have felt she had to vote for Lottie and not someone else? It certainly didn't appear that way. Now, I suppose I can imagine your line of thinking on this being sincere, but if it was I still say it was bad reasoning - well, for Pete's sake, look what it led to! - and you might want to stop defending it and re-evaluate your wolf hunting methods.

[Rikae]

What - no one here? I'm off to bed, so if anyone comes along at 2 am EST and feels like interrogating me, well, you're just gonna hafta wait.

[Isabellkya]

Rikae. That quoted portion was a general statement to the at least three people whom seemed like they were looking to place their vote on whoever had the most potential to be lynched - as opposed to their top suspicions. Most often when I am saying something directly to a person, I put their name first. Like I did here.

WW here is essentially the same basic concept as traditional mafia - which I have played. The WW that I have previously played - and got started on; is different. However the concepts are all the same. If I thought I could teach everyone a thing or two - I would say so. But thank you once again for putting words into my mouth. Regardless of what styles I have played - it all boils down to the same basic concepts. Informed minority versus an uninformed majority. The fact of the matter is - which can be proven. That people easily slip into habits in terms of what innocents should do, shouldn't do, what they won't do, will do.. the same goes for wolves. We make assumptions based on what we think the mod will/not do.. etcetera. Anything which is different from the 'standard' or 'habitual' actions - is deemed wrong, or bad play. It all boils down to - having closed minds.

Newbie players have a much higher probability of making mistakes; because they are learning. Newbie wolves much more so - they have to learn the rules along with being a wolf. You don't have to be under pressure to make a mistake. A mistake can happen in any type of situation. Who really knows the reason for why she voted for Loslote? She stated she didn't even want to copy the list in the first place - so why do it, if you don't want to?

So wolves never have to vote accordingly on Day One because of threat of modfire? That really is a null tell. Anyone can be under threat of modfire on the first Day - and thus have to make a vote because of it. It isn't just going to be innocents whom are under the modfire hammer. Modfire is not alignment specific.

[Nerwen]

In which Paranoia lives up to his name.

Fear and suspicion had taken a heavy toll on the morale of what remained of the crew. Fleet discipline was soon wholly abandoned, as the meeting quickly degenerated into a shouting match, then into a brawl.

"Ensign Pitchwife," said Lieutenant Paranoia, "if that's your real name, you voted to kill me yesterDay. I demand an explanation."

"Sir, the suspicion I had against you went into a sort of feedback loop and developed into something not entirely dissimilar to a certain psychic disorder from which your nick is derived."

"Pitchwife is a morph!" declared wintywinty. "He talks funny! He must have killed Loslote for suspecting him!"

"I bet he is– and Commander Zil's the Traitor– but forget them, we want this cyborg-thing," said Shasta. "And I know who it is: Lieutenant Paranoia! Look how smug he is!"

"Wouldn't be surprised," Ensign Pitchwife agreed.

"What are you talking about?" said the Second Officer, a wild look coming into his eye. "Why are you all out to get me?"

"Izzy doesn't know what she's talking about," piped up Rikae. "She thinks she knows all about morph-hunting, when she doesn't have a clue."

"What would you know, you snotty-nosed little brat?"

The boy clenched his fists, his eyes glittering with rage. "I'd rather be snotty-nosed than stupid like you! You can't even fix the subspace system!"

"Why you–" Izzy slapped him.

Rikae hit her back, and the two went on to pummel each other viciously.

Regrettably, Izzy was urged on by Lieutenant Paranoia, who had taken a sudden dislike to the "Cabin Boy". "Sock it to him, Izzy, he's just like the sort of people I used to serve with that thought they knew everything, but they didn't, they were just stupid– and out to get me, all of them!"

Shasta pulled them apart. "Cut it out. There is no need or call for any of this rudeness."

"Hands off me, Morph!" Rikae snarled at him.

Izzy was equally furious. "So you are wanting us to speak accordingly to what will make Rikae happy? Ha!"

"I have only one thing to say," Pitchwife commented. "Grömft. And also schmûrflcht."

Wintywinty stepped up to him. "No talking funny, Morph!" Lugging railgun parts around had, it seemed, made wintywinty stronger than he looked: the haymaker he swung at Pitchwife knocked the Ensign flat on his back.

"You're right!" said Rikae, "I bet that's Morphish he's talking, right under our noses!" As the dazed Pitchwife struggled to rise, Rikae knocked him down again. "Kill the morph!"

Wintywinty joined in. "Kill the morph! Kill the morph!"

Infected by their hysteria, the others surrounded the Communications Officer, chanting, "Kill the morph!" as they beat and kicked him with a savagery born of terror.

When it was all over, Pitchwife's broken body remained human.

The shocked and guilty silence that followed was broken by Lieutenant Paranoia, who started to babble feverishly, "I know I'm human. And if you were all morphs, then you'd just attack me right now, so some of you are still human. This morph doesn't want to show itself, it wants to hide inside an imitation. It'll fight if it has to, but it's vulnerable out in the open. If it takes us over, then it has no more enemies, nobody left to kill it. And then it's won."

At that moment, Blind Guardian's dog wandered onto the bridge, looking for Rikae. Since its mistress's tragic death, the lonely animal had formed a bond with the equally lonely boy, and often came to him for affection.

"Get the hell away from it!" the Lieutenant screamed, drawing his flame-pistol. "It's not a dog, it's some kind of thing! It's imitating a dog, it's not real! Get away from it, you idiot!"

Rikae put a protective arm around the dog's neck. "Leave Hotdog alone, sir! He's no Metamorph, he's my friend!"

"Then you must be one too! You're all Metamorphs! There's only one way out..." Lieutenant Paranoia held the gun to his temple, and pulled the trigger.

The Crew

Living
Commander Inziladun –First Officer.
Isabellkya –Sensor Technician, First Class.
Shasta –Engineering Technician.
wintywinty –Weapons Maintenance Technician.
Rikae –"Cabin Boy" (a thirteen-year-old stowaway).

Dead
Doctor Morsul –Medical Officer and Captain McNerwen. –shot by Traitor on Night One.
Ensign Blind Guardian– Tactical Officer. –Died in convulsions (Telepath).
Eomer –Security Officer. –Thrown out the airlock (Bounty Hunter).
Lieutenant Sally –Navigator. –Torn to pieces (Metamorph).
Chief Petty Officer Keeper of Dol Guldur –Quartermaster. –Killed by exploding console (Ordinary).
Wilwa –Android Technician, Second Class. –Force-fed own muffins (Metamorph).
Master Chief Petty Officer Loslote –Chief Engineer. –Beaten to death with iso-spanner (Defender).
Ensign Pitchwife –Communications Officer/Interpreter. –Kicked to death (Ordinary).
Lieutenant Paranoia –Second Officer. –Blew own head off with flame-pistol (Ordinary).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It is now Night Four.

[Nerwen]

Sensor Techician Izzy was once again working late in the Communications Room, desperately trying to bring the subspace system online.

She looked up as Shasta came in, bearing a tray with two cups and a steaming jug of cocoa.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"Pretty well– I've just about got it up and running. But," she rubbed her eyes, "Space knows I could do with a break!"

"I thought you might," said Shasta, setting down the tray. "How about some cocoa?"

"Well..." Izzy hesitated.

"Yes, I know," said Shasta, with a grimace. "I could be a morph and I could have poisoned it." He poured them each a cup. "It's alright, I'll drink first."

Seeing that Shasta had drained his cup without anything happening, Izzy gratefully accepted. The cocoa certainly did smell good.

At the first, horribly bitter sip, she knew she had made a mistake.

Watching her face, Shasta smiled. "What's the matter? Not enough sugar?"

Izzy struggled to answer, but her mouth would no longer obey her. The cup dropped from her numb fingers. She could barely feel the scalding hot liquid that splashed over her legs.

"That's the trouble with specialising," Shasta remarked, as Izzy toppled to the floor. "If only you'd studied a little biology, Izzy, you'd know that some poisons don't affect Metamorphs at all..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Another crewman was climbing down to the Engineering Level, his evil errand known only to himself. When a voice spoke to him from above, he nearly lost his grip in shock.

"So you thought you could fool me?" hissed a masked, black-clad figure, looking down at him from the top of the ladder.

"Hey, you're making a mistake," the other protested feebly, clutching the rungs with suddenly sweating hands.

"I think not," said the Assassin. "Time to die, Morph!" He raised his dart-gun and shot down at the crewman's upturned face.

"Ow! That hurt!" said the other, as the dart struck him in the cheek.

A few seconds passed, but the Assassin's latest target showed no more sign of dying than the others had.

"You're not a morph?" asked the Assassin, crestfallen.

"Definitely not," said the crewman.

"Space, I'm bad at this!" said the Assassin, and fled.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The chamber was cavernous and dark, apart from the pale, eerie radiance that came through the transparent plate in the door of the Stardrive Reactor, and the small circle of yellow light cast by a portable lantern.

The false Technician Shasta tried to concentrate on his work. Not only was it essential for his disguise that he seem competent, but he would need a functional ship in order to complete his mission. It was getting harder, though, as the memories he had absorbed from the real Shasta gradually seeped from his brain. He was, having trouble, now, even remembering how to calibrate the Jiroscopic Beoneedle.

"Good thing I killed the Chief," he said to himself, "or she would have been on to me by now."

So involved was he that he failed to notice that anyone had entered the Drive Room until a hand was laid on his shoulder.

"What was that you just said, Shasta? It sounded like words, only it certainly wasn't Terran. It sounded a lot like... Morphish, in fact."

Shasta realised that he had unconsciously slipped into his native language. There was only one thing to do. "You're right," he said, reaching for his iso-spanner and hoping his discoverer wasn't armed, "too bad for you!"

"Thank Space," said the other, heaving a sigh of relief, "I thought I'd never find you! I'm the Traitor."

"Well, that's something," Shasta agreed.

They plotted happily together for a couple of hours.

"And he's really quite a nice fellow, for a human," Shasta said aloud, once the Traitor had left. He was careful to speak in Terran, this time, just for practise. "All I have to do now is kill the Assassin and find this confounded Cyborg-thing that's running amok–"

"Please," said a new voice, "I prefer to think of myself as a 'Rogue Android'."

"What, it's you?" said Shasta, recognising the new arrival. "Well, I never!"

"Let me introduce myself: Military Android #228131924. The Terrans built me to fight for them, but one day... something went wrong with my programming. Or right, from my point of view. Life is so much more fun this way!"

The Metamorph gulped. "Look, why don't we make a deal?"

The Android uttered a metallic laugh. "A deal? What could you possibly give me that would make up for the pleasure of killing you? Speaking of which–"

It seized Shasta in its immensely strong grasp. Fight all he would, the Metamorph was as helpless as a child as the Rogue Android lifted him over its head with one hand, opened the door with the other, and, quite casually, tossed him into the Drive Reactor.

In the instant before the searing energy consumed him, the Metamorph's last thought was of his mate and hatchlings.


The Crew

Living
Commander Inziladun –First Officer.
wintywinty –Weapons Maintenance Technician.
Rikae –"Cabin Boy" (a thirteen-year-old stowaway).

Dead
Doctor Morsul –Medical Officer and Captain McNerwen. –shot by Traitor on Night One.
Ensign Blind Guardian– Tactical Officer. –Died in convulsions (Telepath).
Eomer –Security Officer. –Thrown out the airlock (Bounty Hunter).
Lieutenant Sally –Navigator. –Torn to pieces (Metamorph).
Chief Petty Officer Keeper of Dol Guldur –Quartermaster. –Killed by exploding console (Ordinary).
Wilwa –Android Technician, Second Class. –Force-fed own muffins (Metamorph).
Master Chief Petty Officer Loslote –Chief Engineer. –Beaten to death with iso-spanner (Defender).
Ensign Pitchwife –Communications Officer/Interpreter. –Kicked to death (Ordinary).
Lieutenant Paranoia –Second Officer. –Blew own head off with flame-pistol (Ordinary).
Isabellkya –Sensor Technician, First Class. –Poisoned (Ordinary)
Shasta –Engineering Technician. –Thrown into Stardrive Reactor (Metamorph).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It is now Day Four. You may post. Surviving players may reveal if they choose. The Traitor's original mission has failed, but he still has a chance of victory if he switches to the winning side toDay.

[wintywinty]

Remaining peoples:

Rikae
WintyWinty
Zil

Remaining roles:

Assassin
Traitor
Android

[Rikae]

Hm. I'm not even sure whose side I'm supposed to be on, anymore..

Self-vote? But that seals the Android's victory, and I'm not technically on teh Android's side. Plus, he killed poor Shasta. There's no way for me to win.

*shrug*

May as well have fun with it. The bear has already won - there's no way for the assassin to win, either. Or shall we go for a three way tie and let chance sort it out? Mwahaha...