Tol-in-Gaurhoth XXVI - Úcenite Valto

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Of course if you are innocent we could gang up on TP ...but youaren't are you....

Actually, I am innocent, as I hope is clear by now (although you might well have known that before).

[Mithalwen]

OK .. well the simply fact is I am innocent, and there is no danger of you having to fulfil your pledge of gift wrapping.

What I have said has been honest .. not playing for sympathy. I regard it as a simple statemen of fact that I am one of the weakest players. But having had lunch I realise that since a vote for you is pointless, the only hope is that I am wrong about you and to vote phantom.

Certainly I wonder if you would bother to write such a long post if you knew the victory was in the bag as I assumed.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

... there is no danger of you having to fulfil your pledge of gift wrapping.

Yes, I was mindful of that. However, should I determine you to be our lupine tormentor, I shall see you lynched ere I fulfill that pledge. I never said that I would feed myself to you while you yet lived.

What to make of Mith's stated assumption as to my guilt and impending victory, following the phantom's vote? Surely, her best plan as a Wolf would be to try her best to persuade me to vote for the phantom. Or would that be too obvious? More subtle, I suppose to persuade me of her own innocence by pretending to be misguided in thinking me to be the final Wolf.

I can't help feeling that I'm over-thinking this ...

I could really do with some relatively trustworthy opions here, but alas there is little prospect of that.

This is horrible!

At least if you were to vote for me, Mith, it would take the decision out of my hands. But then, you would only do that if you were innocent, and it would therefore hand the game to the phantom

Indeed, to avoid the prospect of that happening, I am going to vote now as a security measure. If there is to be a coin flip at the end of the Day, I would prefer that it be between the phantom and Mith, rather than between Mith and I.

++the phantom

That vote is not cast in stone by any means. Then again, perhaps it would be fitting, in the context of this game, to leave it at that and allow lady luck to determine the winner. It would, at least, take the onerous decision away from me.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Yes it would require more restrain and forethought than characteristic to pull off the bravura performance ...

This is true. If you are the Wolf, you have played a blinder and I am tempted to accede to your victory in recognition of that.

If the phantom is the Wolf, he too has played a stunningly good game. However, it will have relied primarily on gaining my trust and keeping me alive. And I am not sure that I am happy about having been used in that way.

I am therefore more tempted to risk a MithWolf victory than a phantom Wolf victory.

Another thing. The phantom feels innocent to me. And I can't help but think that the phantom is at his most dangerous when he is coming across as innocent.

[The Saucepan Man]

You know, I can’t help but feel that I have been manipulated by the Wolf into this unenviable position. Both Mith and the phantom have done things which might be interpreted as having brought this situation about, by not voting for me and (whichever one is the Wolf) by not killing me at Night. But the phantom perhaps moreso. He has, throughout, given the impression that he is inclined to trust me, more often than not included me on his list of people for whom he would not be voting, and has generally seemed quite eager that I trust him. He was also, effectively, the one who brought about the precise situation in which I now find myself, with his early vote, retraction and re-vote.

If anyone has been manipulating me, then the phantom’s actions are the more incriminating.

But what about motive? Why me? There was much mention of grudges earlier in the game. The phantom has little reason to hold any grudge against me. I have never foiled any of his lupine ambitions, and he did not play in the two games where I was on the victorious evil team. Mithalwen has said that she bears no grudges, but the Goose/Seer incident in Diamond’s Duck game might present a motive for a pay-back attempt.

Then again, I seem to have acquired this reputation as an able Werewolf player (wrongly in my view, as an innocent at least), and perhaps the phantom was keen to test his wits against mine. Mind you, the same might be said of Mith.

Can you see where I’m going with this?

Yup. Round and round in circles.

[The Saucepan Man]

Just pondering the phantom's comments about the way he has played this game and how he would never have acted as the Wolf has in this game, nor made the choices of Nightly victims made by this Wolf.

This seems to me to be a reasonable point well made. Yet, I can well imagine a Wolfish phantom, in this particular game (being one of Fea's obvious choices for Wolf), adopting a completely novel approach, in order to throw a village full of people he has played with before and who know his ways off his trail. Indeed, it would seem a good strategy to do so, and then use it, as he has, in an effort to establish his innocence.

The question is whether the phantom would do such a thing.

And why am I babbling on to myself when there is no one here to talk to? I suppose that I am mainly looking to justify myself in the event that I have to face the spectres of my fellow innocent villagers having made the wrong decision ...

[Mithalwen]

Well Sauce, you have put a spin on my actions, but I am innocent.

Apart from anything else you must know that you wind me up more than anyone else in this game and I certainly would have killed you long ago were I the wolf.

And I am innocent so the only possible option is to hope that you are too and vote Phantom. Since if you are the wolf you have already won and you shouldn't be talking to yourself. ...

Only other option is Fea is having hysterics and we are all innocent.

Will be back in a couple of hours.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Apart from anything else you must know that you wind me up more than anyone else in this game and I certainly would have killed you long ago were I the wolf.

Aw, shucks! You're just saying that to be kind ...

Still, perhaps it provides a motive for wanting to put me in this miserable position and then finish me off when all the lynchings are done ...

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Only other option is Fea is having hysterics and we are all innocent.

The thought had occurred. In which case, if nothing else, I have at least provided our Dark Lady with some amusement toDay and may be due some reward from her.

Which reminds me. She did ask that we kill the phantom ...

I'm getting to the stage where I am starting to think about tossing a coin myself. Either one of you really could be the Wolf as far as I am concerned. Good logical arguments can be made either way. And gut feel ain't giving me much help neither.

Perhaps I should just go for the tie and leave it to blind chance. There's probably just about the same chance of killing the wolf as if I were to make the choice myself.

Or perhaps I should go with my idea of saving whichever one of you I think has, if a Wolf, played the better game.

But even that is a difficult choice ...

Oh me. Oh my.

[the phantom]

Yay. I got off work early and have an extra 10-15 minutes before I have to run off to my next obligation.

Of course, it does me little good seeing as my vote is gone and I don't have time to debate.

All I can say is this- the both of you are doing an amazing job at sounding/acting convincingly innocent. There are three things that could be happening.
1) Mith is the WW and she is doing a great job of swaying SPM to vote for me rather than her.
2) SPM is the WW and he is not content to follow my vote for Mith, but instead wants to lynch me for the thrill of it, or better yet to leave it to a random coin flip which of us dies (Mith or I) in order to win in the true spirit of this game. To be honest, if I was the WW that is precisely what I would do. I would not just tack my vote on to someone else. I'd try to get both people to vote wrong. It would be the ultimate victory.
3) We're all innocent and Fea is laughing her head off.

Originally Posted by SPM

Just pondering the phantom's comments about the way he has played this game and how he would never have acted as the Wolf has in this game, nor made the choices of Nightly victims made by this Wolf.

This seems to me to be a reasonable point well made. Yet, I can well imagine a Wolfish phantom, in this particular game (being one of Fea's obvious choices for Wolf), adopting a completely novel approach, in order to throw a village full of people he has played with before and who know his ways off his trail.

For an answer to this, you simply must think of what sort of person I am.

Would the phantom be content to win not playing as the phantom?

Just answer that question and you will know if I am innocent or WW.

I've already said what I am, of course. You just need to decide if you trust it.

Originally Posted by SPM

He has, throughout, given the impression that he is inclined to trust me, more often than not included me on his list of people for whom he would not be voting, and has generally seemed quite eager that I trust him.

When I was the Seer in WW IX who is the first person I dreamed of? You.

You may think of us as rivals, SPM, but if we are, I certainly wouldn't categorize us as "bitter rivals". Those sorts are always out for blood. I am not, and I don't think you are either. We like the prospect of trusting each other, for it means we can each trust the words of the other. The simple fact is, whether I am innocent, WW, or gifted, I like to know where you stand. And if you are innocent or at least acting very innocent, I am willing to go out on a limb and take a bit of a risk to trust you.

Particularly in this village. I figured that simple odds were that you weren't a WW, so I figured early on "What the heck- I'll try my best to trust SPM. Might as well."

So there's your explanation. But naturally if you are the WW that is completely meaningless, and you're going to continue to keep me under the gun and hope that Mith will vote for me thus sealing your triumph over your "rival".

(for those of you watching this final day as it unfolds, you can be certain of this- if SPM leaves it to chance or votes to kill me, he is most definitely the WW, I know for a fact that an innocent SPM would not vote for me, his gut and head would not lead him astray)

[the phantom]

Bye bye, now.

Fea, m'dear- if I die via lynch make my death sad and tragic. If I survive the lynch and WW SPM kills me, make sure I congratulate him before I bite the bullet.

[Mithalwen]

Sauce..... I was going to honour your list of quotes with a rebuttal but I am not sure I can summon the energy since when all is said and done I am faced with a no brainer.

Voting for you would be a certain death sentence. Either you are the wolf in which case you can simply vote for me, get me lynched and devour the phantom. Or you are innocent in which case you can still get me lynched and be devoured by the phantom.

If I vote for the phantom and you are the wolf you just pick which of us you lynch, which you devour ... a question of menu....

However there is that possibility that you are another innocent and if I vote for the phantom and you maintain your vote for the phantom and we fulfil Fea's request to lynch TP there is a chance we both survive this... however Fea did say this is going on til there is only one...

It is a chance against a certainty so :

++The Phantom

[Mithalwen]

NB Typical.. cross posted with Phantom

[Mithalwen]

OK Looks as if I should bother to make my riposte after all... in the mean time bear in mind that there are very good reasons why I play neither chess nor poker...

I know I am not utterly stupid but I am no strategist. I am a pragmatist not a theoretician.

Do you not think in many ways I would love to be the wolf here, and prove everyone wrong? That I could be a successful wolf in a game played by such players - rather than just in a junior game heavy with novices and people I had never played with before? And this crazy game would suit me better than one where logic and pesky gifted could get in the way..... but that glory (and the giftwrapped Espiem segments are not to be mine ...that gruesome notion might just turn me vegan..)

I actually strongly suspect that we may be all innocent but there is not a lot I can do about that. I know we have to lynch someone. I know if I am lynched that is an innocent dead ..... You cannot be lynched.... so...

Now I am talking to myself and not started on defending myself against your charges..

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by phantom

(for those of you watching this final day as it unfolds, you can be certain of this- if SPM leaves it to chance or votes to kill me, he is most definitely the WW, I know for a fact that an innocent SPM would not vote for me, his gut and head would not lead him astray)

Phantom, with that comment, you may just have lost yourself the game, or you may just have lost all of us the game, except Mithalwen (and possibly Eomer).

It is so Wolfish.

By the way, I am not sure why you are persisting in trying to paint me as a possible Wolf. After the events of toDay, I am so obviously not. Merely a confused innocent, trying to do his best to kill the final Wolf.

Hmm, why would you do that? Surely only if you were innocent and did not know the answer? Unless that's what you want me to think ...

Ai!

I should make a decision. No sense in dragging this out further.

Problem is, I can't.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Mith

Now I am talking to myself and not started on defending myself against your charges..

I will wait.

But I am afraid that now I will not be back until much later.

And if, perchance, I should fall asleep before I have the opportunity to return (which is a distinct possibility, as I was both here and painfully wathcing the cricket until the wee small hours last night/this morning), the phantom shall be lynched.

But I hope to return.

[The Saucepan Man]

A parting thought for me to ponder upon.

Originally Posted by the phantom

For an answer to this, you simply must think of what sort of person I am.

Would the phantom be content to win not playing as the phantom?

Yes. I think that you could justify it in a game as strange as this one.

I also have to think what sort of person Mithalwen is. And, from what I know of her, this is very true:

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I know I am not utterly stupid but I am no strategist. I am a pragmatist not a theoretician.

It would represent Werewolf playing par excellence for Mithalwen, as a Wolf, to have played the way she has. And so, if she is the Wolf, I tend towards the view that she deserves to win.

But I'll be back later (hopefully) when I have made my decision.

[Mithalwen]

Day 1
Quote:This really is a bit of a Donald Rumsfeld farewell game ... known unknowns and no doubt many unknown unknowns.... so stabbing in the dark may be order of the day.... Reinforces the random nature of the game and could have been calculated to induce a sense of pessimism within the village. A pessimistic village, it seems to me better serves a Wolf, rather than the village itself. –
No this was a simple statement of the situation on day 1 not reinforcing anything.. And I was referring to the day one choice in particular.
I had no theory to offer so stuck to fact as contribution……

Not really in either category - I was spectacularly lucky in my successful wolvish outing. Ayway I'm not a wolf this time so... I maybe the weakest link .. the innocent you could most afford to lose... but I hope it won't be goodbye just yet ... this is befuddling but far from dull and I would like to stay a while......
Again simple fact – I am not blind to my own faults ..and since in Werewolf someone is bound ot point them out..may as well get in first …. It has been a blast… I played basically because I owed Fea a favour but I have enjoyed it ….


I am inclined to think that the Pan Man is innocent because it makes more sense ... it would be a bit risky and attention seeking for so early in the discussion. But while I am good at spotting a cobblerish Pan Man I find it hard to read him when he plays a less ambiguous role .... but I could vote for him to maintain the tradition if you so wish .. but I don't think it would be a great choice ...

The phantom is not a priority either ... he is being quite constructive... and tooo obvious
As the phantom noted, this post is interesting, given that it is the two of us who are left with her at the end.
I kept changing my mind …. No change there…. Really believed whoever I read last …

Quote:
SI can't resist but though it be madness there is a little method in it... I do have to go now. I feel a vote for any of my other random suspects might be too significant at this early stage. I feel votes are going to be very spread out and two or three might be enough to seal someone's fate.... on this most random of first days I shall be completely random .... and risk the consequences if my fellow villagers think I am copping out... which is a valid perspective but heigh ho.... Seeks to explain her “random” vote for Bêthberry in reasonable terms, possibly aware that it is a relatively high-risk strategy for a Wolf to draw such attention to herself on Day 1.
Well yes but in the last games I played innocents and gifteds were lynched for the slightest things. Given that we knew nothing, and people often look fo ran excuse to vote on day one… it was high risk for anyone to give ammunition. And I could not know that noone else would follow my quixotic lead. Lynching BB wouldnot have helped a wolvish Mith.

Day 2
Quote:
Fea's narration does suggest Morm was a wolf but better to assume we have two to find....
.Introducing uncertainty as to the number of Wolves left - suits a Wolf more than it suits the village i did not introduce the uncertainty I merely commented on it. I don’t know how reminding people of possibilities is wolf-friendly. I seem to remember noone taking the 2 owls option seriously either …….


Quote:



My vote for BB was half punt in response to the unknown situation ... ...half course of action least likely to cause harm....... had I been a wolf I would erred on the side of not being so attention seeking.. and not giving the rest of you an easy excuse to lynch me in absentia.
Staunch defence of her vote for Bêthberry - suits a Wolf to seek to establish as early as possible that it was not the likely vote of a Wolf.

Also suits an innocent to point out innocence….

Quote:
No, it is what I expected after mormegil's role was not specified... Fea was unlikely ot waive the divine right of moderators . We are her Lab rats and she will want as much amusement as possible. She has waited a long time for this and was so certain on who she wanted ... she has a purpose ...... whether there is any system or code that will allow us to understand or whether we are dependant simply on luck I am not sure.

Personally I am going to roll with it....and see what happens....
Again, emphasising the randomness of the game might be seen as suiting a Wolf better than an innocent.
Or might be seen as an fatalistic innocent saying che sera sera and letting herself off too much note taking…..

Oh yes... I wonder if there is any point in us speculating why each of us was chosen? I assume I was to be a loose cannon ... which is not something I am actively trying to be but is often a by-product of my personality ....
Would fit the idea we have of what Fea intended for this game – a “loose canon” Wolf.

Whatever else I am I am not an immoral religious……

Again ..statement of fact … is it so hard for lawyers to believe anyone honest ….?

Quote:
Yes that is one of the things that annoys me ..I mean TP is not known for his modesty but the implication that only the Pan man is clever enough to be worth communicating with is a little insulting ... but what do I know ... having announced me strange for my vote and then dismissed as being too random to be a threat to the wolves ... Quote: Might this be Wolfish discomfort at the attempts of the phantom and I to explore the possibility of forming an uneasy alliance?No I was genuinely narked at being patronised - given that family nicknames included “plank” and “bimbo” and having been the youngest for the best part of a couple of decades ..being told to run along and play while the grown ups talk seriously, is liable to rankle…..

Quote:
I will throw in my lot with my liege lord in another place... A very quick vote for Eomer on the basis of Ang’s “trap”, putting him on 2 votes, tied with Diamond. Not really a lot in this, given that it was only the 2nd vote, but the haste with which she jumped on Ang’s reasoning might be seen as alarming.

I had to go and I decided to trust Ang - the man had a plan and he was the most amusing player to me at least. This may break phantom’s heart but Ang is probably the closest friend among the players remaining at the time and I decided I would go with him and take the consequences …

Day 3
Quote:
However it depends how genuinely random the second wolf was ... and we can't be certain that Eomer whetehr Eomer was "chosen" or "random". As a mod, it is tempting to restart the random selection if the balance looks wrong. However with no gifteds and a high calibre group of players it is less likely to be tempted to tinker than if you draw very experienced gifted versus a team of wolves who are novice, notoriously absent, isolated by timezone, or vice versa
An attempt to muddy the waters?
Nope speculation based on experience …..
Day 4
Quote:
IsBlimey .. that is a surprise ......... to kill someone that no one could possible ever discount as a wolf without a seer's confirmation is either brave, foolish or eccentric ..... Mith brave, foolish or eccentric? I’ll say no more on that, save to note that it might suit a Wolfish Mith openly to describe the Wolf in terms that either are not traditionally associated with her or which it might be considered impolite to apply to her. Also, of the three of us left, Mith is the most likely to express surprise at her own choice of kill.

Not sure how to take this? I make no secret of my eccentricity or folly but while I am not brave I hope I do not lack moral courage at least….

And I certainly would not have killed Roa, at least not then. I would have tried to get her lynched. Incidentally morms death would have been the most incriminating had I been a wolf. He always knows instantly my status so I would have wanted him gone ASAP….

Quote:
There is that other outside possibility that Morm was a wolf and Fea is messing with our heads by picking off unlikely folk at night..
– I still suspect this to be my Cassandra moment…

Quote:
I think it was you who said something about my Bethberry vote being safe looking back ... well hindsight is great isn't it? But anyone who has played a few games of werewolf knows how people can get lynched for very little on day one.

Voting for Bethberry would not have been be a good choice for a wolf because:

a, far too attention seeking and conspicuous.

b, there was a possibility that others might have joined me "in a let's see what happens" approach..... now as has been pointed out, wolfs as lone operators are nearer their goal if anyone else gets lynched. The risk of "wasting" a kill on Bethberry would to my mind rile the wolves more than innocents. A couple of people were anti my punt I must look back and see who they were.

Paranoia does seem to be taking root... heigho... More justification for her Bêthberry vote – she has consistently relied on this defence on the few occasions that suspicions have been raised against her. Also, perhaps suggesting that anyone who might consider her a suspect is being paranoid.

This was in the context of Nogrod changing his mind about my vote proving my innocence. I was putting it back in context. Nogrod is a friend and my polar opposite in thought process … but his intellectual rigour doesn’t always result in the correct conclusions.

Day 5
Argh all this was just tossing balls int eh air … trying to find some pattern, reasoning. Phantom had pointed out the fact all kills were on that side of the Atlantic. I am not a strategist but the kills wer our only clue ..why not look at all options. Not asking for sympathy – more pragmatism. I knew I was innocent and looked it and was so more likely to be a night kill than a lynch victim… I thought it might spike the wolf’s gun and mean the wolf had tochoose someone more suspicious and there fore more revealing to kill. Just pragmatism…. A chance I might be more use dead than alive … such cynicism in the face of the offer of self sacrifice in the common good
Quote:
I have to go soon and I think I am going to vote for Diamond.

Kath has pulled the wool over my eyes before and I will kick myself if she is tha wolf but I think she has been a bit too disengaged to be a wolf. If she is a wolf her lack of involvement would be a dampener.

Phantom and PanMan ..I have been suspectiong you alternately and can't decide....

Diamond..... also quiet but manipulative. Could be classic flying under radar wolf.

Have an inkling she would have been keener than most to get Roa out of the way...

Comments ..or are you boys going to lynch me? A possible “testing the water” post? The phantom had already indicated he was leaning towards voting for Diamond, so it would make sense for a Wolfish Mith to test alternative possibilities, while suggesting that she was most likely to vote for her.Justthinking aloud….

Originally Posted by the phantom
If you're the WW all you have to do is get Di lynched today and leave Kath and I alive for tomorrow, for I will be voting for her.Did Mith deliberately not follow this suggestion because it might point too obviously to her?

No she didn’t follow it because she wasn’t the wolf…

Conclusions

Mithalwen has looked innocent because she is innocent. She made and honest appraisal of her abilities – to use an analogy you will sure you understand - I was saying that I am in the relegation zone of the Premier League ..not that I belonged in the Vauxhall Conference ….. It is flattering to be thought capable of being at this point as a wolf but it isn’t realistic. It just isn’t my style.

As for the Phantom, suspending the “we are all innocent theory” , he has been very “knowing”, confident….. announcing Morm’s innocence, Noggie’s death and so forth…..

I find that level of certainty disturbing in a game where we have been deliberately left in the dark.

[The Saucepan Man]

I had forgotten that this Day started early, and so thought that I still had some time left.

Still, the last Night was extended, so why not the last Day?

In any event, I have made my decision and I'll stick with it.

--the phantom
++the phantom

Sorry, phantom, if you are not the Wolf. But I just couldn't hold off that voice in my head any longer.

You look the most Wolfish to me.

And Fea wanted us to kill you.

Immense kudos to Mithalwen if I am wrong, and I'll start sharpening the carving knife ...

*Skulks off to wait in trepidation*

[the phantom]

I'm the WW, SPM?

Yeah right. If I was the WW you'd already be dead and I wouldn't have a vote this last day.

You know it.

Mith, vote for The Saucepan Man.

I haven't voted yet today, you see. My votes were "++SPM" and "++Mith". Those aren't valid votes.

The directions say to vote for "++Player Name", and Fea clearly lists who the players are. There is not a player named "SPM" or "Mith".

There are players named "The Saucepan Man" and "Mithalwen".

And the fact that Fea has been letting this go doesn't matter. The reason she's been letting it go is because no one's said anything. But I am invoking this rule.

I have not voted yet.

++The Saucepan Man

Simply because you voted for me. You should know better.

[the phantom]

PS I can't believe the Day is still going. It's been 24 hours since it started. I guess we're going to our usual cut off time then. That's cool with me, seeing as I actually got a chance to post again.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by the phantom

PS I can't believe the Day is still going. It's been 24 hours since it started. I guess we're going to our usual cut off time then. That's cool with me, seeing as I actually got a chance to post again.

I thought I told you I had to work tonight... Can't end a day when you're flirting with the barten-- I mean working.

We'll call it officially done at 10:00.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Even as he watched his companions turn against, him, he stood nonchalantly, with both flair and confidence, and until the end, he could not be certain, but he seemed that way.

How he had lived so long in a village of such turmoil he had no idea, but he had prepared for the worst. He would never let them kill him. His death would be his own.

And even as he spoke lightly with the men, and freshly with the women, he often fingered the vial in his pocket, and he knew, as he had always known, it would come to this.

And so when it was a certainty, he did not shiver. He showed no fear, for he was not afraid. He bowed to the man, and spoke.

"Thou art a fool. It needn't have ended thusly, but it has. And you may believe that you have ended me... but you have not." And from his cloak he drew the vial, and the woman's eyes grew, and the man cried out, and he swallowed its contents and threw the vial to the ground, and it shattered, perfectly, beautifully, and he swallowed again, and his throat burned fire within him, and he was hot.

And from the shadows stepped forth a figure, and he bowed, weakening, and winked, still roguishly. In the dark of the night, many nights ago, he had made only one request to the moon, and as he spoke, his voice had been carried across miles. One wish, only one, and one so simple. And she had heard, and she had spoken back, and he had heard, and he had wondered, and now he knew. The man and woman watched in horror as the Dark Lady walked now amongst them, for while they had been strong, she had been weak, relying on moonlight and minions, and she had ne'er left her Tower. But at the end, and the final goodnight, as the sun set upon them, and shadows lengthened, and poison coursed, and all was done, she came to them, and in the breeze, her cloak shivered, and in the moonlight, her hair was lightless, and in her eyes, they saw death.

And the woman asked her what it had been she had said, for she had heard a voice on the wind saying she had Seen something, though Seer she had never been. And the Dark Lady whispered, and her voice was that of jewels and ice, and frozen firelight: "You shall see. Do not doubt that you shall see."

And the man looked between his companions, and saw the woman, her eyes questioning, nearly certain she knew, and he saw the other man, beginning, it seemed, to die, and he saw the Dark Lady, and he was unsure, and he asked her only one question: "Is this the end?"

And she said yes.

And she stepped toward the dying man, and cupped a cool white hand along his jaw, and she looked into his eyes, and he saw nothing, and he smiled.

And he choked, and clutched at his stomach, now burning, and he was in agony, though he barely showed it, and he sank to his knees, and she followed, kneeling with him, and gently, softly, almost kindly, she granted him his only request. As she stood again, and stepped away, he whispered, and the man and woman barely heard, "O true apothecary, thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die."

And the woman asked, "What now, Lady of the Night?"

And she replied, "Now it ends. You have danced my dance, and you have danced it prettily, but you must have known..."

The woman bowed her head in acquiescence. She had known, though she had hoped otherwise.

"Who?" she asked.

The Dark Lady allowed her cloak to fall, and beneath it she wore a black gown, corsetted in ebony, laced with silver silk, and she carried silver blades. And in a second, a mere second, the blades whistled in the night, and two lives ended, and as the Dark Lady watched her own blood pool around her, she answered the woman, and looked up at the man, the only villager left standing, though he stood in shock. "You."