WWXXXV: Werewolves among the Wolf-men

[Mithalwen]

"If I were going to vote on pique I would vote Isabellkya. I did not labour hard all day yesterday for people to get food faddy. " Mithalwen said, "it is possible that she is vegetarian not because she loves animals but because she hates plants, and as the Vala Yavanna said, they need protection more..."

[Macalaure]

"Isabellkya's suspicion of our valiant Helm and Bow is probably honest confusion, albeit eye-brow-raising. She was also suspicious of Nogrod for fairer reasons.

Xyzzy was suspicious of Guy and Mith, for retaliatory or non-existant reasons.

Neither of the two has voted so far and Xyzzy even says he would like us to lynch nobody, which is ridiculous.

I'm strongly leaning towards lynching Xyzzy now. What do the others think?"

[xyzzy]

"Macalaure, what is so ridiculous about suggesting we use our brains rather than our fists? Of course we eventually need to kill a wolf, but my point is, we have a much better chance of doing that if we lynch no one today."

[Mithalwen]

"But" said Mithalwen, "you said Xyzzy, that our situation was better if we had an even number at the start of the day. There are 10 of us now... we cannot hope that the wolves will be foiled again - well we can hope but I fear such fortune is less likely .. so to retain the even number tomorrow morning we must lynch tonight "..... shesat back struggling with maths but knowing that the time for a decision was nigh. She had suspected Guy forhis early vot for Xyzzy yesterday but now she wondered if he was right...

[Nogrod]

"I'd give Gil the benefit of doubt as he's not here right now.

With the two others I do have a problem. Xyzzy plays less and his style of play annoys me a lot more - and were he a wolf his possible victory would be bad indeed but he looks somewhat sincerish. Isabell contributes a little more but with her I'm much more insecure with.

I'm not sure if I would vote for tgwbs again. That is a possibility. But he might just be Androg whose special mission is to get rid of Beleg - whom he mistook me earlier toDay and then backed off when he realised yhay no bandwaggong was starting. Then he would be counted as an innocent and thence we probably shouldn't kill him. Maybe Shasta wasn't a cobbler but a goodie who wished to kill Turín? That kind of roles could be possible - and looking at things around not totally unbelievable."

[Rikae]

Rikae, hearing Xyzzy's remark about statistics, shot a cold glance at him.
"I certainly hope you are joking, my boy. Though it has been nearly a decade since I've studied that particular topic, I don't think I've forgotten everything; and I also happen to know that that short fellow over there has studied it quite recently, and the gentleman in the leather cloak knows more about mathematics than all of us put together.
I don't know what exactly you're trying to accomplish with that strange statement you just made, but it can't be good.
Not lynch anyone? I suppose the wolves will also be kind enough not to kill anyone by night, eh?
Even if you do jest, you have shown yourself to be flippant and unhelpful; you disrespect your elders and your name is impossible to pronounce.
I'm afraid you'll have to go, sonny.
--Isabellkya
++Xyzzy"

[Nogrod]

"I must say this Xyzzy speaks most strangely... is it because he knows he's one of the top candidates to be lynched and thence wishes to make this last minute appeal when he has no better candidatew to bring forwards as a contender?"

[Brinniel]

"And xyzzy, it is too late for that...even before you stated this, votes had been placed. However, I do not find you wolvish for this, though you are not completely in the clear. But I think a wolf would be more clever than to put out such an absurd statement...

"I am voting now:

++tgwbs

"And I know some of you have suspected him as well..."

[the guy who be short]

Guy looked around, glad that most of the village had finally woken up. "I'm satisfied," he said to Nogrod, "because I'm about 90% certain I've identified a wolf in you, and more or less everything you say strengthens this belief. However, there is still one other wolf to find, and I've been putting my mind thereto.

If I'm correct in my presumption of why there was no wolf kill last Night (i.e. one quiet wolf not saying anything, and Nogrod being unable to convey the decision due to spiritual difficulties), then the other wolf must be quiet.

Unfortunately, the "quiet list" is quite extensive, including Izzy, Gil and Mith. Of these three, I do not think a wolf-Mith would strongly defend Nogrod at such a time, so she seems innocent but misguided. I have felt Izzy to be innocent for a while, so her vote at this time seems to me to point to her innocence. However, she could have decided to vote for him after his urge to look carefully at the third voter for him, sacrificing him to appear innocent. What I find most likely, though, is the absent Gil being Noggy's ally.

Of the others, Mac has seemed innocent for a long time. I do not think wolf-Lhuna would vote for Noggy at such a crucial time. Rikae and Brinn I am both unsure of; parts of their behaviour make me feel they are guilty, and other parts make me feel they are not.

In conclusion, if Noggy is a wolf, I think the second wolf is most likely Gil, then Izzy. There is a small chance it may be Rikae or Brinn, but I find this unlikely. I think Mac, Lhuna and Mith are probably innocent."

[Lhunardawen]

Roused by Gil's outbursts, Lhuna sat up in her straw bed with a jerk, and panic washed over her as it does over a student who oversleeps. But she soon saw that everyone was yet alive, and again she felt relieved and wary at the same time.

"Has this even happened in the villages of old?" she asked no one in particular. "I am quite confident the wolves are making history on this hill. Never before has any creature of Morgoth failed so greatly in his task! In this I am more fully convinced that inexperienced wolves are among us.

"YesterDay was certainly a disaster, and alas that Nogrod spoke the truth! But if his death gains us anything, it's that I'm sure a wolf or both of them could be revealed by intense recollection of yesterDay's proceedings.

"The first to vote for him was tgwbs, and we need not be reminded of the misunderstanding they had. But tgwbs seemed sincere, and I doubt he would be so reckless as to be so noisy, and to start the whole thing, so to speak, if he was a wolf. This makes me believe him innocent.

Izzy

[Lhunardawen]

"Izzy had suspected both tgwbs and Nogrod throughout the Day, and voted for Nogrod in the end. She also suspected Rikae, but it feels to me like a retaliation for the suspicion the latter also casted upon her. Definitely suspicious behaviour.

"Rikae, from being unsure of Nogrod's suspiciousness, saying that he's the Nogrod we all known, ended up voting for him because he appeared desperate ere the end and looked bad for reusing his arguments. That's quite a jump, if you ask me. Risky move for a werewolf, though, because it reeks of jumping into a bandwagon, and the old woman should have enough wisdom to avoid that. I find her a tad less suspicious than Izzy, and it's doubtful they are wolves together.

"Mac has me admiring him for this risky but honest remark, on the possibility of lynching tgwbs or Nogrod: We need a proper dead body to analyse, one which leaves something that we can really analyse! And if the wolves won't supply us with one, we might have to do it ourselves. He spoke true, and shows that he is serious in hunting down our wolves. From the start he had suspected Nogrod more than tgwbs, following their arguments to the point of practically abandoning all thought of the others. In the end he basically used subjectivity as the basis of his vote, which was for Nogrod. The effort he exerted in analysing their exchange, and his relative steadfastness now puts him in my innocent list.

"Mith makes me worry about her adamant stand that Nogrod is innocent. It's perfect because it was her against all of us, practically, and now she has all the right to say I told you so. But there are only a few people who could know for certain his innocence. One would make us trust her, but the other would make us lynch her. Another thing to consider is her amount of contribution, apart from the issue concerning tgwbs and Nogrod, and that for me tips the scale towards the suspicious side. She voted for Brinn, for reasons I do not completely understand, and the way she attacked Brinn after she cast her vote for Nogrod makes me all the more wary of her.

"Brinn stood her ground in her suspicion of Nogrod, and voted accordingly. I'm feeling rather neutral towards her.

"Mind that these are mostly based on yesterDay's votes and could change if other factors are also considered. My suspects are Mith and Izzy or Rikae.

"Now, Gil, I haven't forgotten you. Your long disappearance casts doubt on your lycanthropy, but again the killing could be done even in your absence, I believe, but I don't think that would be the case. I advise you not to be too jumpy, though, or I for one might forgo my previous assumption and contemplate on having you lynched."

Out of breath, she lay down on her straw bed again and shut her eyes, and breathed deeply.

[Macalaure]

"++xyzzy" said Macalaure, "for reasons I and others have previously stated."

[Mithalwen]

"Well Brinniel I am in the strange position of finding two peopel suspicious but alas one of them is suspicious for suspecting so quickly someone I now find supicious. "

[Mithalwen]

Time is against me to resolve this logic problem .. but Xyzzy's no lynch plan is ludicrous - and I don't know about TGWBS but his maths is better.

++ Xyzzy

[Nogrod]

"I think I will join this wagon toDay...

++ Xyzzy

From Isabell we can get some readouts anyway and Xyzzy's last comments make him look pretty bad. I'm much more hopeful with this now than I was twenty minutes ago."

[Nogrod]

"Maybe Xyzzy just couldn't make a rivalling case that would have sounded believable enough?"

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

The outlaws turned to Xyzzy, who has been sitting quietly in the corner, listening to their talk and looking from one on another like a little animal when a pack of wolves approaches.
The grim faces of the outlaws did not seem at all comfortable.
"You were just waiting for us to kill each other," the guy who be short spoke, "right? Hiding in the shadows, so that no one notices you!"
"But - "
"You are a werewolf! We know it!" yelled Rikae, picking up a stone and throwing it at Xyzzy. The man raised his hands to cover his face, but the stone hit him in cheek. "No!" he shouted with pain, but at that moment also the others were picking up stones from the ground. "Catch this!" shouted Macalaure. Stones were flying from all sides, and slowly, Xyzzy slumped down to the ground and fell asleep.

"He's dead," said Nogrod. "He cannot harm us anymore."
"But could he?" said Lhuna, coming closer to the dead body. No change was to be seen on the face of the dead. "He was innocent!" shouted Isabellkya. "Innocent, and you killed him! Fools! Now there are still two of them wolves around!"
Silence fell on all. "But -" said Brinn. "But – what are we going to do, then?"
Nogrod looked at the young outlaw sideways. "What should we do? Sleep, as always. You don't have to act like a little girl, even though you look like one!"
Surprisingly to everyone, Brinn blushed. "Hey, what is it?" said Nogrod. "What's that, m'boy?"
"I am a girl," said Brinn.
"Whoa!" shouted Macalaure. "A girl?"
Brinn turned on him, looking angered. "Yes! And so what? Heck, forget it! Does it matter? I can fight, I can swear, I can live in the wilderness."
"I always thought him – her – strange," said Rikae. "Oh, you look like a man indeed, my girl."
Mithalwen nodded. "Everyone of us is an outlaw. Our fates are manifold."
"Not everyone is just an outlaw," spoke Nogrod's voice, reminding them of their main concern. "And where is Gil-Galad and the Dwarf, anyway?"
All looked to the entrance as if they expected the two to enter at that very moment. But the entrance was empty, only a sudden cold wind of the incoming night's wind blew inside, stealing heat of their bodies.
"Let's go to sleep," said Lhuna, picking up a blanket that Xyzzy left in the corner. "I am terribly tired. Maybe they will come back later at night."

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1
Xyzzy the Outlaw, stoned to death on Day 2

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
Rikae
Nogrod
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
Gil-Galad, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Night 3 begins. Outlaws, stay low. Two Captains, you may talk. Wolves, you may plot. Whoever has anything to send to me, please do so as soon as possible.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Sun rose above Doriath in the east and its light goldened the crown of Amon Rûdh. It was a sunny, windy morning and just light clouds were moving swiftly in the skies.
Eight outlaws were sleeping in the halls of stone. Closest to the entrance was lying Mithalwen, curled in a coat of fur. Right on the other side of the main hall there was Nogrod's place, the old man was about to awake, as he was used to in the early hours. Behind a junction in one of the shorter corridors leading out of the room, Brinn's face was hardly seen under a pile of quilts.
In the long corridor leading down to Mîm's hidden smithy, Macalaure slept restlessly. He was muttering something to himself in his sleep, rolling from one side to the other. Even deeper in the mountain, Isabellkya was breathing low near the entrance to the Dwarf's chamber, blocked by a stone now when its occupant was away.
The guy who be short slept alone in one of the smaller halls, a sword lying by his side. But his sleep was a deep one, despite the morning hour, so even if something was happening, he probably won't rise to defend himself. In a nearby room Rikae was lying, holding her staff even in deep sleep.
Lhunardawen rested comfortably on a large pile of sacks full of straw, her tangled black hair spread all over and also full of straw that somehow got out of the sacks.

The only ones who were not present already were Gil-Galad and Mîm. But all the other outlaws were here, alive, some asleep, but first yawnings were already heard as the early risers awoke. Their third day in Amon Rûdh has dawned.

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – dead:

Ibun son of Mîm, killed by a Werewolf on Night 1
Shasta alias Saeros, outnumbered and stabbed on Day 1
Xyzzy the Outlaw, stoned to death on Day 2

The inhabitants of Amon Rûdh – living:
Mîm the Petty Dwarf, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
Rikae
Nogrod
Macalaure
Isabellkya
Brinniel
Lhunardawen
Gil-Galad, outside the hill for an unexpectably prolonged period
the guy who be short
Mithalwen

Day 3 begins. Nightly walkers, stop talking. Everyone, awake!