WWJ III - Nan Qualinmerë: Death Wish Valley

[Mithalwen]

Hmm ...another odd little vote..... However maybe liking Eomer's strategy is more suspicious

I too will have to decide soon ... maybe I should choose Fea since she represents competition should I wish to acquire Husband Number....

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

You people cannot be taking my joke plan seriously. Are you? If you are then I shall be forced to vote for Shelob, Kath, or maybe Mithalwen out of seriously insulting my intelligence. I'm not a doctor for no reason, you know.

About Garin's vote: I had indeed forgotten that we have retractable votes this time. Though slightly suspicious, the consequences of this vote may show us the light.

[Shelob]

The fact that you were joking at a time like this is more than enough reason to look at it strangely. Mith brought up a point, though, at least we all found it useless, and didn't go with it...

[Eonwe]

Ha ha. No, or course i realize taht it was a joke, i was just playing along, with a little tounge in check poke at the uselessness of anything anyone argues about themselves. rest assured, i did not by any means, mean to convice you of my innosense with such a forethright and un-(um)-backable-up (?) statement.

Originally Posted by She of teh lob

The fact that you were joking at a time like this is more than enough reason to look at it strangely.

not really. there's nothing else really to do, is there. i mean, unless someone has a stratagy or something to put up, all we have is random votes.

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

However maybe liking Eomer's strategy is more suspicious

again, not really. i don't really like it, seeing as the whole idea behind werewolf is that werewolves lie to the villagers and exploit their trust during the day. as i said, im not stupid...

hey, speaking of plans and stratagies, how's this:

well i guess first lets start out with some premises...

are retractable votes more helpful to the villagers or the wolves. it would seem to the that the wolves would benifit more, cuz their whole idea would fake left then go right, so to speak (pad one vote, they all switch to another, or something like taht, at a critical time)

so what if we all agreed to not use our retractable privlages, thus neutralizing any benefits the wolves would gain (cuz all teh villagers agreed not to switch).

of course i guess the whole thing rests on who gets teh benefit, and i guess taht can change depending on circumstances.

[Mithalwen]

How is saying you confused me insulting your intelligence? It is insulting my own intelligence .... It is hardly a time for jokes Doctor.... and it is asking a lot to expect one who has been widowed as often as I have and at such a young age to have much faith in doctors.......

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Well, Shelob, I'm glad the village had the good sense to not go with the plan; for it necessarily presupposed that Werewolves would not lie, which would be the single stupidest strategy in the history of Werewolf.

Mithalwen, I'll let you off, because you did say you were confused and seemingly wanted me to explain further.

Shelob, for intricately dissecting an utterly farcical plan, I will not let off.

As for joking at a time like this, laughter is the best medicine. Fact.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Valesse (despite her delightful alliteration), tar-ancalime, Valier, Fea, wayne and Thinlomien have all posted with what I call 'safe' posts', not really saying or doing anything. I'm just pointing out that this is what I would expect a wolf to do in the early going. It makes them visible.

[Shelob]

what I call 'safe' posts'

Agreed, though I might Abercrombie to the list, since her first post didn't really say much of anything and her second just lists people who hadn't spoken yet.

It makes them visible.

Visible in that we can't accuse them of not speaking you mean? One would imagine wolves are trying to stay as hidden as possible and visible isn't the first word once associates with such a goal.


As for how you'd expect a wolf to behave...The best we can do is guess. I'm personally disinclined to believe that a wolf would behave that way. There's too much a risk of the village saying:

"Wolves will behave in a 'safe' manner.
So-and-so behaved in a 'safe' manner.
So-and-so is a wolf."

Then again if we rule it off completely a wolf acting thusly would be perfectly safe, and today more than any other they could get away with it.


I don't know, I'm just thinking but am too distracted to do it properly. Expect a more coherent train of thought a little later.

[Thinlómien]

Hmmm... Gandalf hasn't shown his face here yet. That might indicate that he's not a wolf, because he's drawing attention to himself (I assume that a wolf would be more careful) or then he's a clever wolf who wants to seem innocent. (Or then he isn't just aware that we've already started or wants to "stir the pot".)

I'm a bit suspicious about both Eomer and Ang. They're both kind of conducting the talk (Anguirel earlier and Eomer now). Maybe they're eager to show off their "innocence" and trying to get people's trust. Also, they're trying to (in my opinion) to take the lead of the talk and thus improve their status in the village, making themselves "important".

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Oh, Eomer... you know me too well. I did post safely. Because it's a safe time for that sort of thing. There's no evidence to work from. Basically, we're allowing the wolves to start implementing their plans. We can't catch them unless we let them do it without question.

We don't want our wolves to be too well disguised, do we? If we force them to be more clever and resourceful, we force ourselves to think and work harder to find them. If we let them get cocky, we can pound them later on.

Which is why safety posts are fine this day. We can't do anything but wait, so we might as well goof off.

What do you say to a game of Twister?

[Valesse]

It makes them visible.

Yes! It does make us visible, but who couldn't help but notice my flexible form?

It is, however, strange to me that you would call out so many names for being noticable (and so bluntly) when you, yourself, have been considerably conspicuous. Would not a wolf waft worry wither and thither woeful wives, walthy widows, wizards, wiper-snapper, wigwam recluse and the occasional windbag? I do not claim to be a Saint of these said stresses, save significant distinction. I feel wise without winnow toward warm comrades, as I do not yet know who quite to fear.

As for that game of Twister... I'll spin.

[Eonwe]

Guys, really. all this talk of visible and hidden wolves. in the games i played as a wolf, i had ablsolutely no problem staying hidden (well at least until later, but taht is expected, right). hopefully.

all the wolves have to do is engage like everyone else in teh witty bander being thrown around, act indifferent, or just say smart sounding things, lay back, have a glass of lemonade...whatever. there is really nothing that we can glean, dredge up, winnow out, or otherwise bring to light during teh first day. all this is is a record to be desiphered in teh next few days.

so as for me, im not going to be overreacting to a simple joke, an absurd suggestion, or any other witisism. but you can be sure im keeping a sharp eye on everything everyone says and how much it will change in the next few days.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Valesse, to quote a friend from a far-off village, "Surely you jest?" You seriously think I'm being hypocritical?

I made that list of people who have posted without saying much, so that they could be seen to have contributed to the talk when they're not really accusing anyone or promoting stimulating discussion. I, on the other hand, have done little but incur wrath! The term absolute polar opposites comes to mind. You can find suspicion in anything I do but you cannot coherently state that I was hypocritical when making that list.

I may be a sucker for alliterations but you're not getting off that easily!

Shelob, I understand your concerns. However, in my experience, I have found that villages would much rather lynch loudmouths or extremely quiet people, or those who cast outstanding votes. I think the 'safe' posters do get away with it.

Thinlo, I'm already extremely important to this village. I'm the 'doctor' – read into that. Being vocal is just my style, that's why I'm so sympathetic to the other loudmouths.

Fea, I love a bit of twister. The gamesmanship is particularly fun...

[tar-ancalime]

Kant, Kant...I knew him years ago. He told me he was a great philosopher.

Lying bastard.

Now to business, dears. It's true we've got to make a decision today, but it seems to me that it's far too early for us to start making assumptions about what a wolf would or would not do. The fact is that only three of us know what a wolf would do, and the rest of us are just shouting. And at this point, the more we reveal about our personal expectations for wolves, the more information we give the wolves about how to hide from us.

*takes a flask out of somewhere in the folds of her dress, wipes off the cat hair and drinks greedily*

Anyone like a tot? It's good for what ails you.

I've heard only two comments today that seem useful to me:

First was Fea's suggestion that we play Twister. I don't know that game, but I do love games and was a great hand at bridge in my day. Are they similar, at all?

Second was this, from Shelob:

A person who acted one way on the first day can't suddenly shift tactics without drawing a ton of attention. Meaning our wolves risk getting themselves trapped in a tactic which could backfire on them.

Now that's something we can pay attention to: we're all establishing patterns of behavior today, introducing ourselves, as it were. Today's comments are going to give us a strong basis for comparison in the future, because today all we've got are our personalities.

Now, to the votes:

It's true that retracting one's vote makes one stand out. That given, I'd say that Thinlomien and Shelob are stuck with Eomer for today. If Fea wanted to prevent the bandwagon on someone who was only a random vote (she calls it "tradition"), I could see the justification for her retracting her vote. Absent that, though, things are looking dire for our village doctor. Thinlomien, did you vote for Eomer because he voted for you? That's a non-universalizable tactic if ever I saw one (Kant would not approve), but it may work for you today.

Still, I'm a little suspicious of what look to me like "revenge" or "punishment" votes. There have been two of those already today:

Garin voted for Anguirel because Anguirel voted. Huh?

Then Thin, of course, and her revenge vote for Eomer.

Because my time here is almost up for the day (I've got to polish the silver; I'm taking it to a man I know who is...interested in family crests), I think it's time for me to vote. And since there is so very little to go on, I'll go for:

++Thinlomien

(I'm letting Shelob off the hook for what looks like a very goofy vote, for two reasons: I'm sure that others will note that she is the third voter in quick succession for Eomer, and also she did make one of the two valuable comments today. That buys her some time in my book. Also I'm well aware of the irony of voting based on the voting record, after decrying "punishment" votes. My defense? Extreme egotism.)

[Mithalwen]

Of course, I was confused Eomer, I hail from originally, somewhat south of your own, is not known for it's philosophers other than Hobb(it)es and Locke.

If Laughter is the best medicine why did you run up such a large apothecary's bill during my latest late husband's last illness? Interesting professional advice....

Do you have any more constructive suggestions? Of course werewolves will swear they are innocent , they would, would't they?

Actually I think that we benefit most from retractable votes, we can stop band wagons if necessary and retracting a vote without good reason, ie new evidence is suspicious that noone is likely to do it lightly.

I do have to go and I won't be back. I have seen nothing that I can interpret as a seer's guidance and although Fea has been a little hyper, I think she is just playing up her char... at the moment. Eonwe maybe you seem strange because your hermit's existance makes you unused to society, maybe you are worrying me for a reason. I do find your behaviour exceptionally odd so I am voting for you.

++ Eonwe