Tol-in-Gaurhoth CXIV – The Evil Breath of Morgoth in Dor-lómin, game thread
 

“In the four hundred and sixty-ninth year after the return of the Noldor to Middle-Earth there was a stirring hope among elves and men; for the rumour ran among them of the deeds of Beren and Lúthien, and the putting to shame of Morgoth even upon his throne in Angband, and some said that Beren and Lúthien yet lived, or had returned from the Dead. In that year also the great counsels of Maedhros were almost complete, and with the reviving strength of the Eldar and the Edain the advance of Morgoth was stayed, and the Orcs were driven back from Beleriand. Then some began to speak of victories to come, and of redressing the Battle of the Bragollach, when Maedhros should lead forth the united hosts, and drive Morgoth underground and seal the Doors of Angband.

But the wiser were uneasy still, fearing that Maedhros revealed his growing strength too soon, and that Morgoth would be given time enough to counsel against him. “Ever will some new evil be hatched in Angband beyond the guess of elves and men”, they said. And in the autumn of that year, to point their words, there came an ill wind from the North under leaden skies. The Evil Breath it was called, for it was pestilent; and many sickened and died in the fall of the year in the northern lands that bordered on the Anfauglith.

In that year Túrin son of Húrin was yet only five years old, and Urwen his sister was three in the beginning of spring. […] Before the year was out […] the Evil Breath came to Dor-lómin.”


J.R.R. Tolkien: "The Children of Húrin"

Interlude, or a second Preface

Legends about the horrors of the Evil Breath spread fast before the wind itself. It surely was a most terrifying foe, only an endlessly dark mind like Morgoth’s could come up with. You couldn’t see it or touch it, you couldn’t smell it or taste it. Unlike orcs it didn’t bow to steel or stop with an arrow. No one knew where it was or what it was, but you could figure out its path where people suddenly dropped down sweating in sudden high fever and pain, having problems to breathe – and usually withering away in a few days.

Making things worse, there was no medicine that seemed to cure it. What followed was considered by many even more horrifying: the people infected had to be left on their own. There was to be no soothing of the sick and dying. The ill were left to face their agony and oftentimes imminent death alone, separated from their families and friends. It was pure cruelty.


~*~


As said earlier, before the outbreak of the Evil Breath things had looked much brighter. Late 469 F.A. the talk of the united hosts rising against Angband together had changed from vain hopes and empty bragging into some real negotiations between the different parties. And so it was that after promising to join the union of Maedhros, old Halmir, the Lord of the people of Haleth, was on a tour to meet his kin and other allies to discuss how to prepare for the coming war. The most important meeting for him was to discuss with brothers Húrin and Huor, the two great sons of Galdor the Tall.

They had agreed to have a counsel at Húrin’s village when autumn would start to turn into winter. That was settled long before there were any signs of what was to come and threaten the lands beneath Anfaughlith. When the news of this new evil finally started to spread autumn was already waning and Halmir had already set on his journey. When the stories reached these travelers on the road, it was too late to turn back.

Huor had suggested Halmir that they’d meet at the next village east from Húrin’s as he would be there before the counsel, just to settle some land-issues and aid in various defensive projects in the village. But instead of a celebration and a happy family-reunion by the fireside, the travelers met a grim and emptying village. Huor and his company had decided to stay and wait for Halmir as there were fresh rumours that Huor’s village was suffering a major outbreak of Morgoth’s Breath. It would have been too risky to try and reach home.

After a joyless and cold lunch under the empty roof of the chieftain’s house, the six travelers quietly saddled their horses. It was around midday when they headed west in the falling rain under the leaden skies, but there was no way of telling it was daytime, for it was dim and dusk like twilight.

Night 1
 

There had been rumours of the Evil Breath of Morgoth wrecking whole villages in Doriath and Brethil, and it was generally considered just a matter of time when it would enter Hithlum. Most villages introduced quickly strict “no-strangers” -policies to ward the ill wind off. With heavy hearts village after village shut their gates from desperate refugees, their fellow men running away from the Evil Breath. But even that didn’t seem to stop the outbreak.

There had been no infections in Húrin’s village thus far, but latest rumours had it, that even Huor’s village had not only shut its gates, but was under a vicious attack by Morgoth’s Breath. And now there were these dear members of the family and beloved kin at the gates asking to be let in. How do you deny your brother and mother safety? How do you deny your foster-parents? Húrin was wrestling with the decision.

Morwen was stern as ever and reminded her husband that as a warden of his people he was responsible for their lives – and his childrens’ lives. Húrin understood this well but was torn inside: what if they were healthy and he sent them to their deaths by denying them entrance? Didn’t Halmir say they had avoided any other refugees the last days they had seen them on the roads? Was he going to make an exception for his close relatives while coolly turning away other kinsmen in need of help? He knew what Turgon would do, but well, that was different.

So it was, that in the end he couldn’t deny his heart – and he ordered the gates to be opened. There were tears of both joy and angst in their eyes when they embraced, but some of the villagers were looking at it in fear, some cursing under their brows.

Even if the village of Húrin had been spared thus far, the villagers had gotten to bed uneasy for several nights already. Tonight, even those who had not yet given up to fear were troubled.


So good Night little Villagers. Let’s see what the rising winter sun brings with it.


Dramatis Personae

Húrin, of the House of Hador, master of Dor-lómin
Morwen Eledhwen, of the House of Bëor
Túrin, their son, 5-years old
Urwen “Lalaith”, their daughter, 3-years old

Ragnir, Húrin’s blind servant
Túrin’s nurse
Sador “Labadal”, Húrin’s one-legged woodwright

Aerin, a kinswoman of Húrin
Indor, Aerin’s father

Gethron, valiant old man
Grithnir, valiant old man
Asgon, strong and hardy villager
Andróg, hard-hearted man
Algund, an old warrior
Forweg, big and bold man

Old Halmir, of the House of Haleth, Warden of the Haladin
Haldir, the heir of Halmir, chieftain of the Haladin
Glóredhel, of the House of Hador, Haldir’s wife
Brandir – Haldir’s and Glóredhel’s grandson, fosterchild in Húrin’s house

Hareth, of the house of Haleth, Húrin’s & Huor’s mom, Haldir’s sister
Huor, brother of Húrin
Rían, of the House of Bëor, wife of Huor


NB. There will be a list of all the players in the start of Day1 – and after that. This seemed just a right place to bring all the characters of the story to this Thread.

PS. Sorry this is a few minutes late. I was too busy sending off roles... and I'll still have a lot of them to deal so don't worry if you haven't gotten one yet. A moment.

Day1
 

To their horror, the villagers found “the Badger”, a venerable old veteran of Dagor Bragollach and former bannerman of Hador Lórindol, dead from his lonely hut beside the gates. He had received that nickname from Hador himself who dearly loved his aid: for he was well known for his badgerlike build and perseverance, and on top of that, he’d had grey stripes in his hair already at young age.

“Oh, good old Badger”, Algund sighed.

“The lines are getting thinner…” murmured Grithnir.

”The Evil Breath is here”, stated Ragnir matter-of-factly.

”May it have been just the years that finally reached him?” Aerin asked. She looked tentatively around her: “I mean he sure was an old and fragile man.”

“You’re right kinswoman. We’re all getting a bit jumpy.” Hareth said steadying her voice. “Let us not allow the fear to enter our minds”.


“No Urwen, no!”, yelled Morwen suddenly and reached for her daughter who had just leapt forwards curious to see, what was it with the old man that they had all had to gather at his cottage for. Morwen held her in mid-dash and embraced her tightly. “My dear Lalaith, old Badger is no more. We should not go close to him, for he’s…”

“He is dead. Not sick.” Forweg put in, in his bold manner.

There was an uneasy silence.


“Yes, but we should all leave this house, just to be on the safe side.” said Sador finally.

“I say we burn it down.” added Indor.

“We’ll need to decide what to do with old Badger’s body and this hut, but first we need to try and find out, if anyone is actually infected. All those infected must be quarantined, for the sake of all others.” said Húrin, glancing at his wife.

“Are we going to exam also all the fancy folk, or is the quarantine only for us ordinary people?”, asked Andróg mockingly.

“This applies to everyone. You can start the examinations from me and my wife.” said Huor firmly. “There should be no exceptions.”

Túrin pulled his father’s sleeve: “Father, what does ‘ekzami… exameaning’ mean?”

“In this case?” Húrin turned to him and gave a pause. “I don’t know, my son… I really don’t know.”


~*~


Dead, yeas dead

Nogrod – “The Badger”, Mod (dead on Night1)


Hanging around

Thinlómien
Legate of Amon Lanc
Huinesoron
Loslote
Pitchwife
Kath
Galadriel55
Lhunardawen
Inziladun
Kitanna
A Little Green
Boromir88
Urwen
Lalaith
Brinniel
Eönwë
Macalaure
Rikae
Rune Son of Bjarne
THE Ka
Satansaloser2005
Shastanis Althreduin


It is Day1

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

So was that a coincidence, or did we just overload the Downs by all refreshing at once? :O

Oh no: not the Badger! Still, I've heard good things about this 'quarantine' technique, so hopefully he will be the last death this village sees. Double-hopefully, we can quarantine the ones who've brought this evil on us quickly, and restore health and prosperity not just here, but in all Dor-lomin.

I really wish I could stick around and tug any loose threads that show up in the early discussion, but unfortunately deadline pretty much = bedtime for me. Should give me lots to sift through in the morning, and maybe an unspoilt overview will be just the thing to spot an incautious Infector.

(Tell you what, I can't help wondering how some of these roles 'work' in the setting. I picture Baby Turin pointing at someone and yelling 'if they lock me up I'm coughing all over you!'. Possibly I spend too much time around small children. Grabby U/L and 'ekzami' certainly sound strikingly familiar. :) )

... okay, I had to try three times to type 'ezkami' right; I think I might be tired. See you all in the morning!

hS

Alas, for the old Badger, and for us all!

May nothing fair and peaceful be left to its own comfort in these evil days? Would that we had the life of the Eldar, that no sickness should bite us.

To the matter in hand, how do we say who is the next to carry the malady? If we wait to see symptoms, it could be already too late. Yet, what other way have we to take action?

x/d with Huey

Aaaand here we go again!:D


Let's see: village of 22, five of which are infectors. One out of four. Every fourth person. Starting from the top, and excluding myself, that's Lottie, Zil, Urwen (:eek:), Mac and Sally. There, case closed.:p


Also, out of the next four people posting after me, one is bound to be an infector, right?

Hmm? :confused:

Yes! You've already cracked the puzzle.

Well here I am the fourth to post...already one of us must be infected! :eek:

Or two, maybe? Zil has already as good as pleaded guilty - would you like to follow suit?

That was very fast, dear sir! Well, I mean, in these numbers, you may be on to something... but of course I would not exclude you from this. Ha! Anyone could say that! And more importantly, did you wash your hands? I have heard that Morgoth's Breath is contained the best... by... washing hands... okay okay, that sounds weird, I admit. Maybe by not breathing, then. In fact, a wise friend of mine said that if you hold your breath - like thus -------- and you don't start coughing, you are probably healthy. There! If everyone does this, case solved.

Can I also say that no matter the grave circumstances, it is wonderful to see you all again, kinspeople?

EDIT: x-ed with Zil, Lottie and Pitchwife

Goodness no. I have been washing my hands so often you can smell the soap from across the village, I assure you!

Checking in.

Maeglin: Why did you bring me? I am not a part of this game.
Me: True, but I hope your sharp eyes will help me spot the wolves.
Maeglin: Ah, that makes sense.

Seconded with sincerity.

Who's this Maeglin anyways?

x/d with Urwen

I certainly wouldn't expect you to.

As can be learned from the works of the great forensic surgeon Pontiius Pilate, washing your hands isn't all it's cracked up to be.

This!

Poor Badger! But all the more joy to the rest of us who can sit down together for a cup of herbal tea and solve his murder, right? *cracks knuckles* (Oh god it's been LONG and I absolutely love being here. :D)

What, are you suggesting we commit mass suicide? A very... cobbleresque suggestion :p


edit: xed with Pitchwife - and I have no idea what's Pontius Pilate got to do with all this :D

Wholeheartedly agree. :D

Easy: he demonstrated that washing your hands is no sign of innocence.

Well, it depends on why one is washing hands!

And unfortunately, we seem to have used up the village's supply of soap that was meant to last all year in just one night...we'll have to come up with another way to measuring guilt!

Well... I suppose, technically, if we all learn from RL examples and willingly quarantine ourselves *before* we get sick - i.e. if we all vote ourselves - the only people not to do so will be the baddies, and then Day 2 will be a breeze. Oh lord.


Aaaaand cue discussion about a no-vote Day 1!


~ With great love, as I missed you all too. :D

With creeping terror, I am starting to recall everything that is a part of being in a village like this... at least double lynches aren't possible.

My attempt at posting something of content (<- probably not a very good one)
 

I'm predicting a somewhat chaotic game, with this large a village and deadline that should work for most of us. (Personally I'm probably almost always going to be around the dl because it's midnight in my time zone and I'm a temporarily unemployed night owl.) Like I'm imanining multiple crossposted votes in the minutes before deadline. I wanted to suggest avoiding this by consciously trying to spread the vote a little, but then again, the last minute flurry can be pretty telling afterwards. :D But in case someone is wondering, I'm not saying that toDay should amount into a shot in the dark if we can avoid it. I'm still staunchly in camp "Day1 can and does matter" and I'm watching you all. :p

Also once we have the quarantine let's just be mindful not to focus too much on speculating about that, right? Unless the first person who goes there is a wolf, it would be pretty funny to see how a known dead wolf would vote!

Which almost led me to say "hey dudes, let's lynch a wolf toDay, that would be a really good idea"... well.... surprise. ;)


edit: xed with everyone and loving this game

Yknow, I really think you're onto something here! And frankly, with five wolves, I don't think we can afford not to try to lynch one Day 1.

The sheer number of players will play havoc with my ADHD. ;)

Speculating on what those there are doing? No point. It's difficult (though not impossible!) to see a wolf being the first gone, but if that happened it could be useful.

Wolf! Woolf! :p

x/d with Lottie

Lol. :D Though this made me think: why didn't the No Lynch debate ever bring up fake votes? Like each person says who they would vote for, but not actually vote. So you have a tally, but no lynch.

See, it takes some distance (of a few years! :eek:) to move an idea forward! :p

Yeah, but on the flip side with 5 wolves it should be so much easier statistically. A 1/4 chance that only grows with each innocent death. I'm not sure if the bigger numbers are in fact a hindrance to the Wolves rather than a help. *rubs hands eagerly*


Edit: crossed with Zil

:D:D

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Yeah, well, with quick maths: if the gifteds & cobbler fail to play a role, then 5 wolves still means we have to go 6 days without lynching a wolf to lose immediately. But I think if we lynch the first wolf only on Day6 we're nonetheless pretty deep in trouble. So the sooner we start mowing them down and collecting clues, the better.

And an absolutely useless tally when no one has to put their money where their mouth is!

You were right, that was zero content :p

But anyway, as for now... I think I might reserve making any more specific judgments for after at least majority of villagers have posted, which is incidentally a number that is... insane, because there really are so many of us. But since this will be bedtime for me soon, I expect that by the time I get up again majority will have posted. Those who are here now are fairly active already, but hey, we can't all be Wolves, right? Or... *dun dun dun dun* (No, that's not a pun on Inziladun. OR IS IT?)

That's an interesting thought anyway, given the numbers - of course statistically spread, one would imagine the WWs appearing throughout the Day gradually to post, but it may be of course that no Wolf has posted yet, or all have (much less likely). Just a sort of reminder (to myself, but of course to you too) when analysing. (This whole thing came from my musing about waiting for majority of players to post... because indeed, what if there haven't been any WWs thus far?)

Speculation mode off.

Oh look! I succesfully managed to write half a page long post about nothing. Well done, I'm back on track with playing Werewolf, it seems.

EDIT: x-ed with G55 and Lommy

No, no. We older folks don't need it more complicated. ;)

You'd think higher numbers would be better, but it seldom seems to shake out that way...

x/d with Legate

:D

Fishy fishy fake reasonable! :p What kind of statement is this! Who in Arda *would* judge anyone/ decide their Day1 vote based on these handful of posts???

Anyway yeah, it's getting late irl, I'm signing off now and I'll be back within 12h. Have fun and please provide me something to analyse in the "morning". :Merisu:

Hey, THAT is actually a pretty good idea. Because seriously. It would kinda force the Wolves' hands (or tongues). I like that. I mean people can of course flip-flop later, but it isn't easy. I like it. I wholeheartedly second it. Let's do this!

(Seriously, it seems to me like something that should have come up like, years ago? :D What's wrong with people?)

Well one would of course expect them to do so! And anyway, things would change as people vote, but... a sort of a "dry run" would do no harm, I say.

For example by making a "fake" DL before the actual one (for instance three hours before the actual DL? Anyway some people may really vote by that time, but that doesn't harm the experiment, quite the opposite). As in (especially during later days) without knowing the QT vote. May be interesting to see then how the idea changes etc.

EDIT: x-ed since my last

Yes. For the baddies.

Please let's not.

Well, since in this game the first to be tied is lynched I'd expect there to be a little less chaos in the last minutes before deadline, less people holding back their vote till the last possible second. So, hm, let me think, couldn't 'spreading the votes a little' be a safe tactic for wolves as long as there's enough votes for a non-wolf?

You don't say!:D

You know, if G55 hadn't brought up the topic of a no lynch D1 this would be about the most non-committal thing you could possibly say. (As in, when can we ever afford not to try to lynch a wolf?)

I mean, you're not wrong. I didn't think G55's mentioning a no-lynch was worth strongly disagreeing with, but I did want to make it clear I was not in favor of it. I also thought that would be pretty clear in context, though maybe I underestimated Day 1 jumpiness. :p

Don't many do this anyway, as in saying whom they suspect and might vote for? And those who don't, voting quickly and seemingly haphazardly, are rightly questioned.

Cue my usual "a no lynch plays to the baddies" quote.

x/d with Lottie

Hey guys! I've come bearing gifts - masks, hand sanitizer, soap, and most importantly...toilet paper! Now I better see you all using these items - we wouldn't want to spread any diseases now, would we? :Merisu:

On a more serious note, I do find larger numbers to be trickier as it is easier for the baddies to hide in large groups. I expect our wolves will be a mix of quiet and more talkative folk.

No, no, no, no, and no. The fact that this was ever brought up in a previous game seems insane! While there is always a risk of lynching an innocent, the Day is best shot at getting a wolf. If we don't lynch anyone they likely have one up on us by the following Day.

I do hope everyone is practicing good personal hygiene. No breathing, sneezing, coughing, or otherwise expelling air into other people's faces. It's the only way to survive Morgoth's Breath from what I've heard. That and obsessively washing of the hands.

Perhaps it was just you and your nefarious ways, eh? Crashing the server and whatnot. Shame.

Seems very scientific and definitely not suspicious. :rolleyes: /sarcasm

Sounds about right...

I certainly laughed extremely loud at this.

Driven by you? :p

I actually agree about chaos at DL. It seems to fall at a remarkably convenient time for a lot of people and it will create a lot of fodder for the following day. So, that'll create some hilarious tension.

And yet I believe it has happened....? Misguided innocents swayed by super clever wolfsies.
I'm having flashbacks of all the brutal ways in which WW has seen me killed. I'm not at all stressed out about this game after so long. Not me. YOU'RE STRESSED OUT!!

OK, Legate, let me ask you: What exactly do we have to gain from the kind of fake vote you're suggesting?
If it is just that, a fake vote with no real lynch as per G55, we've effectively wasted a day, nobody has to fear the consequences of their vote because without a lynch, we won't know whether they voted for an innoent or a wolf, and the wolves can go wolf-on-wolf to their hearts' content witrh no danger to any of them.
If it's just that people announce beforehand whom they are planning to vote, and the vote takes place later, and we compare what people said before to how they actually voted, how is this different from what we usually do?
This strikes me as a pseudo-useful suggestion/discussion. *ping*

Well, don't you look at the whole gestalt of a person's posts before voting, including the early handful of posts (which is actually growing quite big for a handful :eek:)? Dismissing early posts because of the "nothing really happens" argument is dismissing part of the evidence.

Ok, cobbler much? Even I don't like my idea with so much enthusiasm. I was mainly kinda curious if that tack has ever been tried - and why not, cause it's marginally less bad than the No Votes At All camp.

But speaking of dry-runs, yeah, making people actually cast a fake vote forces them to select one person they wanna off, instead of making lists which can be quite vague. But putting a -3h deadline just adds more chaos in the last bit of the Day, don't you think?

Not even for the good old times? :Merisu: Nah, I'm not actually arguing in favour of it. It just seems such an integral part of Day 1. :D

Ummm... Again, please? Sorry, not sure what you mean. As in spreading the votes in time? I understand how spreading the vote among multiple candidates can help the wolves pick the one they prefer to be offed, but I don't get what you're getting to here.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts!



Edit: crossed with Kit and Pitch

Checking in. My, what a noisy village this is going to be.

I'm here to represent the We Hate Day Ones club (or whatever its name ever was). And as much as I agree that with 5 wolves it is statistically more likely to lynch one on Day 1... Well, let's see what the Day brings.

Meanwhile I shall work, with my anachronistic N95 mask on and this newfangled potion called alcohol. I hope these will be enough to protect me from the Evil Breath. :eek:

(Now this, this post has no helpful content whatsoever. :p)

Gosh I missed this and echo the ensuing crazy that will take place in the cross postings and flurry voting.

I want all working theories to the table, no matter how absurd, or risky, or impossible as they might seem.

Is it even too late to go into complete isolation? Can we all just go home and take an oath to keep to ourselves? Large gatherings in an outbreak just seems completely the opposite of the right thing to do.

Then again with a deadly infection such as this, the only way to be rid of it is to kill it at the source. Healing can't take place until the source is removed and the wound sterilized. Is burning the dead body the proper thing to do? I've never been quite good at understanding the correct method of disposing the bodies of the infected. Lynching doesn't seem to be enough.

Then again, again, when has anything gone according to plan? We plan, and plan, and plan. Then 30 minutes before we're forced to decide we start a new plan and all hell breaks loose.

Edit bunch of crossposting