Tol-in-Gaurhoth XXII: Hic Monstrae Trucidant

[Kath]

The roles:

Ordinary Villagers - The Ordinary Villagers post during the Day and decide whom to lynch. They are silent at Night.

Seer - Each Night, the Seer chooses one villager to dream about and PMs their choice to me. The role of that villager will be revealed. The Changeling, however, will appear as an Ordinary Villager.

Ranger - Each Night, the Ranger chooses one villager to protect and PMs their choice to me. The Werewolves then cannot kill that person during that Night. The Ranger cannot protect themselves, and cannot protect the same person two Nights in a row.

Hunter - Each Night, the Hunter chooses one villager to take down with them in case they are killed and PMs their choice to me.

Changeling - Each Night, the Changeling chooses one villager and takes on that villagers role. In the event of becoming a wolf the chosen wolf may not take part in the Night's discussions but nor may the Changeling, and the Changeling chooses who will be killed that Night.


The rules:

Votes will be cast throughout the day, and must be put on a separate line and bolded, like so:

++KATH

The votes will be retractable, with as many changes of vote as wanted permitted. The last name voted for at the deadline will be counted.

There will be no double lynches. If there is a tie the first person to have reached the most number of votes will be lynched.

The deadline will be 11pm GMT. Any posts after this time at Night will be ignored.

Dead players may not post.

No player can use PMs to verify anything they say.

Editing is only allowed to correct spelling/grammar mistakes, to go back and bold/italicize something or to say who you have cross-posted with if that happens.

All players must be in Invisible Mode.


The players:

Lhuna - traveller with absolutely no sense of direction
Cailín - tragedienne
Nilp - ex-world champion in chess
Fea - confectionist
Celuien - ketchup grower
Form - homeless wanderer
TGWBS - Pokémaster
Lommy - AA-adviser
Nogrod - owner of ME's first hamburger restaurant
lmp - gravedigger
Tom - tree surgeon
Caran - town poet
Findëasëa (from now called Fin) - alpaca herder
spawn - lumberjackess
Mith - aura consultant
morm - butcher
Durelin - ninja
Boromir - undercover assassin
Sauce - retired Arda-famous chariot racer and playboy millionaire

The game will begin at 11pm GMT. Do not post before then.

[Kath]

In the sleepy town of Animalia life was easy and quiet. The villagers lived in harmony with the animals that surrounded them, and went about their daily lives with good-natured humour, and their nights without fear. Until, on a dark and stormy night, life for the villagers changed forever.

A flash of lightning illuminated a shape slinking through the trees. The movement was followed by hundreds of bright little eyes, the animals were watching. The shadow moved into a clearing lit by the moon, and it seemed to the watchers that it grew and changed shape, until the body of a man was clear through the foliage. As it straightened, the sound of footsteps could be heard amid the thunder, and moments later three more humans stepped into the clearing. This was clearly designed to be a meeting of some kind.

The four humans moved towards each other, the three heading towards the one, until they met in the middle. As they were speaking in Human, the creatures around them couldn’t understand a word, but they didn’t need to understand to know that a very heated debate was going on, and whatever it was about, the shapeshifter was losing.

The watchers observed as he, it, stepped away from the others, apparently conceding to them. The newcomers began to walk back across the clearing, but turned as an unearthly howl arose from behind them. They froze in horror at the sight that met their eyes, but barely had time to scream before the beast attacked. Leaping on each person in turn it bit them and moved onto the next, until all three were lying on the ground, bleeding from their wounds. Slowly, their attacker dragged them across the clearing, laying them down in a patch of moonlight shining through the heavy clouds above.

Under the watchful gaze of those amidst the trees, the maimed bodies began to change, with limbs lengthening and hair sprouting and teeth growing sharp until they barely resembled humans at all, but rather the ominous form of wolves. Cautiously they rose to their four paws, keeping a wary eye on and distance between each other, and the one that had turned them. Though they formed a circle as they rose there was an obvious leader, and it was that creature that began a strange almost musical growling, as though the wolves, werewolves, were speaking to each other.

The noise was low and strangely hypnotic, and the animals watching soon found themselves caught deep within a trance-like state. They listened in delight, but suddenly the growling changed and became angry. Waking, the creatures saw an arrow shoot from the very edge of the clearing and strike the leader right in the heart. It howled, an unearthly sound that sent shivers through the woods. It was a note of finality, a herald of death, and indeed death soon followed. Whatever had shot it had already disappeared through the woods and back towards the village, and as they stared into the clearing the sky began to clear, allowing more moonlight through the clouds to illuminate the scene below.

Lying in the middle of the space was a giant wolf, with features like that of a man gone wild, and clearly dead. The remaining three were clustered around it, and began their musical speech again. The animals did not need to know the tongue to understand, the wolves would exact revenge on the town they had once been truly a part of for killing one of their own. A shared howl went up to the sky, and the wolves leaped out of the clearing and after their enemy, followed by anything in the forest willing and able to move.

[Kath]

Night 1 has now begun.

Seer PM me with the player you wish to dream of.

Werewolves PM amongst yourselves.

Other Gifted's have no role toNight.

[Kath]

Kath had run from the woods back to the town, knowing she would be safe for the night if only she could get back to her house. Her foresight, skill with weapons and charms for protection had always served her well before, but tonight her foresight had shown Kath her own death, and she was determined to do all she could to help the village combat these monsters before then. Running inside she gathered everything she would need and headed back out.

Making sure not to wake anyone she pushed a small slip of paper under the door of one of the huts. There were no words on it, at least none that could be seen, but upon being read they would give the reader her gift of foresight, and that person would become a Seer. Under another she slipped the paper that would pass on her skill with weapons, in order that the reader would become a Hunter. Next the one that would pass on the ability to protect, to gain the role of a Ranger. Taking the last slip she hesitated. This was a wildcard, and she wasn’t sure whether to gift someone with it or not. While it could help the village immensely, it could also help the wolves. Hearing the howls getting closer, she quickly made a decision and pushed the slip under a door, knowing the occupant would soon have the gift of a Changeling.

Making her way back to her house Kath saw the wolves gathering outside. She stopped short but they had already smelt her. Turning back she ran to the centre of the small town where the notice board was, and hurriedly used the charcoal remaining from the night’s bonfire to scrawl a warning.

“Three werewolves walk among you, I have provided help, you know who you are.”

Before she could get any further a screech from above made her look up. An eagle was circling overhead with something gripped tightly in its talons. The growling behind her signified that the wolves had caught her, and she brought her gaze down to meet that of the largest beast. She steeled herself, waiting for the inevitable attack, sure she could find a way out once they leaped, but the first strike came from a place she had not anticipated. Something heavy landed on her head with an audible ‘thunk’ and both she and the object fell to the ground dazed. Unable to focus enough to stand she lay helplessly as the wolves mauled her stricken body under the watchful gaze of the turtle that had delivered the fatal blow from above. Closing her eyes, she prayed desperately that the villagers would find a way to defeat these fiends.



Night 1 ~ Kath, killed by a turtle in an aerial attack ~ Innocent.



Day 1 has now begun. Wolves stop PMing, villagers start talking.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

A turtle? How... bizarre.

Here are the evil ones, so say I.

Boromir
Sauce
TGWBS

Because their initials spell out Big Scary Things.

[Boromir88]

What a surprise, my job is never easy. I guess I could just kill the person and leave without anyone noticing hmmm....(Boromir takes out a slip of paper and reads to himself) : Writ of Assassination- Target- Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant. Interesting I wonder if she's one of these wolves too.

"What's that you got there," A lady of the village came up and asked.

"Oh nothing, just some errands." (crumbles it up and stuffs it in his pocket). "So, we have wolves do we? And 3 of them? I don't know this Kath lady, but it sure doesn't look good."

[Formendacil]

Day 1s, how I hate thee... let me count the ways!

Okay, I won't count the ways... that's about as pointless as Day 1s are. What would I do with them, once I'd counted?

Anyway, I'm here... I soon won't be here, then I will be here, then I won't be here for a long while... then I'll vote, and then Day 1 will be over.

How droll, to be here so early, with so little to say...

I'll be back post-midnight, my time. Meanwhile, I have no suspicions. Why should I? Only Marcólië Lamen was ever known on this site for a close affinity with turtles- and she's not playing. Had it been a frog, I could at least suspect Celuien.

Be back later.

[Cailín]

Ai no! KATH! My dearest, my greatest friend, oh my soul and happiness! What evil struck thee? How can I live now? How can we all live now?

Oh that I had to see this day. *wails piteously*

--

Actually, I'm not sure whether I ever saw her before.

Turtles?

Must have been one of TGWBS' Pokethings.

He's odd, too. I say we lynch him immediately.

[Celuien]

Well, that was earlier than I expected! I guess I'm GMT -5, not -4. 6 PM.

Poor Kath. When turtles and wolves are allies, we're in trouble. Who knows what creatures will work together next?

Now, to random suspicions...

I just don't trust that morm. Why, I hear that he'd turn his own children over to the wolves if you came right down to it! And as for lmp, wolves just make his business better. Collusion there wouldn't surprise me. Likewise, I say that you can't trust an actor by any name, including that of tragedienne, so I'll be keeping an eye on Cailín. Ninjas are almost as bad as pirates, well-known for tricksy stunts, so I don't know about Durelin either.

And that's enough silly randomness from me for one day.

On the changling:

The changling is such a wild card that I'm not sure how to approach it. Most of the time, the changling is likely to remain with the ordinary villagers, since only six of us besides the Changling are not ordinary. For now, without any information to go on, and knowing that the Changling cannot openly give information, I'll find it easier to play as if there is no Changling, especially as the Changling is most likely to be ordinary at most times. But when we come close to the end, the Changling can have a great impact, especially if transformed to a wolf, so it may be beneficial to keep a watch for any hint of Changling behaviors as the days pass. It's also at the end, when the ratio of wolves to villagers increases, that the Changling is more likely to encounter a wolf as well.

[Boromir88]

What a surprise, I'm on Fea's list. What a shame, that vengeful attitude is going to get you into trouble one of these days.

Celuien, well the changeling is a bit of a wild card, he/she could be a big help to the wolves if he/she is changed into one. The Changeling is more of a toss-up, though the majority of the time, it should favor us. (innocent villagers that is).

I'm going to vote for

++Dancing Spawn

[littlemanpoet]

Grave Digger reporting to the village. I shall now catch up on the discussion.

[littlemanpoet]

Suspicionés Randomnarum:

Wolves:

Saucy - of course; 'tis a matter of form.
Celuien - a marriage made in Thangorodrim
Formendacil - he's always a werewolf when I'm in the village. Just the way it is.

Nobody has said anything particularly noteworthy, so I'm done here for now.

[Boromir88]

Celuien, I would like to point you out to Code 101: B-13 Section 99105, Paragraph 4.3 on the town charter:

The votes will be retractable, with as many changes of vote as wanted permitted. The last name voted for at the deadline will be counted.

Therefor, I can do this and I precisely mean to do this...

--Spawn

++Sauce


Think of it this way Sauce, I'm saving you from being devoured by wolves, atleast now you can still have a body and be buried (or cremated- whatever your preference) the proper way...instead of being ripped to shreds by wolves at night. Aren't I a nice guy?

[Celuien]

Doh. Retractables. I knew that, but old habits of checking vote timing and making lists die hard, you know.

Shall I attempt to keep my list updated? Probably not.

[Findëasëa]

Poor Kath, who met her unfortunate, although slightly ironic, ‘downfall’ in the form of a plummeting reptile. Although this tragedy is quite appalling, we must move on to better aid the village.

As far as keeping track of votes, it seems like it would be beneficial to keep track of all of the votes… regardless of weather they may change or not. So maybe the end list could look something like this:

1. A > B (B - 1)
2. F > G (B – 1, G - 1)
3. A > G (B – 1 retracted, G - 2)
4. Z > B (B – 1, B – 1 retracted, G - 2)

Does that sound like a good idea? I have never used retractable votes before so if someone has a better idea we should use it. It just seems like it is better than changing the whole list each time and it also gives us an idea of how votes have changed over each day.

[Caranlondien]

Alas! Poor, dear Kath! She always used to ask to hear my latest poems.

To her unhappy head came a hurtling disc,
A terrible turtle, now turned fatal risk.

Now, on to business. We've three wolves to catch! I have to say I love watching people deal with Day 1. LMP, SPM, and Feanor have given us some interesting theories. Quite straightforward, you three are!

On the other hand, there's Nogrod, with his newfangled "hamburger restaurant". We've always wondered what he put in those hamburgers... Might he be a wolf bent on deadly culinary success?

[Caranlondien]

Well, I must sleep. I'll be back before the deadline, but just to be on the safe side:

++Celuien

...because she's a ketchup grower, and I can't think of a word that rhymes with "ketchup". The sooner we get rid of her, the less necessary it is that I work her and her unrhymable occupation into the epic poem I'll be writing and publishing when this ordeal is over.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

I woke up this morning thinking of DotA. I'm trying to master Broodmother now, and I'm wondering, Do I really need a Sange and Yasha if I plan to build the Butterfly?

Then I got hold of the newspaper, and saw the the Filipinos are now in 14th place in the Turin Chess Olympiad, after trouncing the Icelanders 3.5-0.5 (best game in that round, although the last move, 22. Qe5# is not there.) At the same time, the Filipinas beat the Finnish women, 2.5-0.5. Whee! Go Philippines! Show those ex-Soviet republics what true chess is!

(EDIT: I just found out as I got online that they lost to China 0.5-3.5. )

So, now I'm motivated to come up with plans to help us avenge my daughter's death.

We have two options: go for the middle game quick kill, or take the safe endgame win. I'll explain both in detail.

The first option involves expert tactical playing, actively hunting werewolves and the like. The problem is that it's gifted-intensive; once we start losing the gifteds we'll be caught looking the wrong way and we're bound to lose the endgame.

The second plan involves exchanging major pieces (lynching possible threats). Par example, morm, Sauce, and Fea. The problem with this plan is that we lose time hunting werewolves, but at least, even when we lose the gifteds, we won't have to worry about these chappies (who are excellent at exuding an innocent feel) turning beastie on us.

So, here's my vote.

++The Saucepan Man

Because I'm not yet avenged.

[littlemanpoet]

Two graves have been dug and are now ready for the remains of Boro and Formy. A little help please?

*LMP gets help lugging corpses to gravesites*

All right then, a little bit of a eulogy and all that: Obviously these two were innocent, and good chaps they were indeed. Too bad they didn't help us as much as they wanted to to catch the lycans. Here's hoping their deaths helped more than their living words. There. Enough words. Now help me shove these in.

*LMP gets help shoving corpses into graves, then heaves dirt back in the holes*

(Hmph!) I think Spawn may be a werewolf. Guy's and Saucy's theories seem worthy of consideration.

Lommy I don't think is worth consideration just yet, (oof!) as she is known for picking an issue and riding it for all it's worth. So that doesn't seem like association of guilt to me.

Caran also seems worth consideration (heave!), based on Saucy's comments.

Durelin is capabe of recklessness, so I won't write her off my suspect list yet.

For all the persuasiveness of the man, we need to keep an eye on Saucy. Do not (!) DO. NOT. (!) just assume that Saucy's innocent because he sounds innocent. I'll be watching him too.

Celuien's comments in post # 129 have me taking notice. Good eye there, Celuien!

++ CARANLONDIEN

Chew on that.

[mormegil]

Originally Posted by Caranlondien

I'm probably just adding to the suspicion around me

Yes you are! I really think that you are acting extremely nervous and exactly how I would suspect you to act as a wolf. You seem to be trying to divert any and all suspicion off you to others. Somebody shows moderate suspicion of you and you over react but not in an overt fashion. I think Celuien hit it very well in her post and I agree with LMP is correct as well in his vote. Ergo I vote

++Caranlondien

[The Saucepan Man]

I have just re-read Caran's posts from yesterday (among others) and come to much the same conclusion. Or, more accurately, they have confirmed the impression which I expressed earlier.

I am tempted to add my vote to the gathering clamour for her to be lynched.

Her original vote for me yesterday was based upon entirely specious reasoning. Apparently, I was instructing the Changeling how to win on the Wolves' side (as if she had not already worked it out for herself ), yet it remains the case that the Changeling has a much better chance of winning if she plays for the village. The fact that some people might regard going for the Wolfish victory as an appealing challenge does not detract from the logic of what I was saying.

Then all the to-ing and fro-ing about whether to change her vote for me, apparently grounded on firm suspicions (as to which, see above) but not firm enough to prevent her from changing her vote when it looked like I might be lynched.

I do have one resevation, though. In #101, she actually admitted that she was looking to place a safe vote, ie a vote for someone who was unlikely to be lynched. Would a Wolf admit that?

[Caranlondien]

Hmm. I am in a rather awkward position, as 2/3 of my suspects for toDay now suspect me. 3/4, actually, counting SpM. I doubt they're all wolves (now there would be a terrifying team - lmp, morm, and SpM), as they'd not all be so bold as to go after the (I fear) soon-to-be-revealed-as-innocent me.

I'm acting odd, you say? I've never been in this position before. My hotel-situation yesterDay left me saying some contradictory things because I didn't have time to think carefully and I couldn't go back over the posts much because the connection was so slow. Admit it, innocent or not, we all must choose our words carefully to avoid being lynched. And I've never had a great deal of suspicion cast on me by so many players, all of whom are far more experienced than I. It's a rather intimidating experience!

In any case, I'll keep plugging away on my theories, which I hope will help when I'm dead and you all know you can believe me

EDIT: Cross-posted with SpM

[Findëasëa]

I find all of these early votes for Caran interesting. YesterDay she was jumpy and flip-floppy, but it seemed to me like she was genuinely busy in the RL. Form was killed right after being the only one to vote for her. If she is a werewolf this would draw more attention to her, and she already had come under suspicion as of last night. The wolves could be pulling a double bluff, but at this stage of the game, why risk it?

Something is not right about all of the suspicion of Caran. My ancestor was in a village when one of her ancestors was a wolf, she did not act like she is acting now, instead she was the last wolf to die. She managed this by playing the helpful villager and flying under the radar. She might just be making a lot of mistakes, but my knowledge of Caran's playing style leads me to believe she would be a lot more careful about who she accused were she a wolf. Frankly, I did not follow her reasoning to vote to lynch SPM. It seemed like she was trying really hard to find a flaw. I don’t think that the wolves would take such a shaky path so early just to get SPM out of the picture. I think that we need to look at some of the more ‘safe’ looking people as wolves toDay.

X- posted with Caran and SPM
edit- typo

[littlemanpoet]

I see your point, Findëasëa.

So..... posting frequency:

The Saucepan Man 20
Caranlondien 11
Celuien 10
Thinlómien 9
Mithalwen 8
Kath 8
Findëasëa 8
the guy who be short 8
Cailín 7
Durelin 6
Feanor of the Peredhil 5
dancing spawn of ungoliant 5
Nogrod 7 (4 if you discount his after-Day One rampage)
littlemanpoet 4
mormegil 3
Lhunardawen 3
Nilpaurion Felagund 2
tom bombariffic 2

I'm not claiming that this tells us a WHOLE lot, only who may be trying to fly under the radar early. Nogrod has called undue attention to himself, as have Caranlondien and Durelin. My take on that is likely innocence. If this seems like a flip-flop to some of you, so be it: I reserve the right to change my mind based on new thoughts presented by intelligent co-players.

So I'm still suspicious of Spawn

Originally Posted by Saucy

I am surprised that spawn was caught up in the shoddy reasoning that led to him being lynched.

Originally Posted by Guy

spawn, in a very long post, casually remarked that she thought Form was being more defensive than usual.

Originally Posted by Saucy

Tom, Lommy, spawn and Fin voted for Boro yesterday.

I hunch that one of the werewolves may have voted for Boro.


Therefore:

-- Caranlondien

++ Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant

[the guy who be short]

Only 4 posts.

#12 - Says nothing.
#86 - Votes for me with no reasoning.
#133 Votes Caran. "Somebody shows moderate suspicion of you and you over react but not in an overt fashion." Does that not make sense to anybody else?
#157 Claims Caran, Thinlo and I are his top suspects. Again, no reason for suspecting me. Accuses Thinlo of twisting words - no examples.

Really, I think this is condemning enough. If he is a wolf, good. If not, he is such an apathetic and unreasonable villager that to kill him would do us all a favour anyway.

++mormegil

[the guy who be short]

She actually made good points on Day 1 about the Changeling being a "Second Seer." She neglects that the Changeling cannot openly state who they are and says they should open up their secrets with the Seer when the time is right.

While posts 142 and 143 do seem to be full of deep thought, Lhuna does have a startling habit of picking out innocent - morm, LMP, Durelin and Fea come under suspicion, while Cailin, SpM and Caran are mentioned.

Days one and two she doesn't give reasoning for her votes - Me and Durelin respectively.

Day 3 sees a long post making lots and lots and lots of sense. Lots of things I agree with - but she does suspect Fin. Anyway, seems logical to me.

I'm being kicked off now, but I'll finish later. Less suspicious of Lhuna now.