Well, I can conceive of scenarios when they might vote for a fellow who is caught with no hope of escape, just to deflect some suspicion from themselves. But I don't think that's a concern in this case.

I am sure there is. Perhaps a search of the kitchen will yield something.

I march into the kitchen, searching through cabinets instead of the fridge. My search yields a little box labeled "Green Tea". A cup of water goes into the microwave, then out steaming as a teabag is plopped in. I take a moment to sniff it, then speak.

"There are two wolves left. Surely they left some sort of clues when they spoke."

Hmm... so it seems that the wolves wanted to get rid of the loud ones...

No we must wait to see whatMcCaber has unearthed for us.

Best case scenario: McCaber found a wolf. I don't know if that special protector-person is aloud to save the same person two Nights in a row, but if so, then they can hopefully save him again. I wish our hostess was still alive to tell us...

Worst case scenario: McCaber found someone innocent. The protector person (Shall we call them "ranger" now, to give it a Middle-Earth theme?) can't save the same person twice in a row and so he gets killed and then the innocent gets killed the next day (unless the the ranger did a bluff, and only protects McCaber toNight, in which case, he gets another dream).

So... let's see what he's got fer us lousy scurvy dogs! (erm...;))

Well, if he finds an innocent, at least we can operate under the typical process of elimination. But I do hope McCaber doesn't get killed.

Still, it's 2/9. But I suppose that's better than nothing.

Morning, gents. By this time I hope everyone believes me. I know trading one wolf for the seer is a move the wolfpack would willingly take, but on this Day (almost certainly my last) I feel rather confident.

But my scryings last night did not reveal a wolf. As of right now that's all I'm prepared to say directly on the subject.

And I heavily doubt that my ranger friend can protect the same person twice in a row. If that were true, he (or I, in this case) would become nearly invincible. What I do hope is that he was smart enough to realize that my last comment was meant to bluff the wolves out of attacking me so the ranger could protect someone else and save me tonight. I guess we'll find out soon enough whether that's the truth.

Certainly you are deserving of complete trust. It's good to see you still with us!
I have faith that the Ranger was wise, and you'll have another opportunity for dreaming the next Night.
Ruminations on the previous Day's conversations are in order. With luck, something interesting might be brought to light.

I believe I am not alone when saying that some light shed on your dream is eagerly awaited. At this point, there's no reason not to trust you after you pointed out the last wolf.

Nogrod went to the fridge and was taking the Sancerre Pinot Noir he had stored there yesterDay when his hand suddenly wawered... No, this calls for something different...

He hesitated a moment. Finally he spotted the familiar deep green colour and the shape of a Tangueray Gin bottle. Without hesitation he took it out from the fridge and had a long draught from it, straight from the bottle. Closing his eyes he could feel the tingling liquid going through his body energising every inch of him. "There's no sorrow this thing couldn't make a bit more bearable..." he said mostly to himself before looking around.

"Uhh... sorry about this." He said a bit embarrased... "Survival kit, you know?" He tried to make an apologetical smile but failed lousily. "Some Gin and Tonic, Gin and Bitter Lemon, anyone? I could build you a shot..."

No one seemed too interested so he made himself a drink pouring some gin and a few drops of angostura into a glass with ice and a slice of lemon and then filled the glass with tonic. Then he withdrew from the fridge and sat down to the heavy armchair setting the glass aside. Then there was a heavy sigh...

"Okay, I should feel jubilated as I was right with Fea from the get-go... and those nightmarish creatures are one down. Sure, cheers for that..." Nogrod was yet again talking merely to himself but sure those close enough could hear him and his less enthusiastic tone of voice as he pondered about things with the glass in his hand. "I do miss Boro right now... like I said yesterDay, he could be your best friend in trouble or one who stabs you in the back... well, sadly his innocence has been proved in a most brutal way. Darn I miss him right now! I'd like to hear what he'd have to say... he was such a nice guy to chat around in the 'Downs - and to make all those fancy things like Arda Cup and such. And he's dead now! I mean dead..."

Nogrod went silent for a moment trying to concentrate in loading his pipe, which took some time indeed, but was finally done. After a few puffs and sips from his glass he felt ready to think out aloud once more.

"Okay mates... Now I think..."

He blew a long puff from his pipe and hesitated finally releasing a chain of smoke from his nostrils. "Now I think we must think about this."

He sat back again. "Sorry, I just had some more food for thought... and I need to refresh my memory. I'll be airing some thoughts just shortly, just a moment."

Me too. I suppose your main theory may have had something to do with recent studies in abnormal psychology, especially Dr Eönwe's early observations on bloodlust and/or blood-phobia in werewolves, further developed by your esteemed self? Too bad we were wrong.
But since Boro has now been proven innocent by death, how do you explain his hurry to vote for you? Just curious;).

McCaber, glad you're still with us! I, too, hope you'll have at least one more night to dream. And I heartily second Nessa's plea for some light shed on your last dream, if it can be done without compromising anybody.

Of course, McCaber may be a wolf who gave up one of his fellows in order to appear helpful. Now he can just keep on claiming proven innocents. But as it's so early, this seems very unlikely to me, and I'm sure that if McCaber doesn't die toNight or the Night after then it wouldn't really pay off, as we would (or at least I would) start to see him as suspicious.

I can't say what his thoughts were, of course. But he asked things of me which I complied with, then he immediately voted and left the room before hearing my response. Why? I don't know.

Well, I highly doubt that one of the wolves would sacrifice one of there own, so McCaber seems stout now. I don't expect him to survive long after revealing his role, but if he does... That's either some crafty manuevering, or something else entirely.

"I do agree with Eönwë. We should trust McCaber now. If he somehow manages to live Day after Day we should start suspecting him - and surely at some stage - not now but later - the real seer might confirm our doubts... or at least force us to make a choice which should then be kind of a decisive one - a desperate wolf might try a fake-reveal I think if they got into that bad position... But let's go with McCaber for now and I for one will congratulate him for a well-made catch!"

Nogrod sipped the rest from his glass and eyed the people around.

"Okay, then you McCaber probably should give up your dream at one point of the Day - at least if that person starts to gain votes or suspicions dangerously enough. But maybe not just yet? It's up to you of course. But you shouldn't let that person be lynched toDay. That I think should be your prime motivation toDay. Otherwise you have dreamt in vain. And then we just hold our thumbs for the ranger doing the risky but intelligent thing last Night and giving you one more chance of catching a cursed one for us toMorrow.

Yeah, revealing a "known innocent" is like giving that person a death-verdict but it's better the lycantrophes need to kill that person that we accidentally do that ourselves. Your shot, as I said."

Nogrod walked to the fridge. "Hah I need another one... but I'll think of the yesterDay while I make myself one"

Just when he was getting to the Tangueray bottle he heard Nessa speaking "I think they could if that would win our confidence. But probably not in this way, this early. Trying to fake for seer on the first Day would seem like quite a doomed idea as we would have our real seer around to rival that claim later. Had the situation been a lot tighter - and later - I could have suspected McCaber more, but right now I feel pretty comfortable with his revealment."

Nice thought, Eönwe, and thanks for voicing it. (No offence, McCaber - I'm sure you'll understand we need to consider every possibility! Of course, you would do yourself a great favour in terms of credibility if you told us what you did dream last night, and why you're so reluctant to talk about it.)
And just in case McCaber isn't the Seer, would you say this might be the right time for the (hypothetical) real Seer to counter-reveal, or would you counsel against it?

EDIT: x-ed w/ Nog

Well, if there no protection toNight and I'm still alive, then that would be the time for the real seer to step forward. Granted, he already has, but if I was pulling an elaborate bluff that would be the time.

Well, this is a pretty kettle of fish, I must say.
That three-way-play that was bothering me yesterday is cleared up, at least...is there any significance btw, in the fact that Boro's status has not been divulged?

Also, do we think that McCaber should share his dream? A trusted innocent might be a useful thing to have around tomorrow....

Perhaps McCaber doesn't want to reveal what he sees until it is required. I can see that being feasible, but I would like to know.

Aside from a bit of sleep to dream in, I spent the night contemplating the actions of yesterDay. I think we can narrow these odds quite a bit in our favor. Having to come into the open wasn't really all that bad a move, because after I mentioned Fea a second or third time I had to think the wolves would have killed me in the night, just to make sure. Now I have some breathing room and some ranger backup.

First of all, people I don't think are wolves:
Nessa voted for Fea, and vice versa. I have a hard time thinking that the wolves would have spent two of their votes against each other as the first votes of the day.
For Nogrod, it would have been too easy for him not to vote and let me die yesterDay along with Fea. I'd say he's clean.
I would have said Boro over here, precisely because of his link to Fea. Working together like that really strikes me as more of a wolf working with an innocent to gain trust, rather than a wolf combo attack.
Pitchwife and Lal both seem decent, simply based around the voting records. I can only assume that I looked like a seer to the wolves, and that getting rid of me then or at night would have been what they were looking for.

I also believe that there probably is a wolf among those people who didn't vote. No real reason, but simply a feeling.

I don't think so. If McCaber leads us astray then we know he's guilty, and if he doesn't get killed soon then we can assume he's guilty. If he isn't the real seer, unless he "reveals" the real seer as a wolf, or a wolf (who the real seer has dreamed of) as an innocent, then there is an opportunity for the seer to lay low and dream peacefully.

But this is just hypothetical. For now I think we should assume that McCaber is the real seer. If he is not dead within two Nights, then we should start getting suspicious (or it could be an elaborate plan by the wolves to make us lynch him if he was the real seer, though I don't think it would be worth it, as there would be a chance that he could reveal one of them, and later this would be proven by his death, whichever way. Wow this is a long bracket).

I can see no logical reason a Wolfcaber would have given up his fellow on the first Day. If this is a ruse devised by the wolves, it's insanely risky for them.

Yes, yes, that's true. But it's always best to consider all possibilities.

A few comments on McCaber's last.
And Shasta, not to forget. Nog voted last and broke the three-way tie - for which we owe him thanks; on the other hand, this was exactly what might be expected from a person of his reputation for common sense and wisdom (I'm tempted to say, regardless of his role).
The problem with this is, the interaction, as far as I can reconstruct, was initiated by the innocent (Boro) rather than the wolf.
I wonder why. You certainly didn't look like one to me prior to your reveal, but that may just be my lack of previous experience with visionary persons. Heck, I almost voted for you instead of Shasta!
Not sure about that. I'm inclined to think Nerwen failed to vote for reasons that have nothing to do with our current predicament. As for Rikae, I don't know - after her last post, she may have been too drunk to vote.

(x-ed w/ Eonwe #140 ff.

Having made himself another Royal Navy drink Nogrod was ready to scan yesterDay's voting.

"Boro voted for Inzil.

I don't know what to say about it. It was the first vote of the Day and there was very little to back it but that Inzil had been "chatty" without saying much - or that after he defended himself saying there had been not a "great deal" to work with, Boro answerwed that it meant there was then "some deal"... Uh-oh Boro, you were not too helpful there I'm afraid - unless you were right with that blind shot. And we should consider that option to be sure. I mean I tended to trust Inzil on Day1 and I'm alive and Boro didn't and is now dead. Although, that could be a set-up to be sure...

Fea voted for Nessa
Nessa voted for Fea.

Fea's given reason was voting for those who leave no trails of them. Fine and dandy - if she had been an innocent. And then Nessa retaliates? Fine and dandy if Nessa is an innocent. But there are two if's... of which we know now that Fea was making a decision on the basis of solid knowledge about the roles. Of Nessa we know not.

Now it would be quite daring for a baddie to vote a mate on the first Day, but how I know Fea from the 'Downs and what chances there were Nessa would be bitten by us others for not taking too much part in the discusions (at the point Fea was voting - and how she miraculously came back - from her "nap" - to explain her vote...), I must agree she could have made a wolf-on-wolf vote.

What she said exactly was: And Fea didn't know at that moment she would herself be in real trouble later... Hmm...

Nessa's bold answer (#93) yesterDay quite impressed me and I'd not call for lynching Nessa as our first option - but we shouldn't forget that possibility either. Looking at that exchange between the two looks hairy but is it only because Fea was a wolf or if they both are?

Eönwë voted for McCaber.

Now this seems a bit worrysome-one. He said he was going with his hunches even if McCaber looked to him "better than before" (whatever that might mean - I mean has he offended Eönwë at the 'Downs on some discussions earlier or something?). Well, earlier he had said McCaber had been too calculated and detached... Good, good... but looking at Eönwë's actions so far I could say almost the same about him - and it looks reasonably believable McCaber is our seer...

Autume voted for Eönwë.

Well that sure is the most enigmatic performance of yesterDay (and hats off for that!), but really what can one say? Her reason was just "guts after reading something". All the day yesterDay she talked about there being interesting things around, the merits and wrong trails... but she produced not a single example of what she was thinking of! Now if trained by Fea during the Night - just look how she made it yesterDay - it would be no surprise... Very careful not to voice any suspicion ie. very suspicious indeed!

McCaber voted for Fea making it 2 votes.

As a seer knowing who to vote for... and already in his list at #51 he singled out Fea as only one he didn't like (being careful of course not saying it bluntly). Looks believable to me.


Bah, I need a break... - where's the toilet guys? - back soon with the rest of the votes: all four of them..."

This is the problem, seers can so often seem wolfish.
Anyway, all this talk of whether McCaber is for real or not seems like time-wasting to me; common sense decrees that he is exactly what he says he is.

I think we should be looking more closely at our known wolf, Fea - what she said, who she said it to, what she didn't say, what others said and didn't say about her, and so on.

Can you explain what you mean by this please, Nogrod?

"Oh, by the way. Do not think I'm supporting the lynching of all of you I have mentioned thus far... I will try to find out suspicious features also from the last voters. And you all can't be wolves. Only two of you are.

But we need to make these suspicions to see what you others think and how you take them. Sorry I didn't mention it in the beginning. Now excuse me, my bowels are working after the morning smoke..."

A moment, if you please... :)

Because you didn't know that Fea was a wolf. I was going after her, and it must have made them wonder.

Yes, I would presume so, though it sounds as if you've done this sort of thing before. Please tell us...:p

In fact, the reason I found him suspicious was because he was laying low, not doing anything bold and standing out, but also posting all the things that he needed to so that you couldn't think he was deliberately being quiet or hiding his views. At the time when I first commented, he was ticking all the boxes, but no more, no less, which is exactly the sort of behaviour that I would have expected from a wolf- hiding right in front of your face. However, he improved afterwards, and seemed more involved and into the this discussion, and I'm sorry that I helped to force him out of hiding.

And Lalaith you said this about me yesterDay (Yes, I heard you...):
What's wrong with being energetic?
I care about catching these killers, and if everyone's just standing around unenthusiastically (I don't understand why when their lives are at risk), then at least I want to inject some energy into this.

But how would we know whom of the two to trust? The same question applies to Nog's
Good morning, Lalaith, by the way, and I'm curious for your answer to Eönwe's question.

We wouldn't. But if one is found to be the real seer, then we know the other to be a wolf. And that leaves us with only 1 wolf, and, if that happened at this stage there would be (with the real seer, toMorrow's "execution" and the 2 Night kills taken away from today's total) 1 wolf out of 7 people, which means we get 3 Days to get rid of the wolf.

I agree that McAbre is who he claims to be. I'm going to believe that he is the seer for now. I'll give my thoughts on others after I look at things more closely.

I have waited a while, but seems that everyone wishes to remain quiet, so now I'm going to think long and deep, and digest what has happened so far...

Nothing, except that it is easy to appear busy and helpful and that can sometimes be a diversion. Also rather troubling, incidently, is your rather frantic and pre-emptive response justifying your own actions, to a mild comment I made to someone else about confusing wolves with seers.

But anyway, speaking of energy levels, we are all still on different sleep-cycles and mine is now at back-to-my-own-room time. I will see you all later.

"Looking at the last ones then...

Inzil voted for McCaber tying him with 2 votes with Fea.

Now this is an interesting one. Now let's recall what he said back then: It is indeed interesting how strongly he feels for Fea's innocence to come up with that kind of thoughts... not the least as he had just a little earlier said that Fea looked like too eager to please and that he'd suspect such persons by default.

His interpretation of Nessa denying her vote as a knee-jerk reaction ("why didn't she suspect her earlier then?") is indeed a valid POV and well caught. But then again, Nessa's "brave point" remains an enigma to me at least. Maybe Inzil is right and caught her making an error confused of her mate voting her?

But oh the bad luck (:rolleyes:) Inzil happened to pick McCaber as his target - and was factually saving Fea at that point... If he would be a wolf he would have to vote someone who could win Fea in the votes and McCaber had been suspected enough - and looking at the spread of votes that far would have been the safest choice to save Fea - if that was his agenda, that is.

Bah, I'm totally mixed up with Inzil. He seems to make fair points and have a good eye on things but then he happens to be there where the baddies most need him - and his overwhelming trust for me indeed makes me feel a bit uneasy...

Lalaith voted for Shasta. (Fea2, McCaber2)

The first thing that catches the eye here is that she didn't want to choose between Fea and McCaber - even if they were two of her "unsettling trio" (Add Boro to make a trio). Neither was she willing to put Inzil, Nessa or Eönwë up to a par with the two leaders. But she opened a new alley with Shasta - because of my "persuasion"...

Now if she is a wolf teamed up with Fea - and possibly another one of those who had gained votes already - the choice would be understandable. But then again, she could have just raised someone to compete with those mates in danger - and that kind of releases her in my eyes somewhat. I mean those were the last minutes anyway.

But why not vote for Fea or McCaber if they were so unsettling to you Lalaith?

Pitchwife voted for Shasta. (Fea2, McCaber2, Shasta2)


He's the hardest one for me to assess. It looks like he didn't know Lalaith had voted for Shasta as well (maybe he was in a different room or something). I suspected for Shasta as well yesterDay (and I do understand also Lalaith's vote from this perspective), but the very same question could be asked from Pitchwife as well: why spread the vote when there were people you thought suspicious in the lead - and if you didn't know Lalaith had voted for Shasta as well as you claim?

I mean had you known that, it would have made a lot of sense as you could have bet I might join you two with it... and thence save Fea, and thence lynch an innocent Shasta? But if you didn't know - as I need to believe - then your choice is an enigma to me. *

Interestingly McCaber's revelation falls in between Lalaith's vote and Pitchwife's vote. More interestingly, you didn't feel a need to make a comment on there in the last four minutes (the same thing applies to Lalaith as well - with six minutes to comment on the revelation).

An innocent I think would have come up with an instant reaction of awe or surprise but you two stayed silent in purpose... and this makes me look at Inzil a bit better right now again.

Nogrod votes for Fea (effectively lynching Fea).

Okay. I had suspected her from her first post onwards and was just happy to see a wolf down after McCaber's revealment. Surely that was the only decent choice I had there. Without McCaber I might have voted Shasta as well - it would have been a hard choice to me.

Now you may say that yes, a wolf-Nogrod would have done the same and I admit that it is true. But an innocent Nogrod did that too - and could not have acted otherwise either.

Bah... Now a new pipeful, a few thoughts and then I think I need to take a rest..."


EDIT: * and the same supportive argument can be seen in relation to you as well as Lalaith...

You weren't the only one. Nog did as much, and was much more explicit about it.

Nessa (assuming you're still with us), I'd like to believe your vote against Fea wasn't just a knee-jerk reaction, but I'd still like you to explain the reasoning behind it.

In case somebody's about to ask the same about my own vote: Shasta popped up very briefly and disappeared again, almost immediately; later offered an explanation for his absence that sounded plausible [OOC: story-wise I mean], but didn't really satisfy me; rebuked Inzil for twisting his words (and rightly so, I think); but all in all I had the impression he just made an appearance for appearance's sake without offering anything substantial - which I thought suspicious.
Indeed, one of the reasons I suspected McCaber is that he seemed too eager to clear Shasta of suspicion without any argument that looked convincing to me. And I'm still curious to hear what Shasta has got to say now, once he wakes up.

Lalaith (if you're still listening) -
Very true. But the same goes for being laid back, calm, cool and collected. Glad to see you more involved now!
I can't see anything justifying the adjective frantic here. Care to enlighten me?

(x-ed w/ Nogrod)

I have a headache, and I can't find any aspirin anywhere. Typical.

In any case, there are three (four?) people I'm looking at very hard today, and I'll give my reasons a bit later - Inziladun, Nogrod, Lalaith (and possibly Pitchwife, although he's new).

And yes, I realize I'm poking at everyone who poked at me yesterday. But really, Nogrod, your usual pontification on people who hide behind "in-character content" is not going to fly this time, I won't have it.

A fruitful approach to be sure... Must be the best way to pick the baddies. :rolleyes:

But for an odd reason speaks good about you.

This time? Like you'd been in this kind of situation before? Now where?

But seriously, you're clearly not getting what I said. If you just spend a whole Day saying "I'm going here, I'm going there, I'm doing this nice thing, I'm doing this good thing"... well surely you're not giving us a clue of what you actually think - or who would you vote - if you'd care to do that in the first place. And who would have reasons to hide their ideas? You can't claim easily you're the seer who might have reason for that as you're a bit to late for that now.

Sorry, no pontification, just notifying the fact that I suspect the way you come and go.

But I do have better candidates to suspect right now if that makes you feel any easier. I'm just sad you haven't made an effort thus far if you're an innocent.