Werewolf XLII, Mist in the Barrow Downs

[Aganzir]

"Oh well. If he thought a normal D&D game was too easy, why on earth didn't he try Rolemaster with all those additional rules first?" Aganzir stepped on a stony bed that made a nice stage. She rolled her eyes at the blank-faced spectators who were sitting in a row on the other side of the barrow.

"My mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and even older relatives have always complained about normal day 1 topics, but it's only now that I understand why they exist. Someone always has to be the first one to start discussing and things like the quiet/loud discussion are easy and safe ways to do that.
However, each and every one of us already has some experience about a situation like this, even if it wasn't more than the tales told by ancestors, so our opinions should be known by now..." she was interrupted by the angrily waving Gwathagor, "oh, except Gwathy's! Well, I won't forbid you to share your opinion about whether you think quiet or loud wolves are more dangerous, whether quiet or loud players should be lynched first and so on... But I don't really expect to see you others wasting a day discussing only that."

Aganzir sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Well, not that I have said anything more useful then, either. I'm just trying to get things rolling. It's rather boring to have a monologue if the audience is sleeping."

She rose and walked to a corner. "I must go now for a while and see that my little pets are alright - my squirrel and frog are surely already missing me, and my water buffalo hopefully also. But I hope to hear all your pretty voices when I return."

With that, she disappeared into the shadows. "How rude! She doesn't even bother to practise what she preaches," the others said.

[Rikae]

"Thank you, Agan, for putting words in our mouths" said the lady with the turquoise skin in a voice sweet as honey. "How rude of her..."
She smirked, then went on:
"Mist! Here I thought I overslept, and no one has spoken yet save that Aganzir person! Something has to be done to rouse this village... now what could I do? Oh, I know:

I am the weaver!

No, wait, how about this:
Nogrod is a wolf! I know it! Look at him skulking there in the corner, I can just see his fangs gleaming.

Well, seriously, we have our work cut out for us in this game, with three wolves among thirteen (why couldn't we have a lucky-number burgler in the mix?) I know it's intimidating to start speaking early in the day, but we must if we're going to get anywhere. I believe we can catch a wolf toDay if everyone talks and we use our logic and intuition together (and avoid frivolous bandwaggons) so c'mon, people, wake up and give us your thoughts, hunches, what have you.
I'm going to have to wander off the downs in a couple hours to take my daughter to a birthday party in Buckland, but I'll return well before sundown.

What do you mean I should show you the way out too? You're not invited to the party!"

The turquoise lady sat down with her back against a comfy standing-stone, took a sandwich out of her bag and proceeded to eat her very late breakfast.

[Rikae]

Three hours since dawn and still nothing? Come on, people - this is ridiculous. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

[Nogrod]

Finally Nogrod entered the larger chamber holding a towel to his cheek. There was something red in the towel.

"Sorry being this late fellows but this shaving thing is just becoming a real pain in the... well you know."

But everyone seemed to either just mind their own bussinessess or were sleeping.

"WAKY-WAKYYY!!!", he shouted as loud as he could. Some people turned to look but others just continued not doing whatever it was they were not doing.

"Okay then. Aganzir kind of pre-empted the discussions... hmm... like she clearly tried to pre-empt any actual suspicions towards herself as well. Very careful, veery ceerfull indeed.

And Rikae! How on earth did you manage to expose me already? Dratted... But as they say it takes one to know one. And this Macalaure fellow surely is your friend in crime as he always is...

Gah..."

Nogrod picked his dices and rolled them to the floor: "not the quiet/loud discussion... not the helpful/substantial discussion... not the overall strategy discussion... not the special roles speculation..."

Finally he tucked the dices back to the pouch and sat down looking quite unhappy

"Heck, why bother..."

[Macalaure]

Macalaure lazily woke up and gazed through the room with narrowed eyes. What is this? The day is indeed already several hours old. I expected the general turmoil to wake me. How come there is so little talking? he thought. Defying the heavy burden of a bad conscience, he lifted himself up.

"Strangely, everybody seems reluctant to discuss the useless things and remains quiet because there is yet nothing useful to be said. While it is doubtlessly honorable to focus on what's important, it's not actually helping us today. As contradicting as it may appear, we need to discuss futile topics in order to be productive and make at least an educated guess when twilight comes.

"not the quiet/loud discussion... not the helpful/substantial discussion... not the overall strategy discussion... not the special roles speculation..."

Shall we lynch the helpful or the substantial?? Now if that wasn't a slip, dear Nogrod, if that wasn't a slip.

Anyway, let's try it in a slightly different way. What about this:

Shall we lynch a weird-looking member of our group, or a conventional-looking? I say we go for the latter. My lorebook tells me that in dire situations like ours, the strange have been lynched early on more often than they deserve, and with very poor results usually. Let us go for one who flies under the radar, one who doesn't say anything controversial, one who seems eager to not rub people the wrong way. Sure, those people are difficult to catch since it requires a sharp eye to discern them from someone who says nothing because s/he just has nothing to say. But come on! Let us give effort and lynch one who is most eager not to be pinned down!

And if we can't find one, we can still abide by the first law of werewolf-disposal:"

Originally Posted by The Fundamental Laws of Werewolf-Disposal

§1 - When in doubt, lynch Nogrod.

[satansaloser2005]

Sally was startled by Nogrod's yell, and out of habit threw her pillow at him. Fortunately for Nogrod, she had brought her pillow made of a ton of feathers, rather than the one made of a ton of bricks.
"Why do you feel the need to wake me at such an hour?" she snapped. "Do you realize that it's...." Nogrod shot Sally a look and showed her the time. "....Oh, quite right then. Perhaps I should count myself among the awake. But where are all the others? Alas, you must scurry along to wake them as well. Feel free to take Emily with you. She's very good at biting people....not to mention that she's a bit scary at times." With those words, Sally walked away to freshen up and prepare herself for the heated discussion which would (eventually) ensue.



Now, onto business. Nogrod has made his first blunder, and I shall be the first to call him on it. You see, last night this man, erm, wolf, and his fellows slaughtered our lovely Roa, and yet this morning he happily carries the evidence with him in the form of this bloody towel. He attempts to be clever, to say he has made a mess of his daily shave, but we who are non-hairy know better and thus we must punish him for his oversight.


Sidenote: I may be less of a participant in the game than I originally planned. I was rather ill the last several days, and as a result am far behind in class work, so that'll be taking up a lot of my time. But never fear, Sally will still be here!

[Shastanis Althreduin]

"I do of course wonder how Mistress Sally detected the bloody towel, given that Nogrod left it in the bathroom.... maybe she detected it by smell? In which case...." Shasta lithely swung himself out of bed and promptly fell on his face.

"Who tied my sheets to my ankles?" he asked, rolling over and blinking. "Is this yet more devilish wolf-work?"

[satansaloser2005]

Ah, but perhaps you did not notice, he brought it with him, as you can plainly see here:

Originally Posted by Noggie-Wolf

Finally Nogrod entered the larger chamber holding a towel to his cheek. There was something red in the towel.

"Sorry being this late fellows but this shaving thing is just becoming a real pain in the... well you know."

"Perhaps our dear friend Shasta is trying to cover for his fellow Nogrod's mistake?" reasoned Sally. "Maybe I should look into this a bit, but for now I am a bit peckish, so I shall go to hunt down some food....literally...." :P

[satansaloser2005]

Originally Posted by Silly Shasta

"Who tied my sheets to my ankles?" he asked, rolling over and blinking. "Is this yet more devilish wolf-work?"

....Well, Shasta, while I am not of the wolvish persuasion, I do enjoy a good practical joke.

[Aganzir]

"Aye, this is ridiculous. Besides, I couldn't find my water buffalo anywhere. I bet she is somewhere drinking beer again." Aganzir appeared from the corner. A faint click was heard, as if a door closing, and then the corner was as dark as it had been.

"I, for one, don't believe this Rikae person. Mainly because Farael said there is no weaver. Or... maybe it was Farael who was lying... Who knows? One can never be sure about these mods nowadays.

"But yes, I agree with you that Nogrod looks very wolfish! When I was little, my ancestors told me stories about those of Nogrod's, and his whole kin is supposed to be extremely loud and aggressive, not of the type to be snoring in the corner for the first part of the day. Oh, good morning Noggins, he-he, a beautiful morning, isn't it!

"And why that blood on your towel? (Good find, sally, by the way!" Aganzir winks at her.) "You know, I wouldn't put it past you to come with a clear evidence here, counting on that we wouldn't believe you did it.

"Good morning, Mac. If I don't have problems with hearing, you are saying it's strange that some people don't want to discuss certain futile things that have been chewed over and over. Well, I think we can discuss about something else this time. When enough people have spoken, we can talk about them instead of futile things. This seems to be 'enough', since we can soon start arguing properly.

"And do you think Nogrod suggested lynching also the overall strategy because he said 'not the overall strategy discussion'?

"I can tell even now that I'm going to lynch the most suspicious-looking, and I don't care if that person is quiet, loud, substantial, conventional or whatever. There are usually better chances that the most suspicious-looking is a wolf than that the quietest is one."

Aganzir sniggered when Shasta fell. "I confess! I did it! Not in the night, though, but in the morning when I was bored.

"But... I wonder why you are saying Nog left his towel in the bathroom as we all can see that he didn't. Maybe it was a part of your original plan and Nog, for some reason, forgot it... Maybe..."

edit: xed with two sallys

[A Little Green]

Lily the Stepmother got to her feet, gracefully hiding a yawn behind one of the famous long-fingered hands. She eyed the awoken ones suspiciously, and those still asleep even more so.

"What have you been doing behind my back, you ill-bred scums? Killing mods, eh?" Her gaze swept to Nogrod's bloody towel. "For heaven's sake, child, get that awful bloody thing out of my sight! What were you thinking, spoiling a good towel? Besides, Nogrod, yelling is certainly not proper behaviour for a boy of your age. I also demand an explanation for this statement:

Originally Posted by Nogrod

not the special roles speculation...

What do you mean by special roles speculation? Speak plainer, or I'll lock you to... to..." She shrugged, trying to remain dignified. "...somewhere."

"And you, Aganzir! Your ancestors hardly matter to us. Stop gloating about your fine grandmothers and concentrate on yourself and your own situation. Silly kid. I don't think you are dangerous, though, only another ill-bred child. On the other hand you are so wicked that I never can be too wary with you. But doing evil things to Shasta was very naughty of you in any case. Though he is as ill-bred as you are, you are to apologise to him. And see that you don't let the buffalo of yours in here. Those creatures smell awful bad."

"Rikae! What was the substance of what you said? Of course I can't expect much more from such silly children in such a silly situation, but your speech seemed nonsensical all the same. I'm watching you..."

"And Macalaure. You look merely ill-bred, not necessarily dangerous. You speak as good sense as you are ever likely to in your statement about the weird-looking people, though generalising is a naughty habit. Your fellow ill-bred kid Agan has a good point about simply lynching the most suspicious-looking of you naughty children."

"Sally... I don't like your easy joining to the suspicion of Nogrod. Also, throwing pillows is a very bad thing to do. Apologise to Nogrod! In addition to this, you are very evil to think Agan's little trick on Shasta a good joke. She did a very naughty thing, and it's nothing to laugh at. You look like an evil child to me. I'll be having a tight eye on you." With that, she gave Sally a taste of her "tight eye".

She glanced around the room with cold, measuring eyes. "Wake up, you lazy bastards. We have work to do."

[Meneltarmacil]

Quite a lot of strange joking-around here, which makes it easy for a wolf to hide behind the "I was just joking" excuse.

Frankly, I think that lynching anybody based on his or her playing style is unlikely to accomplish anything. People tend to use their own styles regardless of whather they be Wolf or Innocent, or at least I tend to. A loud person plays a loud wolf, while a quiet person plays a quiet wolf. Macalaure looks rather suspect to me due to his suggestion that we should start such a debate, but it's a shot in the dark.

Plus, I believe that lynching Nogrod is a very bad idea. True, he can make a dangerous wolf, but if he's innocent we'd be losing one of our best. And thus far, what he's said has made a lot of sense, unlike some around here.

Rikae would seem to be the one most guilty of this "nonsense posting". She makes a post full of jokes, then asks that others contribute to the discussion which she hasn't contributed much to herself.

EDIT: Cross-posted with Rikae.

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Stepmummy

What do you mean by special roles speculation?

I think he's just sorry he can't speculate which weird roles there are as Farael said there are none. My great-great-grandmother has told me she has lived in villages with weird roles but you don't probably know anything about those since she died long long before you were even born. And if I want to speak about my ancestors I will! They are a much less futile thing than some quiet/loud debate.

And nay, I don't think I'm going to apologize. Shasta called it upon himself. It's his own problem if he has a habit to sleep too long.

Originally Posted by Rikae

I don't know about you, Agan, but from what I've seen, more often than not, the person who seems most blatently "suspicious" on day one turns out to be an ordo.

I think I should have said "the one who looks the most suspicious to me". Funny that you should advocate using gut feeling more in the next paragraph after saying that.

edit: xed with Menel & Mac

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

I think I should have said "the one who looks the most suspicious to me". Funny that you should advocate using gut feeling more in the next paragraph after saying that.

Not at all, there is a world of difference between gut feeling and going along with some bandwagon for somebody who simply stands out from the crowd.

[satansaloser2005]

Originally Posted by A Little Green around the gills

"Sally... I don't like your easy joining to the suspicion of Nogrod. Also, throwing pillows is a very bad thing to do. Apologise to Nogrod! In addition to this, you are very evil to think Agan's little trick on Shasta a good joke. She did a very naughty thing, and it's nothing to laugh at. You look like an evil child to me. I'll be having a tight eye on you." With that, she gave Sally a taste of her "tight eye".

"But dear 'stepmother,' it is Nogrod who committed the offense of waking me, and a child such as I can not be held responsible for her reflexes. Thus I refuse to apologize." Greenie started to reply, but Sally quickly raised a hand to silence her and continued. "As for your 'tight eye,' I think it loose, as you seem to have lost your ability to separate accuastion from good fun. I quite like Nogrod, and if my suspicions are correct and he IS indeed of the furry variety I shall be quite sad to see him go, but I must tease him nonetheless in case he has made such a clumsy error. And so I say to you, oh bossy one, be gone, and find yourself some nice prunes upon which to feast. Perhaps then you may be fully awake and able to join our discussion." Sally lowered her hand and waited for Greenie's response, but the stepmother simply stared at her, mouth agape, then collected herself, huffed angrily, and stormed off.

[Macalaure]

Sally -> Shasta
Shasta -> Menel
Legate -> Sally (Sally 2, Menel 1)
Aganzir -> Mac (Sally 2, Menel 1, Mac 1)
Lommy -> Mac (Sally 2, Mac 2, Menel 1)
Lily -> Gwath (Sally 2, Mac 2, Menel 1, Gwath 1)

left to vote: me, Nogrod, McCaber, Gwathagor, Menel, Rikae

Half of us still need to vote and only 15 minutes left!

[McCaber]

Richard the Unobscure strode in from the southern fields, imposing in his priestly robes and massive warhammer.

"Asleep for this whole time? Not I. While you were here jawing, I was out hunting ... wolf."

He threw down a large sack and five wolf heads spilled out onto the ground.

"Now, to business. Though the Day is not yet half gone, some have stood out as suspicious to me so far. I am not in favor of Menel simply agreeing with an earlier post and not bringing anything new to the table. I also did not like the sound of Macalaure's speech, up until this last post, which might do much towards changing my mind.

EDIT: crossed with Aganzir

[Meneltarmacil]

I wasn't just repeating others' arguments there, at least I don't think so. True, I agreed with Nogrod that Rikae was talking nonsense, but the part about people using their own playing styles regardless of their role hadn't been brought up here. I argued against Nogrod's lynching using my own arguments.

Now, I'm not sure what to make of Mac's declaration that he was only trying to get a wolf to slip up. It's most likely genuine, but it could be a trick by a wolf to avoid being caught. Rikae continues to worry me, though. She apparently thinks a "conventional vs. weird" debate has merit, and also advocates using gut feelings. Not that there's anything wrong with using instinct, but "I have a gut feeling about him" would be a good way for a wolf to sway the voting without having to make up a reason.

[Rikae]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

"I can tell even now that I'm going to lynch the most suspicious-looking, and I don't care if that person is quiet, loud, substantial, conventional or whatever. There are usually better chances that the most suspicious-looking is a wolf than that the quietest is one."

I don't like this at all. I don't know about you, Agan, but from what I've seen, more often than not, the person who seems most blatently "suspicious" on day one turns out to be an ordo. That is, the person who attracts the most unanimous suspicion usually does so for acting oddly and being difficult to grasp (I don't see one of those here yet, but there are usually one or two in a village), and that is not behavior that a wolf would generally engage in. Remember, ordos have less to lose, and therefore tend to post more freely.

I find Macalaure's words about "conventional" versus "weird" to be the sort of solid good sense I expect from him - although, of course, being too dogmatic about this or any other theory tends to backfire. I'd actually like to advocate using our gut feelings more, as any theory is easily turned by the wolves to their own advantage, but there is a certain evil "feel" one can detect on a wolf's posts, and I have found that to often be a reliable guide. (Case in point, Greenie in the trials in Volo's game...)

I'm not saying we should refrain from giving reasons for our suspicions, only that we might benefit from allowing our intuition to start the process, and then looking at the evidence to see if it backs up the hunch. I say this because if we simply look for conventional wolves now, everyone (wolf or no) will make themselves more unconventional - but if we're clever, we may catch the wolves doing so more self-consciously than the others (for example).

Now, one thing I would like to ask about - Greenie, do you actually see Sally's "suspicion" of Nogrod as serious? I'm quite sure it isn't, and the fact that you use it as a basis to suspect Sally doesn't look good.

[Macalaure]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

"I can tell even now that I'm going to lynch the most suspicious-looking, and I don't care if that person is quiet, loud, substantial, conventional or whatever. There are usually better chances that the most suspicious-looking is a wolf than that the quietest is one."

Originally Posted by Lily

Your fellow ill-bred kid Agan has a good point about simply lynching the most suspicious-looking of you naughty children.

And the shared First Prize for the most uncontroversial argument to my statement goes to Aganzir and Lily! I hoped to get some better responses to it, but you seem to be persistent not to discuss senseless things. At least now I can put your names on the top of my very premature list of suspects.

Don't get me wrong: Your points are undeniably true, of course. However, as Rikae already said, "S/he simply looked most suspicious to me" is the most common (to both, innocent and wolf!) Day Two response to the lynching of yet another misguided innocent.