WW LXXXVII - The Valley Forge
 

The dwarves of Erebor have fallen into dark times. A threat has come from the Dark Lord Sauron. His Nazgul demand allegiance, in reward for which of three Dwarven rings will be given. King Dáin wants nothing to do with it and has twice put off the messenger. But the messenger is going to come again, a third and last time, and he wants an answer, or war may break out.

But there is also a growing threat from within. Some dwarves do not like the king’s decision. They know the folly of defying Lord Sauron, and they also know that power could be gained if they received the three promised rings. A small group of dwarves in one corner of the community has decided to take matters into their own hands. They have formed a party, made themselves a name, and created a secret society. During the day, they attempt to persuade their fellow dwarves to rise in a revolt against the king and take what is offered them from Lord Sauron. At night, they go forth and execute any who stand in their way, making examples of them for anyone else who wishes to stand against them.

King Dáin knew not how to put down this inward uprising and deal with the traitors. He sent trusted dwarves down to the area where the killings were occurring, but these dwarves were murdered or sent back with their beards shaven and with the society’s brand imprinted on their shoulder.

Finally, one dwarf stepped forward and promised results, or his life forfeit. “Indeed,” the king told him grimly, “your life will be forfeit. For if you fail to bring down this uprising, those members of the Valley Forge will save me the trouble of removing your head.”

The dwarf bowed and withdrew from the king’s presence and set himself the task of learning the workings of the society of the Valley Forge. When he deemed himself ready, he traveled to the corner of Erebor where the Forge held its reign of terror. He quickly blended into the darkest parts and amongst the darkest dwarves of the place. In time, he was brought before the Forge’s leader, questioned, put through the trials of a new member, and permitted to enter into the society.

But in secret, he had already planted the first seeds of his real work. He had stirred the people up with ideas and rumors. The terrified dwarves were tired of being bullied and killed at whim, and as the king seemed to be doing nothing about it, they would do something for themselves. It was decided that they must purge the place of the evil dwarves, and each day a trial would be held and each night, they would decide on who was most likely to be part of the Valley Forge. And for such dwarves, there was only one punishment: death.

Night One begins in five minutes.

Players
Sally
Inzil
Nerwen
Boro
Galadriel
Eruhen
Bom
Glirdan
Finduilas
Rikae
McCaber
Wilwarin
Pitchwife
the Phantom
Mithalwen

Night One

Their gathering place was dark, save for a few burning torches that flickered in the brackets on the wall. At the far end of the room, a fire burned. He stood facing a golden bearded dwarf who questioned him while the other members of the Forge stood in the shadows.

“You know the purpose of our company?”

“I do. It is to persuade our fellow dwarves to take the wisest course of action in regards to Lord Sauron’s offer.”

“And you are of one mind with us?”

“I am. It is our duty to remove any obstacles that stand in our way to accomplishing our goal.”

“And you are willing to endure the tests to join us?”

“I am.”

The dwarf nodded his head to another standing behind dwarf being thus questioned. Immediately, a black cloth was bound across his eyes.

“If you are brave enough, take two steps forward.”

The black bearded dwarf felt the sharp prick of a blade’s point at his chest, but he did not hesitate as he took two steps forward, pushing boldly against it. The pressure melted away as he advanced and from the dwarves surrounding him, there was an approving murmur.

“While working with us, you must trust and obey orders explicitly. If you are able and willing to do so, walk forward and do not stop until I tell you.”

This time, there was no obstacle in his way and he strode forward, blind as he was, until he had taken five strides and he felt the heat of the fire on his face and hands. Still he walked on, until he felt he must be about to step into the very flame. Then the commanding dwarf said from behind – “Stop!” He stopped, and waited, the heat from the furnace beating upon him. Then he was ordered to step back three steps.

“The final test is that of pain. Can you endure it?”

“I can.”

Immediately, his right arm was seized by the shoulder and elbow. The sleeve was torn open and then he growled fiercely while biting back a cry as a burning such as he had never endured during his work at his forge pressed against his shoulder. They released him and the blind fold was removed from his eyes.

“Welcome our newest companion,” the Forge leader said. “Galin Ironfist is now one of us.”

Galin turned, his eyes blazing with a dull, dark fire. His shoulder throbbed where the sign of the Valley Forge was branded into his flesh. He looked from beneath his dark brows from one member to the next, memorizing their faces, and thinking silently to himself,

So. Now I know. These they are that I must bring down, or go down in my attempt.

Night one has begun. Forge members may PM each other. Sweetheart, send me your names.

Players
Sally
Inzil
Nerwen
Boro
Galadriel
Eruhen
Bom
Glirdan
Finduilas
Rikae
McCaber
Wilwarin
Pitchwife
the Phantom
Mithalwen

Day One

The tests being completed and the ordeals well born, the new member of the Valley Forge was welcomed in on the meeting. He did not speak much, but he listened very attentively to the proceedings. They spoke at length of what the Forge’s next actions should be, and the threats related to their occupation.

“There’s dark work being done,” one dwarf said. “The dwarves here are becoming fierce.”

“What do you expect? I say we’ve pushed them too hard, too fast.”

“It’s not our fault. We’re just doing what’s best. We don’t have very much time. Lord Sauron’s messenger will be returning soon – we must have enough dwarves on our side before he returns.”

“You both are on the wrong scent,” a third dwarf observed. He looked dangerous, and his voice was grim as he spoke. He cast a glance about the circle of dwarves. “King Dáin has sent another dwarf to put a stop to us. I’ve heard rumor of him in the streets, but I’ve never gotten a chance to clap eyes on the fellow. If I had, our job would be easy.” He drew his finger across his throat in an unmistakable gesture. "But he’s trickier than the others Dáin has sent. He’s avoided detection while at the same time he’s caused unrest among the dwarves. They’re ready to strike against us, the fools, and I have little doubt it will come to violence.”

“We must take down the King’s dwarf and therefore take away their driving force.”

“How do we do that?”

“Find someone he has had contact with and question them.”

“I know of one. Many of the messages and word has come from her, so I believe she must be in close contact with him. It is Folwren.”

The leader of the Forge drove his fist into his knee as he growled a curse. “We should have dealt with her a long time ago.” He looked about at his dwarves and then nodded in decision. "I and two others will take care of this. Galin Ironfist, this shall be your first mission. Who else? Frer. Good. Come, then.”

Through the dark of night, the three companions stole through the streets of the village. They came to Folwren’s home, a low stone house standing alone. Galin was ordered within. “Use your knife,” they told him. "Make it quiet and swift. We may be in danger here if she is in close contact with the king’s messenger. We will stand watch outside.”

Galin slipped within and found Folwren fast asleep on her bed. He slipped a hand over her mouth and she woke with a gasp. He warned her to be silent and then let her go. “What are you doing here?” she whispered. “Do you not know it is dangerous?”

He nodded his head and said close to her ear, “I am part of the Forge now. I have come with two companions and they have sent me in to kill you.”

There was a long pause and then Folwren murmured. “I see. You must do it, of course. There is no other way.”

“Yes,” was all he said.

“You must find someone to help you in your purpose. Someone you can trust and send ahead to warn people, for you cannot do it yourself.”

“I will try.” He reached beneath the folds of his cloak and drew his dagger. “I am sorry.”

Folrwen took his hand and guided the dagger point above her heart. She looked him straight in the eye. “So that others may be saved, I die. We are both servants of the king, and this is a war that must be fought. Do what you know must be done and do not regret it.”

A moment later, muffled bootsteps crept across the floor of the house and voice whispered in the darkness, “Ironfist! Is it finished?”

“Aye,” he said, aloud. “It is done and I have written the warning.”


The next morning, when a neighboring dwarf found Folwren’s body, he also found a parchment with writing in blood.

She aided the enemy of the Forge, and thus shall be the fate of all who try to stand against us.

Day One has begun.

Alive
Sally
Inzil
Nerwen
Boro
Galadriel
Eruhen
Bom
Glirdan
Finduilas
Rikae
McCaber
Wilwarin
Pitchwife
the Phantom
Mithalwen

Dead
Folwren - Moddess

here we go...
 

I’m sure everyone else has thought of this already, but I just want to be the first one to say it.

King’s Dwarf- please die as soon as possible- as in the first two days. The instant you die and we see your role revealed, we can simply look at which individuals you suspected and lynch them, and presto! Game over. Good guys win. And if the bad dwarves figure out immediately Day 1 that you're the KD, so what? What are they going to do about it? Kill you? *snicker*

Sweetheart- find the King’s Dwarf as soon as possible, as once you find him it will make it more likely that he will die (due to him protecting you at night plus once you know who he is you can lynch him).

Now obviously KD, you can’t purposefully try and die too obviously, as that would count as revealing, but I’m sure you’re clever enough to figure something out. You know which people are likely to bite back if you attack them and so on.

And quick word of advice to the Sweetheart- don’t waste your time. I’m quite busy with my smithing, digging, and other dwarf stuff and have no interest in starting a family at the moment. Plus you’re just not my type. Uuuuuuuugly.

(Though I'm not sure why I bothered to say that. No doubt I was one of the people checked by the Sweetheart on the first night. Everyone wants a piece of Phantom.)

Be back later. Have fun.

Sweetie, you wouldn't want to have kids with him anyway. He already neglects the one he's got, so what would he do with more?



Phantom is clearly evil, regardless of his possible role. We should lynch him straightaway.

Yay, I'm playing a WW game!!!! It's been so long, hopefully I'm not too rusty.

So KD is like a reverse cobbler, the baddies think he's one of them, but he really wants them dead? That's pretty brilliant. And if he can give a heads up to the watchdwarf that should decrease the number of night kills substantially. But we need to kill the KD in order to win, right? So really everyone wants him dead, but the baddies want him dead ASAP, while we'd maybe like to keep him around a bit longer so he can help out the watchdwarf. Hopefully I'm understanding this all correctly.

I don't work til much later tomorrow, so I should be able to come on quite a bit toDay.

Ideally, the KD would be the last Forge member alive, and could hopefully then make xemself so suspicious so as to be an obvious lynch choice. A tough job, though.

And as phantom said, the KD could certainly give clues to help ferret out xyr packmates as well.

*cough* Would the Weredwarves care to reveal?

. . .

No? Ah well.

I am here but sleepy so I might have a little sleep since nothing really to add save to express my deep joy that even in the first post Phantom is telling people what to do. That went badly last time ...may be time to revive my prejudice against first posters. Maybe the sweetheart just isn't that into him....

And if I am going into irrational prejudice (and appalling heartburn encourages such things) BT's invitation to the Dwarves just rings alarm bells. One to watch maybe. Night all....

Good thinking there - provided that the KD would be willing to sacrifice his personal winning condition for the sake of a village victory. Also, KD, try to get lynched rather than Night-killed to avoid a double kill.

Like this as well. If nothing else, finding each other will make both your lives a little easier for a while - though maybe shorter; anyway, once you have found the KD and while he's alive, you should strive for the reverse manner of death (i.e. Night-kill rather than lynching).

Now this looks just like you're one of those Dwarves who prefer ogling long-legged elven blondes to doing their duty for the proliferation of our kind. No wonder we Khazâd are a dwindling race.

Depends on who you mean by we:p. Technically, we don't, as he counts as an innocent in the tally IIRC - but phantom's plan does have a certain appeal.

Naughty boy! Reveals are forbidden, remember? Or are you trying to get the Forgers modfired? If so, nice attempt, but I don't think it'll be that easy.

What do you mean, "sacrifice his personal winning condition"? All I see in the rules is this-
So if he fingers the forge members then gets himself killed, and then we lynch the baddies, he wins.

The rules don't say he has to live to achieve victory. It merely says he wins if the baddies die. So if he hands us the knowledge to kill the baddies, it doesn't matter if he lives or dies. It isn't truly a sacrifice on his part, it's an intelligent strategic move. The KD has no reason not to be on board with this so far as I can tell.

(No doubt the Forge members in their conversations at night have tried or will try to convince the KD that he has some sort of reason to play nice, or worry about dying, etc. in order to fool him into giving up his power. Hopefully he sees through their mind games.)
Nope. It would be preferable to lynch the KD on Day 1. Then when we see his identity, we'll look back at his posts and see he suspects persons X, Y, and Z, and then we lynch them, knowing that they are the Forge members.

And like I said, it doesn't matter if the KD goes after the Forge hardcore during the day, because they'll be too terrified to off him at night, as it would reveal their own identity.

Can anyone see anything wrong with this?

Quick note to the KD- if you're on board with the plan, don't suspect the Forge members too early in the day before anyone else is showing any suspicions, as that would be too obvious- particularly if you strongly suspect exactly three people too early on, as that would possibly qualify under Foley's rules as a "reveal", thus sabotaging the game.

I want to lynch you, but I don't want to ruin things by getting you modfired. ;)

I'm back!

Er, yes, that's . . . exactly what I was doing . . . :rolleyes:

I forgot phantom joined the crew, but alas he had to make sure we all remembered within the first 10 seconds.

Whatever.

You know good and well you squealed and wet yourself with excitement when you saw my name on Foley's list.

"Alas," you say? A wolf desperately trying to kill the second-deadliest member of the village day 1? Not unlikely, I think. :D

EDIT; X'd with the phantom.

I was about to take offense at this, but then I remembered that under this setup the KD is technically more deadly than Phantom.

Ugh, it kills me to admit that.

I'm afraid among other males only Jon Stewart could get that reaction from me. There was a time when I appreciated the brazen ego with the brilliant intellect. I didn't think it possible your ego could get any bigger, but that's what blind hero-worship does.

The irrational side of me wants nothing more than to see you lynched, but the utiltarian in me says you're so remarkably useful it would be foolish to waste a dwarf of your talents.

But what about..... SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHH!!!!

:smokin:

hehe, ok you're right about that too. I fell in love last pre-season when he tossed a QB around like a rag doll, and then right out of the gates this year he nearly ripped the head off of another one.

Oh wait, this is werewolf. Ok, werewolf we're playing, lets try to lynch an evil dwarf by sheer random luck today. Is all luck, random?

I have nothing to add to the discussion so far, except that this is going to be an interesting game. It seems that we have been cursed to live in interesting times.

Hmm, interesting. The N1 narration says
I read that as an exclusive or, but it could actually be inclusive, so the KD might be allowed to share a village victory even if dead, more or less like a cobbler earning bragging rights by sacrificing themselves to help the wolves win. Revisiting the rules, it looks like you're probably right.

As long as it's not Jon Snow...

Until someone convinces me otherwise I'm trying to kill the KD today actually. But as you said, any effort will require some luck.

This looks like the loudest beginning of Day One ever.

Well, you can't win if you're dead. The way I understood it is that the KD wins if he's alive and all the Forge members are dead. If he dies during the game, but the Forgers are also eliminated, then he doesn't lose. But doesn't win either.

THIS. If we only knew which side those talents are on...

Bom, I think I'm used to your weird joke-posting ways, but that "wolves - reveal!" was just plain silly.

Nothing really. Except -

We are just as likely to lynch the wrong person. You might as well call it a reveal if we all agree that everyone except for the KD should do something/say something/ etc. If the KD realy stands out by acting suspicious on purpose, it amounts to the same thing. It's like, "ok, KD, we all step back and you make yourself look like a wolf, and then we know who you are". It's the revealing-without-actually-revealing scenario.

So we would have to find the KD based on "trying to look ordinary like everyone else" behaviour. And that brings us back to the classical WW game plan. We're just as likely to lynch a a notable ordo as the KD. Or get the Watchdwarf or sweetheart. Or fenris a wolf.

I'm not really sure if what I just said makes sense. It probably doesn't. I don't even remember what was my point when I started writing this. :rolleyes: But anyways, I have nothing against that plan, except that maybe we should give equal attention to the wolves as the KD instead of focusing only on the latter.

Edit: xed with Eruhen, Pitch, and tp

Nothing to add? What about your opinion of Phantom's scheme? (Even though he won't accept anything short of "brilliant"... :p)

But yes, definitely cursed to live in, as you put it, interesting times... Mith will like this reference...

We need Bilbo. He's always lucky.

Unfortunately, he's way west of this Mountain, retired in Rivendell; so no luck, I'm afraid.

Anyway, bedtime for me. See you all (and some others, hopefully) in the morning.

*snicker* Not even close, m'dear. We're still on the first page. ;)
Since when? This has always been a team game. If your team is the last one left standing, then you win- particularly if in life or in death you aided the efforts of your teammates. Now seriously, stop this business of trying to convince the KD that he isn't a winner if he dies. It really looks suspicious. Seriously, it does.
I already addressed that here. That will make things easier for him, not to mention I plan on doing my part to provide cover to him (by starting to suspect people as the day wears on). If other people have suspects then it will keep him from looking too obvious. Of course it will be more difficult to identify him that way, but we'll just have to leave it to him and hope he can manage to get himself killed without wearing a "kill me" sign.

Heh- it's lucky that I'm not the KD. That's the one thing I'm not particularly good at- getting lynched. :p

Well, if you want my opinion of Phantom's plan, the terms 'insane', 'wild-goose chase', and 'disturbingly lupine' spring immediately to mind. I'm going to need to think about it more, though.

Seems to me that while lynching the KD is the way to go (if the other option is having him killed and potentially losing the Sweetheart too), doing so on Day 1 seems counter-productive, especially since the Watchdwarf will then be shooting in the dark (or would that be 'Dark'?) as to who to protect during the Nights.

A great deal of luck. Singling out someone as potentially evil because they're making allegations or whatnot, is basically what happens all the time, and gets innocents lynched.

I think that sort of thing might be frowned upon by the moddess, judging from things she's said in the Admin Thread (*cough* Sally *cough*) ;)

x/d with Pitch, tp, and Eruhen.

Come now, that doesn't make sense. You think it's good to kill the KD, but not at the start?!

The later the game wears on the more dire our situation becomes, and the less we can afford to make an incorrect lynch. Right at the start is the perfect time to lynch the KD.

And who cares if the Watchdwarf doesn't know what to do so long as we know precisely who the Forge members are. Not to mention how much guidance can the KD really give the Watchdwarf? He has to send his instructions before the night conversations have even started, and once those start the other Forge members are going to be wary of any of their number attempting to push a certain candidate, particularly if that same Forge member spent the day suspecting the other Forge members.

Which would certainly be a disadvantage, to be sure. The KD would have to give unmistakable hints as to xyr mates to make it worthwhile.

Ah. Forgot about the timing of the Watchdwarf's message. That makes sense, then. Well, let's see what the Day brings, whether the KD xemself approves.

Phantom, I can't see how your plan is any different than what normally happens on Day 1. Accusations and innuendos are thrown around, nothing can really be determined because we have no prior votes to go off of, and everyone ends up lynching whoever is most suspicious to them.

Odds are that we'll probably end up just offing an ordo, like usual. It's going to take a lot of luck to either get a fenris or make the KD dance the hemp fandango.

I just don't see how the KD could potentially make xymself a target without breaking our moddess' 'no reveals' rule, as both G55 and Inzil have stated.

After a little nap and peppermint
 

The veteran newscaster and one time vice-chancellor or one of my alma maters? Rather random choice and personally I would prefer his rather dashing young cousin Dan but each to their own.....

Hmm Eruhen, I don't think we have met but you amuse me. You might be a keeper.... Galadriel you know me too well..... :D I suppose I ought to go to bed instead of listening to some woman fretting about motherhood. Don't know why she is bothering she appears to have called her daughter Cocoa which is pretty much total fail from get go..... presumably any future siblings will be Horlicks and Ovaltine... rambling now but I needed to share the lunacy...

The difference is that we don't lynch the most suspicious person this time, but rather we try and lynch the KD. Not that our chances are astronomical, but it requires a slightly different process.
It's possible. Not easy, but possible. Especially if you have people like me floating around just itching to make the lynch.

"Floating"? "Itching"? The mystery is solved. The phantom is a mosquito. :p

Or not. At any rate, tp is doing his usual to bring the focus on him from the get-go.

Seems there are quite a few who have yet to make an appearance toDay.

I'm going to assume they're thinking like me, and that is waiting for phantom's brilliance to win. Why pile on more work for yourself now, right?

I think I can predict Day 2 discussion already...It's going to be phantom's genius is obviously too advanced for the time, and thus has no chance to succeed. Everyone scraps the idea completely and ignores it. Some will argue tp deserves to be lynched for it, others will defend him with much gusto and flair. Some will choose to look at votes to cast suspicion, some will fling out the most outrageous claims based on gut feelings, some won't have our best interest at hearts, and some will continue to vote randomly do to lack of time.

The positive news is there really can be no disastrous lynches on Day 1, as too often you see with gifteds getting lynched early. I mean, the one we most don't want to lynch would be the Watchdwarf, because I think tp's biggest point is the KD would serve us better as a known dead than an unknown cobbler against the Forge.

Oh dear, how terribly confusing.

I think it would be rather unfun if the KD did stuff purposely to die. I don't think that the plan is fool-proof, though of course, any werewolf strategy usually isn't (that is, if werewolf is enough like Mafia for me to be able to say that). And also, Phantom suggested that the Sweetheart be a turncoat and do her best to get the fellow killed. That's just wrong... from a story point of view. As to whether it's logical game-wise, I'll think about it as I lay in bed tonight thinking about evil dwarves. Not that me thinking it logical changes anything... But it would still be wrong...

Um, on a side note as an ignorant beginner, what does e/x, exed, xed stand for?

I suppose that's true. Any lynch of a non-wolf is bad, but here the odds of hitting the Watchdwarf are pretty low. Then again, how often have Seers been lynched on Day 1? :rolleyes:


All are ways to indicate you've cross-posted with someone.