[satansaloser2005]

Please note: This should have been posted yesterDay, but, well, you know, things. Still, I wrote the bloody thing, and must share if only for our sweet mod's amusement. I adjusted the math and stuff accordingly, and am still, as always, the backup plan. My loves, I think you'll see what I mean if you think back toward what I have said toDay.


Previously....

“Lynches happen. Every day – don’t they, village?” And now Sally’s voice was stronger as she addressed the group, who one by one heard her words, their vote power still in hand.

The villagers were unsure who to listen to this day, and accusations would soon be flashing in their hands. “Kill the most suspicious,” they all said, advancing.

Sally gave a soft shake of her head. “No,” she corrected. “++Sally.”

It was an odd phrase, and for the moment it brought everyone up short. Besides, what was Sally's plan this time? Where was the trap? “I don’t think I quite understand that.”

Sally held her vote still but she was smiling more deeply now. “I’ll be only too delighted to explain.” It was four against four now. One day left. (There may not even be that. She did not know. He could she know it would work?)

Slowly, carefully, she began to talk....



The reveal....

“I’m going to tell you something once and then whether you die or not is strictly up to you,” Sally said. The others simply stared at her. “What I’m going to tell you is this: kill me, and if you do, then I will take a wolf with me” –she glanced at each villager in turn, finally singling in on one particular person– “and you will be without one more innocent but also with one less wolf, and you will soon be free to go about your business. And if you choose to lynch unwisely, well, then, we will not all leave alive.”

“I expect to lynch a wolf,” Sally's victim said. “I think you are bluffing – you have seen others try this trick and many times it has lead to their victory, so you must doubt that we will actually kill you.”

“Possibly true,” Sally agreed, “and when the lynch comes remember that: I might indeed be bluffing. I could, in fact be saying this because I think I will come under suspicion today, or because I think a fellow to be in danger. All that, weigh carefully.”

“You are only alive now because you said ‘++Sally.’ I want that phrase explained.”

“My pleasure.” It was four against four now. One day left. She hoped she had more. She took a long pause, then started speaking. “Surely, you must have guessed I am no ordinary musician. I am, in fact, the town bard.”

“I am, in fact, not the least surprised or awed.”

“++Sally means this: If you lynch me and I have hunted poorly, death for me. If we lynch and I hunt well, death for me. But death on my terms.”

“Meaning?” Clearly Sally was setting up a trap. Accusations were at the ready.

“There are those of you who are credited with skill as a hunter, though I find that doubtful.”

The wolf smiled. Sally was taunting her. Why?

“And if you had hunted well, then surely, when you hunted before, you must have begun with the realization that you must die. A role with such complexity ends in death and if you paid attention, you would know that that is the only way this game can end. In death. Remember this: I will kill a werewolf. And I am a bard. We have our special tricks with songs.”

It was four against four now. “I am not unfamiliar with arranging lynches.”

“The first mistake you made was killing Inziladun. Then sweet Kath, who had barely even spoken. You attempted to make Aganzir look evil on the next Day. Then, when she protested to your accusations, you killed her as well. Three ordos is a fair average.” And now Sally was beginning to be aware of statistics she had previously not thought of, the fact that even after her death, the odds would not be much better for the village, but she spoke faster nonetheless, looking at each of them again. “Next, they slaughtered Pitchwife in his sleep. Perhaps they thought he had a gift. What next? Claiming Nerwen is the seer? Not even a chance. The game would be over by now. And then toDay there will be another lynch-”

“And then we will kill you, as we killed Bom, and then the game will end in victory?” Nerwen replied. Her fur was now showing.

“Wrong!” Sally’s voice rang across the room. “You will not kill me, because I will offer myself up to be lynched – every villager who lives on will marvel at my strategy, every remaining wolf that cries ‘That Sally, she showed us all’ will reverberate forever in every post on the Grimoire. That is what ‘++Sally’ means. It means that I leave the wolves to finish the game in fear, in terror, in the realization that you were bested by me until you are lynched one by one; so there you have it, villain, there you know, you blankity-blank werewolf, and I say this now, and live or die, it’s up to you: ++Sally!”

The villagers all stared in awe.

It was four against four.