Tol-in-Gaurhoth XX: Wereorc I: The elves cannot hide themselves much longer.

[Grendelien]

Haha, Nogrod, every post you make me very nervous...your posts strengthen the chance of your being innocent or your being an orc, and very, very good one at that. I cannot shake the notion that you are trying (as an orc) to develop bonds with ordinary villagers. You already have Sleepy's trust, because you revealed his innocence, which I believe to be true. Could it be you are just trying to get to me next? I am willing to see you try to support your innocence and, if you really are innocent, to try to come to the realization that I am innocent as well. I can't waste anymore time! I must vote soon.

[Folwren]

The night was extremely still. Very still. The stars twinkled overhead in a nonchalant manner very different from the skulking figures below. "Come along, you stinking maggot," hissed one of the figures (the orcs lost their manners after sundown), "we don't have all night. That ranger might come around before we even begin the job at the rate you're going!"

The night was too clear and too peaceful for the work that lay ahead, but they didn't care or notice. The door of their victim's house was closed and bolted from within, but these orcs didn't care or notice that, either. . .

~~~

The elves gathered together in the town square, shivering in the cold, clear morning. No one said anything for a minute as everyone's eyes scanned everyone else. . .once, and then twice. . .and then, in some cases, thrice.

Nogrod: We're not all here.

Grendelian: Yes, thank you for pointing it out. He pulled out his knife as he spoke and before Nogrod could voice his fear that Grendelian was threatening him, he began to whittle a stick held in his other hand.

Zali:(faintly) I didn't think. . .

Roa_Aoife: Why didn't you save her?

Naria: She didn't know. Said very softly and barely loud enough to be heard.

Celuien: Poor Diamond.

Findëasëa: Well, let's go see what happened.

The villagers all turned and walked towards Diamond's house. As they drew near, they saw all the front windows on the first floor shattered and smashed in. The door was still closed and bolted. Roa offered to go in and unbolt the door, and the others didn't argue. In another moment, the way was opened and everyone trooped in. Silently they searched the equally silent house. A scream brought all of them running to a room towards the back of the place. Caranlondien stood in the middle of a room with no windows. Her hand was over her mouth and she looked ready to faint. When she saw the others, she pointed with a shaking hand at the corpse of their jewel smith.

The others stole forward, as though frightened that the dead might not be as dead as she looked and might leap up, full of unlively life. Celuien bent and picked up a maltreated and misformed stone from the ground. It was a diamond.

Sleepy: Looks like the orcs simply scared her to death. No wounds or anything.

Celuien didn't look up as she gently placed the stone on the desk before the dead jeweler. "Poor Diamond," she said for the second time that morning, and no one knew if she referred to the jewel or to their dead villager.


Now living:
Caranlondien: aspiring harpist
Nogrod: unemployed barber.
Grendelien: village whittler
Findëasëa: paleoelfropologist
Celuien:lampwright
Zali: stringer-of-bows
Naria:The grower of magnificent flowers
Sleepy A barrel of apples
Roa_Aoife aspiring ballad writer

Now dead:
FaraelMod: He dyed… erm I mean died.
GlirdanRepentant werewolf : Choked on an apple. No wonder why werewolves are carnivores.
JennyHalluWereorc: Escaped the village, but could not escape the laws of physics.
Dancing Spawn...: Just a merchant: Trapped on a deathly spider’s web.
Kitanna:The town's gate-keeper: Had a lobotomy performed by an angry woodpecker.
Legolas in spandex: Legolass (A movie-Legolas impersonator): Overwhelmed and or frightened into leaving the village after seeing what had happened to Kitanna
Diamond18: Simply a normal, very bad stone cutter - scared to death by orcs

[Celuien]

*pinches self*

Still alive. I didn't expect that at all. I really thought that either Zali or I would be toast last night. Still, it's good to be here.

Poor Diamond indeed. What puzzles me is why Diamond? I'll have to reread her analyses from yesterday, again on the basis of what could she have been right about to get herself killed.

More later...

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

Wow.

Wow.

And just again, in case I forgot.

Wow.

I never would have expected the Orcs to go after Diamond: She drew enough suspicion to herself that I had marked her as innocent, but not at risk--Orcs tend to keep people that draw suspicion to themselves around, since it's easier to hide that way.

It gives me pause--Are the orcs operating under some master plan, or are they just really lost without Jenny?

I guess that today, we are supposed to wonder about the innocence of Sleepy, Nogrod, and perhaps even myself.

By waking up this Day, I recognize that all three of us draw some suspicion: Is Nogrod working with Sleepy? Am I an orc hiding under a disguise as a ranger?

I am honestly very surprised at both who the orcs picked, and by the fact that I am still alive enough to be surprised.

This calls for a reworking of my suspicions. I'll be back later.

[Findëasëa]

Hmm that’s interesting. Strange that they would choose Diamond who was under so much suspicion early on in the game. Maybe they figured that Jenny’s attack made her look innocent so decided to get rid of her. The fact that the ranger is still in the picture could factor into why they might not have chosen someone more obvious. I guess we will need to deal with the question toDay of why Azaelia is still alive. I personally still believe that she is innocent, for reasons that I listed in previous posts. It could be a tactic by the wereorcs to get us to question her loyalty. Even though I believe she is innocent, it is probably something we should discuss.

[Findëasëa]

I also wanted to clear something up about my vote yesterDay.

me:
Roa always acts the ‘helpful innocent.’ I am not sure if this is her usual approach, it just seems like a clever way to say a lot without contributing or giving away her opinions.

Roa:
It is my usual approach (some people here can vouch for that) and I was under the impression that I was contributing and stating opinions quite a bit.

Roa: I should have phrased my post a lot better. I didn’t mean that you do not contribute or state your opinions, but that your apparent helpfulness might be a distraction from giving away actual opinions which might put you in a guilty light. Hmm… I still feel like what I am trying to say is not coming out right. The best way I can think to phrase what I mean is that the root of your contributions is not exactly clear to me.

I am sorry if I called you suspicious falsely, but I just didn’t want to risk not saying anything in case my feeling was right.

[Celuien]

Looking briefly at Diamond's posts, here top suspects from yesterday were:
Kitanna
Naria
Legolas in spandex

At the end of yesterday's voting/auto-eviction, only Naria remained alive. If Diamond's suspect list was a factor in her selection, that either means Naria is an Orc who killed Diamond to protect herself, or that Naria is innocent and Diamond was killed to start a lynch Naria bandwagon.

Naria doesn't seem to be a bold sort. So I don't think she would have gone for a suspicion causing bluff (look at me! I can't be an Orc if Diamond was killed - it brings to much suspicion on me) as an Orc by killing Diamond. For that reason, I think Diamond's death points to Naria's innocence.

Caranlondien: aspiring harpist
Nogrod: unemployed barber.
Grendelien: village whittler
Findëasëa: paleoelfropologist
Celuien:lampwright
Zali: stringer-of-bows
Naria:The grower of magnificent flowers
Sleepy: A barrel of apples
Roa_Aoife: aspiring ballad writer

(Apparently confirmed innocents underlined.)

I know that I'm no Orc. So the last two Orcs are to be found among Caran, Nogrod, Grendelien, Findeasea, Naria or Roa. We have a 1/3 chance of catching an Orc today.

What I'm wondering is if it's worth revealing more dreams today. There are still two unrevealed dreams out there. If those dreams are of villagers in that group, then we would improve our Orc catching chances to 50/50. Or would it be better to wait until tomorrow? If we're wrong today and lynch an innocent, we start tomorrow at 5:2 for villagers, so tomorrow is when it's critical that we lynch an Orc.

Of course, our number of unknowns could increase overnight too if Zali or a dreamed-of villager dies. It's up to you who received dreams to decide, I guess.

What does everyone think of this?

[Celuien]

Originally Posted by Celuien

I know that I'm no Orc. So the last two Orcs are to be found among Caran, Nogrod, Grendelien, Findeasea, Naria or Roa. We have a 1/3 chance of catching an Orc today.

Or to clarify, I have a 1/3 chance of catching an Orc, as do the other 4 innocents in that group. The rest of you have a 2/7 chance, which is close enough to 1/3.

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

As to dreams, we don't know who has had those unrevealed dreams--One of them could have died with Diamond or Kitanna, and the rest of us would be none the wiser.

As to my innocence, Findeasea--I am your ranger, believe me or not (and I know that you do believe, this is just a general statement, but since you asked...). You can lynch me yourselves, just to be sure, but I wouldn't recommend it--You'd only find out what you already knew about me. Or you can wait for the Orcs to make me a victim. It can't be long now. Frankly, it's making me nervous--why am I still alive?! I shouldn't be here. By all accounts, my dumb mistake of revealing myself should have killed me a long time ago. Surviving one night? A fluke. But two? Well, I'll repeat, it certainly makes me nervous... Am I being played? I'm not offended by people saying that my innocence should be examined--I'd be wondering the same thing...so discuss away, but be aware, it may lead from the path of finding an orc.

I think we need to decide several things today.

1. Innocence of Nogrod, Sleepy, and perhaps, myself, according to some.
2. Why Diamond died last night.
3. What is the Orcs' larger plan?
4. Or is there even one?

I think Diamond must have said something, however small, to make the orcs think her a threat. Or perhaps they were just trying to get around me by steering away from the more obvious choices (which I won't be sharing, obviously--from here on out, there will be no thoughts from me about who is innocent. I don't want to drop any clues for the "sneaky sneaky" orcs.) and picking someone who was already somewhat suspicious. Like I said before, it makes me nervous. I feel like I can't get a handle on what it is we're dealing with, in terms of strategy.

Personally, I want to hear more from Naria...I know this is a bit rediculous coming from a notorious "quiet one", but it's gotten to the point that her quietness is beginning to make me nervous...An unexplained vote (though, granted, she did promise an explanation), no attempt to defend herself--something there just doesn't sit right. I think it's fairly likely that if she posts more today that my suspicion of her will dim somewhat, but I need to hear more. Like the orcish strategy mentioned above, she eludes understanding.

I feel like I'm just repeating myself, so I'm going to stop now, haha.