Werewolf XXXII: The Lost Age

[Volo]

A calm night was beginning. Moonlight and a warm wind were upon Ossiriand. Summer had a wonderful start and Yávië was as nice as it could be. A light rain started. This was perfect weather, wasn’t too hot, but warm enough for the rain to be pleasant. The beach of a little lake, the most beautiful place imaginable.

Enhilion was watching the waves as they slowly disappeared under the earth. He hoped with the whole of his heart that he could just sit like this again. But that meant that he had to succeed in his wicked mission. He rose up, the talk earlier during this period came back to his head. Enhilion felt that this was wrong, he had made his biggest mistake. But then again, would he want to sacrifice the sight of those waves for the life he had?

[Volo]

Once a great city, Kaimoir was slowly falling into decay. Great pillars were covered with moss. Most of the houses were abandoned and palaces stood empty. Silence was complete. And so was darkness.

The cave was found by the First King, no one can remember his name today. It is strange, such a leader’s name should be in every song. But no, it had faded, as if by intention. Some say that he is still there, haunting the Halls of Kings. When the First came with his people, the cave was all empty. Strangely the race began to grow and prosper. The empty caves turned into wonders of stone, even the skills of the dwarves were matched.

The new race became a terror above ground, raiding at night. Their abilities in battle were greater than of the greatest human warriors. Like a cloud they swept over villages. Fear grew in Men. Even many elves were afraid of this horror.
This new race was great indeed. The city of Kaimoir was built to the size it still remains nowadays, but then it was full of people, happy and wealthy. Gold and silver adorned even the poorest homes. The key to their success was being hidden. Their raids had brought riches and fear to their enemies, but nobody really knew who or what this horrible race was. But in open war they would have probably defeated their foes.

Luckily for every other race it never went so far as open war. For as the First Age ended the race began to diminish. Nobody knew the reason. Or nobody except the King. Some feared that the fall of Morgoth was the reason, but nobody wanted openly relate their strength with the Dark Lord.

Raids became rare and the terror was turned into myth. Their population dwindled. Only a few children were born every century. The life-span shortened to about two hundred years, when in their glory they could live over the age of five hundred. Still even the few that were left were stronger than any man and most of elves.

Strangely the King ordered the gate to the cave closed and none have left the city since. In hunger they lived for centuries, for they cannot die of hunger like men, but they feel it stronger. The only thing that prevailed was the line of Kings, one after another they kept their power and will. Even now when few of the race survive a king sits on his throne.

[Volo]

Enhilion could not believe his ears, Firithhyando had ordered him to get ready for battle. Real battle. Sure Enhilion had practised fighting from birth, he even thought of himself as being quite good at it. No, he didn’t match the skills of his elders, but he liked the way he used a sword and enjoyed it.

But now this was something new, a real battle. Would that mean that the gates would be opened the first time for many centuries? Would Enhilion be the first Vampire to see the outside world? Something no one had done before or so long ago that knowledge about it was all lost.

The young lad was really excited and afraid. This must mean that he had to meet the King. He had seen the King two times in his life, once when his grandmother died and once when his little sister was born, the family had gone together to tell the King those news. The King seemed happy when he heared about the girl, it was the first time for more than a thousand years that two children were born into one family. Sadness held long when little Astore died in a landslide. Anyway, Enhilion didn’t like the King and would rather not meet him again, unless he really had to.

Enhilion had packed all his belonings: his rone jacket and trousers (Rones are somewhat pig-like creatures that are the only animals in Kaimoir and Kaimoir is the only place where rones live. Rones eat mushrooms and are eaten or turned into leather objects by Vampires.), his family heirloom sword he prefered over fangs and claws, his rone-skin bottle and some mushroom cakes (the only food in Kaimoir, except for everything made out of rones, but…). He was ordered to have a good sleep before the journey would begin, early next period (the terms ”day” and ”night” aren’t used in a cave with no sunlight).

Enhilion was too excited and when he finally fell asleep he rolled off his bunk and woke again. He decided that it was useless and walked out of his great stone house. He really hoped that he wouldn’t fail in the battle, that could be the end of his race. Of the Vampires only five were alive now, and he doubted that they could remain much longer, the race was fading to an end.

[Volo]

Enhilion was running through the empty streets. Suddenly he heared voices, it was Firithhyando, the second youngest Vampire. Firithhyando was talking to Numundo, the middle Vampire.

Numundo continued the talk in the usual hoarse voice ”…if he fails. You know how gentle he is. I doubt he’ll do it”.

Firithhyando, Enhilion’s best friend, answered, ”He might be gentle, but he fights better than you” .

”Not true”, grumbled Numundo.

”Maybe not, but I’m sure he’ll do just fine”, Firithhyando tried to convince Numundo, but without much success.

Enhilion pressed himself hard against the wall, he knew that they were talking about him. Was something important being hidden? Fear came to him as he heared steps closen. They went by, it was Lossenatar, only the King was older than this great warrior.

”Arguing about the kid? The King wants him to go with us, so that’s what will happen”, Lossenatar wasn’t angry, but seemed rather troubled.

Enhilion felt uneasy, if even Lossentar was worried, this mission must be hard indeed. What if he blundered…

Firithhyando said, ”See there Num, I told you. He’ll manage”. To everybody’s dismay Lossenatar mumbled ”I hope…”

[Volo]

Numundo dared to ask, ”What exactly do we need to do behind the Wall? You keep saying how important it is and that there will be a fight and all, but what is the reason of this madness?”

”Let’s not call it madness, for that is the will of the King. This is our only way to survive, you must see it by now. We’re dying! Another hundred years and we’ll be gone. Completely!” Lossenatar said rapidly.

Firithhyando asked again calmly, ”Yes, dear Los, what is the goal of our mission? It seems you know much more than us. And all I thought was that we go and fight a bit and come back”.

”You’ll know tomorrow, the King-” started Lossenatar, to be interupted by Numundo, ”Start talking sense! Or me and Fir won’t be going anywhere”.
”Oh, calm down”.

But the two younger Vampires didn’t seem to be content with that. Lossenatar gave up, ”I’ll tell. If you don’t tell Enhilion… He won’t like that”.

[Volo]

The two nodded. Enhilion was starting to panic, his heart was beating so loudly that he feared the elders would notice him.

But nothing happened, Lossenatar continued, ”The King says that we’ll die. He told me some knowledge lost long ago. We Vampires became a great nation by converting Men to Vampires. It is true that our power faded with the death of the Dark Lord, we were originally made by him. Our King… he is The King. King Yulnagar is the First King, Melkor’s Maia…”

Enhilion couldn’t believe it, this was against anything he has been taught, it couldn’t be true. Was all his life just a lie? Yes… Oh hell, Enhilion wouldn’t go anywhere after this. He decided that he’ll say straight that he won’t fight for a liar. Never!

”Our King Yulnagar rebelled against Melkor and fled to Ossiriand. In fear he hid in this cave, all by himself. For a long time he never left this place. But during the centuries his hunger grew and he couldn’t bear it anymore. He fled back outside and attacked Men. Then he found his skill! He could convert the weak Men into us, Vampires. Though the Vampires of that time were far greater than us. And so we lived here and hunted at night, converting more and more and our number growing larger and larger. Yulnagar thought that by being just a simple king he could have more power over us, that’s why he chose the same role as us”.

Firithhyando looked at Numundo, Numundo looked amazed. Firithhyando’s voice shook but soon regained it’s calmness, ”So it was like this, interesting. I feared that this was the case. But I understand your motives now”.

”What! You knew? How?” Numundo was shocked. Lossenatar seemed to be rather surprised.

Firithhyando said quietly, ”I had a vision once…

”No, nothing. Forget it… But Los, tell me, why was the gate closed?”

”I was coming to that. Yulnagar, being a Maia of Melkor lost his power to convert Men into Vampires as the Dark Lord fell. He was scared of the other Valar. That would be the reason”.

There was a silence which was broken by Numundo, ”And what is the meaning of our mission? Get back to the point!”

Lossenatar thought for a while and answered, ”I know that this might sound like Yulnagar betrayed us… He doesn’t know if we can succeed in this, or can he succeed in it. He told me that he might be able to turn a few Men into Vampires with his last strength, it takes a lot to do such a deed. But he’s thinking about us, this is the only way to continue our race…”

Lossenatar had a short pause, but before the old warrior continued, Firithhyando killed all Enhilion’s hopes, ”Yes dear Numundo, our mission seems to be the capturing of Men.”

Capturing Men, Enhilion understood that this was for the greater good of the Vampire’s race, but he never wanted to capture anyone, it felt much worse than killing, not that he had ever done either.

Lossenatar exclaimed, ”Yes, exactly! Though I am sorry to say this, but there is also another thing that makes our job difficult. You see, King Yulnagar has forgotten the spell to turn Men into Vampires… We have to bring him many Men just in case he casts a wrong spell on them. And this is where my own plan comes to life!”




Night 1 Begins

Vampires may chat


The living:

Gil-Galad
The Saucepan Man
Rikae
Boromir88
Nogrod
Eomer of the Rohirrim
Thinlómien
Brinniel
Legate of Amon Lanc
Aganzir
Meneltarmacil
Xyzzy
Roa_Aoife
Macalaure
Diamond18
Shastanis Althreduin
Celuien
Kitanna
Sleepy Ranger
Durelin
Glirdan
Rune Son of Bjarne
The Sixth Wizard


Notice:
I'll start the day a half an hour earlier tomorrow.

[Volo]

Total darkness.

Silence.

A scream.

Silence.

A light.

Darkness.

The light growing back: a torch was lit.

A tall and skinny man was holding the torch, he didn’t look that old, but in the little light it was hard to see his age. There were 23 men and women of different ages and origins around him. Some were sulking and some were just sitting quietly, but all of them were equally confused.

Then, again, a young lass in a yellow dress, Lomiella let out a scream and started crying.

A short and stocky man in ragged clothes, Glirdan consoled the girl by patting her on the back and whispering, ”It’s ok, we’re fine. Calm down, nobody’s hurt…”

An another man, Xyzzy came forth to the tall man holding the torch. ”Where are we? Where did you find that?” he said pointing at the torch.

The skinny lad answered shakingly, ”Umm… It was lying here beside me, I stumbled on it”.

”And how did you manage to light it?” asked a clearly annoyed woman in black, Brinniel.

”I, I…”

An older man, Boromir, shocked by the situation, defended the shaken lad, ”Oh leave the poor guy alone, will ya. Don’t you see, he’s just as badly shokked as we all. No good at accusing him of anything right now. There are many more important things we must ask ourselves.”

Some ragged guy in a flat cap, Sleepy shouted from behind the circle, ”Yeah! Where are we? Who are we? Why are we here? How did we manage to get here? That’s the stuff I’d be glad to have an answer to”.

Long silence followed.

A cough and a tall man hiding in his grey cloak, Rune said calmly, as if to the darkness, ”I guess that was the answer. Nobody knows. Or nobody want’s us others to know. From my part, I was carving badgers at home when everything suddenly disappeared”.

Everybody nodded to that and general agreement was present.

Long silence followed.

”So, are we just going to stand here and wait for a miracle to happen. I feel like there won’t be any miracle for a while…” Aganzir, the hefty bearded woman said heavily. And after a short pause continued, ”Hey, you with the torch. What’s your name? Help me find more of those, we need to explore our situation”.

The torch-guy smiled nervously and answered, ”I’m En… Enohl. I think I saw more of these there beside that building”.

Everybody turned to look it the direction Enohl pointed, it was all dark and nobody could see anything.

”Give me that”, a woman in the tatters of rich clothes, Diamond grabbed Enohl’s torch and walked to the wall. It did turn out to be a building of some sort and torches were stacked neatly beside it. The woman smirked, ”You have good sight, my lad”. Diamond lit a second torch and throw it to a man, who stood close by.

The man caught it and spoke loudly, ”Heh, now friends, come and get your torches. We should explore this place before something explores our flesh, I wonder what beasts live in this darkness. Oh, and my name is Gil-Galad by the way”.

”There aren’t any beasts in this cave we should worry about-” Enohl started to shout, but realized that he made a big mistake.

Everyone was staring at Enohl. A sturdy-framed man, Nogrod walked close to him and stuck a finger in Enohl’s chest, ”Now wait a moment, what did you just say? You seem to know more than the rest of us. Would you be so kind to tell! Who the heck are you?”

Enohl backed away looking frightened. ”I, I…”

”What?” The strong man advanced at him again.

Suddenly Legate a man nearly of Nogrod’s size put a hand on Nogrod’s shoulder. ”Leave him be, if you scare him out of his skin, he won’t be of any help. I feel he’s just as innocent as me or you. Or even more than that”.

Nogrod turned quickly getting ready to punch Legate. Luckily for Legate, a small woman with short hair and subtle features, Roa came between the two tall men and Nogrod put his hand down. He said harshly, ”Now don’t you interfere. Where did that boy go”.

And indeed. Enohl was running away.

-~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------~~-

Enhilion was running away, tears were flying into the air. He had made a mistake and now it would probably cost the life of his whole race. And Enhilion only wanted to calm the Men down. He couldn’t understand why the Men were so evil and got angry so quickly. Sure the Vampires imprisoned them, but why would they want to harm even their own friends. Well, in fact that was the whole plan, to get the Men to fight with each other that the Vampires could be left alone. It seemed all wrong, Enhilion didn’t even want to hurt those Men, they are no warriors, they are weak. They were taken from their lives by force… A bit like Enhilion himself. He began crying and cursing again.

In the circle of Men there was also a lot of cursing. Nogrod had been shouting all the while, but didn’t dare go after the kid in this darkness. ”It’s all your fault! Why did you let him flee?”

Boromir, Legate and Roa tried to calm Nogrod down but without much success. The only thing they achieved was more shouts.

In the total confusion nobody noticed Mac, the man who was hiding in his hood and sitting on the ground outside the circle, vanish. He had snached a torch and was now running to the direction Enohl disappeared. Mac followed the boy’s cries. For a while the sobs ended and Mac was lost in the darkness but soon he heared weeping again. Close by, just in front of Mac. He walked slowly toward the sound, it wasn’t moving away anymore, but it stopped before Mac found his target.

Mac had run too far from the rest to either hear or see them, but there in the little light his torch cast he could see that the city or whatever it seemed to be, was going on and on. Fright gripped his. And just a moment later Mac tripped on something soft…

”I’m sorry, I lost control over myself. I didn’t mean it, it’s ok now”. Nogrod had at last come back to sense.

”I understand, we are all afraid and don’t know what to do. But we should try to unite our strength to survive. Whoever that boy was, he’s gone now”, said Morgan, a straw-haired man who was sitting quietly until this.

”No! He hasn’t gone”.

Everybody turned to see who said this. It was Mac and he was holding Enohl by the neck. Mac threw the scared lad in the middle of the crowd with a melancholic smile.

Enohl fell right on his face, but quickly rolled to face the angry crowd. He was panting hard and his nose was bleeding.

Mac explained, ”I ran after him when you were arguing. Found him quite far lying on the ground. It scared me to death, but now I think this fellow is much more scared than I have ever been”.

”Oh, good that someone has sense in the head. So boy, let us know your secrets”, said Kitanna a woman in a white shirt, black riding boots and a smirk on her face.

Enohl opened his mouth and then closed it and his eyes, he took a long breath and said, ”I and three of my friend are Vampires, we just-”

A commotion started. Nogrod backed away from Enohl, ”You, you cursed beast! What have you done to us!” He then grabbed a torch and ran on Enohl. So, fear of Vampires did exist in the outside world.

Enohl sreamed and shouted for his friends, that seemed to have betrayed their young ally. He glanced at them and understood that he was alone. Enohl gathered his knowledge and began chanting the incantation to change into a bat, it wasn’t easy and he had done it only a few times.

Nogrod was nearly on him when a commanding voice came from all around, ”Stop”.

-~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------~~-

Everybody stopped. A darkness darker than any other darkness appeared beside Enohl, who was now gazing at it with his mouth open. Slowly the darkness took the shape of a cloaked man. The cloaked man raised his gloved hand to point Enohl, ”Your time is over. You have been chosen to die”.

Rikae, the beautiful lady with long black hair and gray eyes, gathered the will to ask, ”Who, or what, are you? What will you do to us?”

The cloaked head turned to face Rikae and a chill pierced her. The same toneless voice, seeming older than the world, darker than the darkness, spoke, ”I am the Oracle. I have been summoned here to help you. Like this traitor told you, there are three Vampires among you. It is my mission to destroy them”.

The scared crowd didn’t know which to fear more: the Vampires or this clearly more powerful being, that did seem to be their ally.

A tall and extremely muscular man, Menel, barked at the figure, ”How can we trust you? You can be one of them and take the life of our own three”.

”How indeed? You can either trust me or trust me not. I leave the choice to you. My only advise to you is to choose the former… if you wish to live”.

Esspiem, the lean man with the neatly trimmed moustache and beard, squeaked as the dark figure seemed to look at him.

Everybody slowly gathered around the darkness and a general atmosphere of thinking followed into a tight line around the Oracle.

At last one person dared to stare back at the Oracle. His piercing and unsettling smile offered little comfort to anybody who looked at him, but Eomer didn’t care much. He turned at Esspiem and whispered so that only Esspiem could hear, ”Coward”. Returning his gaze back at the Oracle he said rather loudly, ”I trust you for now. Long time ago, when the Dark Enemy still looked upon the land, my ancestors were slain by Vampires. They came at night, not noticing the watchman, who had fallen alseep in the stable. When they went to steal the horses, the watchman woke. He had enough time to yell for help, when his throat was slit. Only one man survived from that village. I will trust this ”oracle” if that means revenging the Vampires’s evil deeds!”

Durelin, the thin, girly looking young man laughed mockingly. ”You would trust anything that gave you protection, and maybe a less painful death. Well, have it your way. I don’t really care...
” Oracle! If you come too near, don’t think I won’t find your weak spot!”

”I agree that our only hope of surviving is to trust the Oracle and hope for the truth.” Celuien, a woman in a worn dress and just as used cloak spoke, ”Whoever is the Vampire here, look out. Twenty against three is not a wise fight, so I’d just fly away if I were you...”

The Oracle turned it’s head at Celuien and if there had been a face, it would have now smiled, ”Three have spoken, does the rest agree?. Think about it”.

People were looking at their feet and trying to come up with some thought.

After a short while the Oracle announced with a hint of amusement, ”Just like I thought, only three don’t trust me... No... a fourth one.” Its voice had the slightest hint of suprise, so slight that only the most careful ear could pick it.

Nobody had the courage to ask how the dark figure knew this and so it was decided.

”It is now decided! You shall live in any house you wish, there will be food on the table three times a day. A river is flowing in the far end of the city, you can bring fresh water yourself. Wood can be found for different uses in a stack in middle of the city. Feel free to explore the houses for any other equipment you need”.

”What about the Vampires?” Shasta, the man dressed in all possible shades of blue asked. Other people nodded.

The Oracle would have smiled again if there would have been a mouth to smile with, ”There seems to be a misunderstanding. I won’t kill anybody now. How would I know which of you are Vampires? It is your job to find out. Tell me your vote and every 24 hours I’ll come for the person, who has collected the most votes. You can see the remaining time from the giant clock in the middle square.
”Now, what should I do to this Vampire here…”

The Oracle turned back into darkness and disappeared. Enohl was still lying on the ground.

”He seemed to forget this kid, oh botheration”, said Rikae.

Enohl rose up and said, ”I think I will follow your movement after all”. It was the Oracle’s voice. Then he tripped on the ground. ”It is a matter of practise, in a day I will be using this body better than you are using your own”. Enohl, or the Oracle tried to stand, but without much hope.

To the amusement of the crowd, the first day started!

-~~-----------------------------------------------------------------------~~-

The living:

Gil-Galad (Gil)
The Saucepan Man (Esspiem/SPM)
Rikae
Boromir88 (Boro)
Nogrod
Eomer of the Rohirrim (Eomer)
Thinlómien (Lomiella/Lommy)
Brinniel
Legate of Amon Lanc (Legate)
Aganzir
Meneltarmacil (Menel)
Xyzzy
Roa_Aoife (Roa)
Macalaure (Mac)
Diamond18 (Di)
Shastanis Althreduin (Shasta)
Celuien (Cel)
Kitanna
Sleepy Ranger (Sleepy)
Durelin
Glirdan (Glirdy)
Rune Son of Bjarne (Rune)
The Sixth Wizard (Morgan/Sixth)

The dead:

-


DAY 1

You may now start talking. Staying in-character is not a rule but adviceable.

[Gil-Galad]

What maddness this has become... why must the oracle toy with us?... fine so we must play its game then we must if we want to survive... so basically keep our heads up about each other and be careful... then my friends we can see another sunrise!

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Shasta shook his head, clearing it of the cobwebs that had accompanied his teleportation to this place.

"I think it's a good idea if we all stick together..." he said, turning about him to look for a place to set up housekeeping. Picking up a torch, he lit it from the one Diamond held and walked south through the crowd, brushing lightly past Nogrod and Rikae as he headed for one of the larger buildings.

The door opened with a creak as Shasta pushed it open. A shower of dust fell from the lintel; the building had lain in disuse for some time. A flare of fire flashed in the open air as Shasta's torch passed under a silky cobweb. The windows had no glass in them, and he edged through one of the larger rooms, careful of any broken glass on the floor; he was barefoot, after all.

Climbing a set of old, dusty stairs, he came upon a hallway with seven rooms. A cursory inspection of them revealed them all to be bedrooms, with the furniture covered with cloths, as if the owner of the house was just away on vacation and would return any time. Immediately claiming the westernmost room for himself, Shasta leaned out one of the broken windows, looking down on the crowd.

"There's room for six more of us up here," he shouted, his young voice carrying echoingly throughout the cavern.

[The Saucepan Man]

Well that’s just great. Everyone knows that the least developed characters are the ones to die first in these kinds of situation, particularly those portrayed in some negative light. Since I got scant description, no dialogue and have been portrayed as a coward, it looks like I’ll be the first one to be picked off here.

It’s not that I’m a coward, anyway. It’s just that, well I am rather disconcerted by our situation and that Oracle suddenly appearing like that was enough to give anyone the creeps. And if he’s so powerful, why doesn’t he just send us all back where we came from?

Anyway, to business. I may not have great skill in arms, but I hope that my sharp wits may be of assistance to us, or to those of us who are free of any Vampiric or other supernatural tendencies at least.

A few thoughts on how we should approach our unfortunate situation. As I see it, we have little choice the way things stand but to trust the Oracle’s words. And it seems from these that we must each Day nominate secretly who we wish to die and that the person with the most votes at the end of the Day will be taken by the Oracle. Our objective, it seems, is to root out the Vampires among us.

Unfortunately, as matters stand, we are denied a useful source of information which might assist us in this task – the known votes of each person. I therefore suggest that we all agree to state here honestly the name of the person we have voted for at or about the same time that we each cast our vote. Obviously, the words of three (possibly four) among us will be deceptive. But we will at least force them to commit themselves to a name and thereby, perhaps, put them under some pressure. More importantly, we will have as close as possible to a voting record as it is possible to get in the current circumstances, and this will hopefully be useful to us in the Days to come, and perhaps also of use to the Lynch Seer (did the Oracle tell us about the Lynch Seer? – well let’s assume he did. ).

As for the Lynch Seer, we should perhaps reserve discussion of this role until we see how it works out in practice. The only point I would make at this stage is an obvious one, but worth stating nevertheless. An innocent Lynch Seer should carefully think through the possible consequences before posting their riddle. Clearly, it would be preferable to avoid giving the Vampires a free kill.

As for this “fourth person” who may not trust the Oracle, my guess (ably assisted by the Game Rules ) is that they are only interested in preserving their own life. I would only note that their best interests are currently served by siding with the innocents.

Now, I’m off to look for anything which may be of use to us in this place. Only – um – I would rather not go alone. Would anyone like to accompany me? Actually, on second thoughts, would any five wish to accompany me …?

[Boromir88]

My only hope is I survive today...I mean it would be a shame to die on a special day like today. I don't care if the vampires decide to kill me after today, but it would be a shame to die today.

I was a bit nervous about the 'secretive vote' thing, as that takes away part of the ordinary innocents advantage. But the more I think about it, it may work to our advantage. Afterall, the vampires can't vote to save themselves, so we just have to worry about making the right decision (but that's easier said than done), and not have to worry about any vampires sticking their fangs in to save one of their partners.

[Macalaure]

Oh the werewolf has such teeth dear,
And he shows them pearly white.
Just a jack-knife has Macheath here*
but he keeps it out of sight.

*or rather he doesn't, cause he wasn't allowed to bring it. Bah!



I don't have much time and even less to say right now.

As Espiem said, we should simulate the voting process as good as we can. Not only will we have something close to a voting record, but there's even a chance that, missing the non-votes of the vampires, a different person will die than the one everybody expected. If it happens, it will be very helpful, I think.

Though it will be difficult to cope with the secret votes, keep in mind that the vampires aren't allowed to vote at all. They can't mess with the voting outcome like they usually can.

[Meneltarmacil]

Alright people. Listen up and listen good!

I've fought in a lot of wars, so I know how to deal with ruthless enemies. These vampires want us all dead, and that's just what we're gonna be if we don't kill them first! Don't just stand around wondering what happened! Don't give anyone the benefit of the doubt or whatever you call it; we've got a fight to win! The enemy doesn't care about your reputation or your life or how kind you are. All he wants to do is kill you. So you'd do well to show him no mercy.

[Rikae]

Rikae stepped through the doorway carefully, so as not to snare her long silver-gray cloak on the splinters...and broken nails...in the lintel. She went to the window and pushed back the yellowing curtain; a sunbeam pierced the dim interior; bewildered specks of dust danced erratically in the light.
She stood silently, then turned to Mac with a slight smile.
"Thou wenyst I knowe nott thy councell; Butt I warn the; I know itt, every deall."
She turned and addressed the whole room:
"I don't trust this Mac person. He speaks of a knife...then says he doesn't have one! I say we search him.

And what is this talk of "less developed characters" from Esspiem? I never quite trust someone who starts off with a joke about his or her own vulnerability, combined with a long speech reiterating the situation at hand.

But I do agree; we should all state openly for whom we are voting. If the vampires' non-votes sway the results, it may even give us a trail to follow.
There is still hope..."

[Gil-Galad]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

My only hope is I survive today...I mean it would be a shame to die on a special day like today. I don't care if the vampires decide to kill me after today, but it would be a shame to die today.

I was a bit nervous about the 'secretive vote' thing, as that takes away part of the ordinary innocents advantage. But the more I think about it, it may work to our advantage. Afterall, the vampires can't vote to save themselves, so we just have to worry about making the right decision (but that's easier said than done), and not have to worry about any vampires sticking their fangs in to save one of their partners.

i must agree on what master Boro here says... we have a greater chance on the vampires because they will not be able to help sacrifice one of their own to save themselves... i am glad at that fact.

And Rikae... accusing two people right off the bat are we? my what headstrong you are... but you should be careful... or doing the whole double bluff, instead of acting like a confused innocent, you could be pretending to be a vampire and lose the lead off of you early... i do not like that one bit... and now my hunch is moving on to you being very suspicous...

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Having uncovered all the furniture in the rooms, Shasta paced restlessly down the hall. He felt helpless without at least some sort of weapon with which to defend himself... small blades were his forte, and where best to find such weapons than the kitchen? It had to be around here somewhere...

A quick search of the upper floor elicited the answer; a small set of back stairs, probably used by servants, that lead directly to the kitchen. Shasta entered, stifling a sneeze... it was much more dusty in here, for some reason. Looking for anything that could be considered a weapon, he came across the desiccated remains of what used to be a fine meal, halfway through preparation, on one of the counters. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Shasta crossed the kitchen and began to search through the cabinets and drawers. His search was rewarded with the dull gleam of unpolished metal in the third drawer he checked.

Shasta lifted out a six-inch carving knife. Not a lot against the claws and fangs of a vampire, but better than nothing. He tucked it away in his sash, hilt protruding for easy drawing, and prowled on, searching for anything that might be of use later.... however, he was arrested in his search when he heard voices coming from the main hall.

Shasta entered the larger room from a smaller door, hidden behind an ornate tapestry, now despoiled by the ravages of time and the appetites of vermin. Padding on bare feet over to the small group, he smiled winningly, deftly sliding in between Rikae and Gil-Galad.

"Calm, you two... this early on, I doubt there's much of anything in the way of evidence to go on. There's no real point in accusing each other when there's no proof of guilt or innocence whatsoever."

[The Saucepan Man]

Alas, my circumstances dictate that I shall be unable to speak much more here until close to the end of the Day. I was rather hoping that more would have spoken ere the time came for me to take my leave.

Of those who have spoken already, I would comment as follows:

Gil-Galad said:

so basically keep our heads up about each other and be careful...

… which does not really provide us with much more than we could work out for ourselves, although he was the first to speak toDay. I suspect that this Gil-Galad will prove rather a conundrum, unless he deigns to speak more helpfully concerning his thoughts.

Shasta counselled that we “stick together”, which is not entirely helpful as we know that there are three among us who we cannot trust and one whose assistance is far from guaranteed. Having bid us all stick together, he then proceeded to go off on his own, in search of accommodation rather than items which might be of use.

Boro considers that it would be a shame if he were to die toDay, but does not care if he dies thereafter. Not sure what to make of this. And while I agree that it is beneficial to us that the Vampires (and Shade) are unable to vote, I am far less enthusiastic than he seems to be over the secret voting. Hence my proposal that we all state our votes.

Mac wishes he had his knife. I sympathise with him, as I appear to be without my trusty dagger. I am somewhat concerned that he seeks to compare himself to a Werewolf but, then again, we are dealing here with Vampires here, not Wolves. He supports my proposal on voting, which is encouraging (although I put it no higher than that).

Menel paints himself as a mighty warrior. Fine, but I think that quick wits rather than strength in arms will be more useful to us in our travail. He said:

A bit of in-character banter, but some of it's serious

Maybe I am missing something, but I failed to see anything "serious" in his post. And, while I admire his fighting spirit, I am not so sure that an inflexible refusal to “give anyone the benefit of the doubt” will help us. I do not propose placing my trust in anyone lightly, but I will be trying to weigh all the available evidence before reaching a conclusion on anyone, including points that might seem to point to their possible innocence.

Rikae is suspicious of Mac for talking of his knife. I don’t follow her reasoning here. An innocent would surely rather be armed in a situation such as this. She also dislikes my opening spiel. I, in turn, am suspicious of those who cast suspicion based on “in-character banter”, unless there is good reason to suspect that there might be something sinister in it. And I would venture to suggest that my “long speech” was an attempt to put forward some thoughts that I felt might be useful, particularly as my opportunity to contribute during the remainder of the Day is limited. Still, at least she too agrees with my proposal on voting.

Not a lot to go on, I fear. I trust that there will be much more to consider when I return to cast my vote. In the meantime, I would urge that everyone adopt my suggestion on voting.

Edit: crossed with Gil and Shasta.

[Rikae]

Rikae realises that the light coming through the window is not of the sun, but of a fire someone has already lit outside of the building...it's an awfully bright fire.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Legate finished his work and now delightedly looked on the burning bonfire. The flames cracked cheerfully, as they consumed the large pile of wood the tall dark-haired man brought into the middle of the cave. The shadows around seemed to fade as the light grew.
"Whaddaya say," Legate turned to the rest of the people in the cave. "It's quite friendlier now, isn't it? The chairs burn pretty well. I suppose no one's gonna miss them, there's more than plenty of all the stuff around here. Now we'll better see each other's faces."

[The Saucepan Man]

While I will unfortunately soon be struck dumb until shortly before the deadline, I would note that I remain available to assist in searching this place. And should the door to any building be found to be locked and cannot be forced, I may be able to help, since I have no little skill in picking locks.

Esspiem gathers some rusty nails from the chairs being broken up to feed the fire, to assist in such endeavour should it be required.

[The Saucepan Man]

A parting thought.

While I acknowledge that we are encouraged to interact with this mysterious place in which we find ourselves, I will no doubt find myself becoming increasingly suspicious of those who spend more time telling us what they are doing than what they think. It seems to me to be a mighty convenient way of hiding “in the open”, as it were.

Discussion of ideas, thoughts, opinions, suspicions etc is the best way we have at the moment of trying to find a Vampire, so I hope that all will endeavour to contribute to as fully as they can to the debate. I know that sounds a bit rich coming from me, given my imminent enforced silence, but I am afraid that circumstances elsewhere dictate it. Should I survive to see another Day, I will endeavour to participate more fully.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Esspien

Rikae is suspicious of Mac for talking of his knife. I don’t follow her reasoning here. An innocent would surely rather be armed in a situation such as this.

"I suppose..." Rikae threw her cloak behind her shoulders, revealing a low-cut black gown covered in glimmering burgundy embroidery. She sidled over to Mac with a smirk, and lifted her hand; something fell from the ceiling and she caught it: a knife, glinting in the firelight.
"Can't I at least frisk him?"
...

"What? I can levitate objects. It's part of my character." she rolled her eyes.
"I am suspicious of those who jump to conclusions as well. Sometimes accusations serve as bait for werewolves; those who are quick to make much of a joke or unfounded accusation are often evil; or so a great Werewolf-hunter once taught me."
Turning back to Mac, she handed him the knife.

EDIT: X'd with SPM. Suspect me then! I like this new kind of game, and I'm gonna have fun with it!

[Gil-Galad]

Gil looked on as the fire grew and illuminated the whole room. the outspects of old decaying buildings can be seen

"i wonder who lived in thsi forsaken place before we ended up here... not in all my travels fighting in the Great Spice War down south did i ever come upon anything like this..."

Gil peered into a building and saw an old table with a broken chair laying next too a corner of jars. Gil decided to grab whats left of the chair and submit it to the fire

"here you go Legate, some more firewood in case"


"we still have time to determine more, and hopefully hear from those of us among us that are quiet... then we can fully decide who seems suspicous, until then i guess we sit tight... something i hardly like to do."

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Legate walked a few steps away from the fireplace and looked around. He waved at Rikae peeking through the window. Then his sight turned to the dull, underground-moss-covered top wall of the cave. "I'm gonna miss the sight of sky", he said after a while. "How long are we gonna stay here? I'd like to go out as fast as possible. But I understand we cannot rush it. If we only knew who the three Vampires are, we might just give them to the Oracle and go home!"

This forced Legate to switch his thoughts from momentary concerns to the main problem of the village. "We are stranded here," he spoke slowly, "until the Oracle allows us to leave, right? Until we hand him three Vampires. And who is that funny fella the Oracle spoke about? The one with the shady nature? Whoever he is, he's not a Vampire, right? Oracle doesn't need his head to let us go. Espiem, was it you who said that he's the best staying with us now?
As to the voting. You and Boro I think it was who already spoke of it - I would see it as a big disadvantage. Why the Oracle wants us to vote in secret? If we all just spoke, it might be pretty clear who is hiding fangs, so to say. But we have to accept the situation as it is. And in this part, I agree with the proposal that we keep as honest as we can about our votes. It means not getting swayed in the discussion as much, I believe, though the Vampires still can leak their ideas here and there, they cannot actually realize them in the end, so if for example it comes to a contest when we have to choose between a vampire and a non-vampire to lynch, and a vampire says he'd vote for the non-vampire, we can still get the vampire lynched for there is an actual vote less (I hope it's clear). Of course, we cannot hope for situations like that every day. But only time proves if the compensation of not knowing who votes for whom by the Vampires' lack of votes is enough. But shortly said, I agree with the "honestness" idea. Actually, I don't even know why a villager would want to bluff..."

Legate looked back on the bonfire. "I must sort my thoughts, but now I'm going to get some more wood. It's better to have it prepared. Fortunately, it's plenty around here. Espiem, come with me, I might get some use of your skills if youn't just showing off - I think I saw plenty of wooden tables in a house over there, maybe it's some sort of store-house, but it's locked.
Hey! What about the rest of you over there! Can anyone of you cook? I can make fire pretty well even in the rain, but I'd like to get something warm, and I am a terrible cook if you ask me. I once baked a pancake so that it was not even black, but also wreathed in flames. Looked like that monster from the legends, Balrog, if you know it. Only it didn't have wings."

[Sleepy Ranger]

My, this seems to be a picky situation. It's rather bothersome that such a thing has arisen and meh, it seems nobody wants to get anywhere. Regardless, I'm afraid I would like to stay with myself for this day and reflect on the happenings. I'm afraid I shall keep to myself for this day.

[Boromir88]

Hey I have an idea! Vampires don't like garlic, right? So for our supper how about we all ask the cooks to put garlic in our meals...and the three people that don't eat their food must be the three vampires! That leaves the shade, but the shade would surely side with us as we would have the 3 vampires and the shade would be victorious as well. What do you all say about that?

Edit: x-ed with Sleepy and Legate is far too nice for my liking.

[Gil-Galad]

Originally Posted by Sleepy Ranger

My, this seems to be a picky situation. It's rather bothersome that such a thing has arisen and meh, it seems nobody wants to get anywhere. Regardless, I'm afraid I would like to stay with myself for this day and reflect on the happenings. I'm afraid I shall keep to myself for this day.

wow... the last sentence mostly... i know i said that i will wait till everyone has a voice to state there opinions, but this is too much...

first of all, a vampire could easily say this and try to get away... i don't like this at all... is it a trick? perhaps it is...


just...wow... did not see such obviousness pop up like that... and with him saying he'll keep to himself this day, then we may not expect an reply if we lay accusations on him for this one post...

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Legate, who was already walking away, stopped at Sleepy's words and turned around. "I don't want to push anyone," he said, "but I think it's better if everyone talks, because I have recent experience with one guy, who was named Xyzzy - ha, he had the same name as that guy over there - and he was hiding in a village just because he didn't go among the people at all. So I'd suggest to speak as much as possible, really, because it's not even worth anything to stay quiet - the village would be pretty dull then."

Legate turned back to Espiem and together they walked away towards the locked storehouse.

[Nogrod]

"Now what maddness is this?" Nogrod yelled as he dropped the pile of wood to the ground. "You're burning the furniture even though the Oracle said there is a stack of wood in the middle of the city - it's from where I brought these." He looked at Legate questioningly. "I hope they were from your room and not from mine... and anyhow, it promised us three meals a Day so I would rather that we concentrate on finding the vampires than trying to simulate a summer-camp feeling here."

"And where do you think you're going Mr. Sleepy? I will mark your name right now." Then he sat down and closed his eyes to think. He tried to put the first pieces of the puzzle together but there were so few pieces to use! This will take a moment, steady now...

EDIT: X'd with a few...

[Aganzir]

I agree with SPM's suggestion about voting. It's probably the best way to start with.
I'm quite eager to see how this kind of voting will work in practice, as there seems to be many possible results the voting can end in (see Legate's post for an example).

The thing I hate in playing in character is that it's difficult to make out what people are actually saying in their posts. If no one minds, I will avoid playing in character. I'd rather write a short message and say something than write about everything I do without a real point.

Originally Posted by SPM

it is beneficial to us that the Vampires (and Shade) are unable to vote

I thought the Shade was able to vote.

**

I am sorry for a short and rather useless post, but I don't have very much time (there's a paper I have to write and a test I have to study for). I won't be around before tomorrow.

[Rikae]

is it a trick? perhaps it is...

Rikae turned to Gil with a sweet smile.
"I always think that everything could be a trick. Which is why I'm still alive.

Right now Gil and Esspien look the worst to me... but I'm too tired to think clearly. I think I'll go lie down for a while."

She circled the fire, and paused before a doorway which led to a bedroom.

"I'll see you in a couple of hours...at least."

[Nogrod]

Okay then. We should make our votes known openly. With this I agree. It looks like most of us do. I would also suggest that we mark the votes in a traditional manner of voting in the villages (with the double+ and bolding in a separate line - for easier reference as we are at least yet 23 of us).

This may give the Vampires some hard times as we can make an inference or two from the difference of the actual tally and the said voting if and when that shows up, not to talk of looking closely at some actions the Vampires may be forced to take.

But at least at the moment I'm not sharing the optimism of some. Even if the Vampires can't vote, they can influence the overall opinion around and steer the vote still - if they wish to do that in the first place. So we have very little solid evidence on anything here.

But as an encouragement I might recite the words of a long-gone wise man who once said: In the long run it's easy to speak the truth because you don't have to remember all the fabricated strings of the web of lies you are forced to create when you slip from the straight road of truth.

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Rune had entered the room with out anybody noticing him, he had now been standing in the shades for a while listening and it filled him with a disire to leave again and so he did. . . . .



But being a bit confused by all the ridles and roles he ended up in the very shade he had just left. "Might as well stay, it might be fun" Rune thought to him self, but he had feeling that the others could read his thoughts. . .


EDIT: I cross posted with Noggy. . .who is saying something I was thinking about sugesting, so of course I think he speaks wisely.

[Brinniel]

Black, black, black.
Everything is black.
The air is foul,
And the walls close in
As Death slowly....

Urgh...I cannot think in these conditions! Too noisy, it's too noisy!

Oh bother...I could really use a smoke right about now...

I'm not so sure what to do about this situation. I'm not even sure how I got here... It seems everyone is so quick to accuse one another. Surely, that is the quickest way to get yourself killed.

Since the subject has been brought up, I have no problem sharing with everyone who I intend to vote for each Day. After all, I don't have anything to hide. Not that it'll really matter in the end, anyway. We're all going to die here, both Vampires and innocents, I'm sure of it.

Well, I'm off to go find a dark corner where I can brood. If anyone finds paper and a pen, let me know. Perhaps my thoughts will become clearer once I can write them down..

[Shastanis Althreduin]

OOC: Just to satisfy my inner roleplayer... is the fire inside or outside? I could have sworn it was in the middle of the abandoned city...

[Meneltarmacil]

*checks under carpet, finds trapdoor*

Hmm, what have we here? A secret compartment with a large chest inside...

*opens chest, pulls out a broadsword with scabbard and belt that was inside*

Ah, that's more like it! A little dull, but I can work on sharpening it. *fastens swordbelt*

Well, now, a little aggressive, was I? I mean no disrespect, but these vampires are not going to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, even if we do. Anything that looks suspicious should be considered as evidence, even if something can help explain it away. Not that we should condemn everyone for simple mistakes, but we should certainly not ignore strange happenings, no matter how "accidental" or "in-character" they may seem.

*sharpens sword with rock*

I too wonder about that Boromir88. Seems quite strange in his post; quite concerned about dying, which is understandable, but only toDay. I'll definitely be watching him.

As for Espiem, I agree with him that accusing people based on in-character bantering is suspicious. Rikae certainly does seem to be giving off warning signs in that respect.

[Rikae]

Rikae sticks her head out the window, hair in disarray, and says with great exasperation:

"When did I ever accuse someone based on in-character banter? If you want to see someone doing that, look at Esspiem and Gil-Galad! It's exactly the reason I don't trust them."

She ducked back inside and slammed the shutters with a deafening crash.

OOC:
The fire is outside the buildings of the city; but the city itself is inside a cave, or so I gather.

[The Sixth Wizard]

(As I forgot to make my character's name related to my BD's name, plz just call my character by his nickname Sixth instead.)

Anyways...

Originally Posted by Rikae

"When did I ever accuse someone based on in-character banter? If you want to see someone doing that, look at Esspiem and Gil-Galad! It's exactly the reason I don't trust them."

Already jumping to 'I don't trust...'? I think this is a bit early to be pointing and accusing.

So here we are stuck like rats in a village. And even better, now one of us has a SWORD. . I don't have much experience on a game like this so I can't really make a plausible suggestion right now, but maybe back up others. . .

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Okay then. We should make our votes known openly. With this I agree. It looks like most of us do. I would also suggest that we mark the votes in a traditional manner of voting in the villages (with the double+ and bolding in a separate line - for easier reference as we are at least yet 23 of us).

Somehow I think this may be a bad idea. And it kinda defeats the purpose of votes not being shown. Vampires can still lie about a vote they might have made instead of actually make one.

Bye...

[Boromir88]

Well Menel and Sauce...like I said it today is a special day for me (tis my birthday). So I would particularly find it a shame if the vampires kill me tonight. But it really doesn't matter if they want to kill me any other night, that's their choice.

Now that is said this will likely be my last visit until the morning as I must be off at least day dreaming about what amazing celebration I should be receiving right now. Seeing as I'm stuck in this cave though, I guess I only have my imagination.

For some quick comments...I think Sauce's idea (regarding the votes) is a good one, no complaint from me, but still there will be at least 3 amongst us who will be lying.

Sauce, Gil, and Aganzir, don't really worry me right now. I like Gil's nice eye regarding Sleepy. So far Sauce and Aganzir look genuine to me.

Like I mentioned, Legate seems too nice and a little to quick to buddy up with our Sir Espiem.

I'm wondering about Brinniel too...I mean she comes in here kind of acts confused and lost like 'what the heck is going on.' This establishes her presense in this little 'game,' and it looks like she's playing up the 'confused' role. From my records, I have not had the pleasure of seeing Brinniel's ancestors yet in one of these situations, but her family has a few of these werewolf/vampire villages under her belt...this confused thing seems a bit fake if you ask me.

Also, a comment by Shastani is rather awkward:

"Calm, you two... this early on, I doubt there's much of anything in the way of evidence to go on. There's no real point in accusing each other when there's no proof of guilt or innocence whatsoever."

I think accusations reveal the character of a person, and I find accusations to be about as helpful as anything (besides blind luck) on Day 1. I find accusations to be a good thing, so I think it's awkward Shastani, you are telling us to not do it.

Some of my observations, make of them what you all will. Now I must be off and dreaming that I'm having a wonderful sweet bourbon salmon at an amazing 5-star restaurant with my mother and father. So, bye bye.

Edit: x-ed with The Sixth

[Durelin]

So here is where the fools have gathered? How lovely that there are so many of you in one place. You can be as stupid as you'd like, but I have a problem with people always adding their own crap to my pile.

In other words - stay away from me, and I won't mistake you for a Vampire.

Oh, yeah...you Vampires? Yeah, you. You listen. I bet you think you have it easy. And maybe you're right - you may not get any say in who we take out, but you know as well as I do that we innocents excel at slitting our own throats... *glances at Brinniel* or wrists.... But you know what? You're no different from them, even with your silly powers.

So go slaughter some goats and leave me the hell alone.