Merlot Mafia: Last Queen of the Amazons

ash88 said:

If I'm coming off that way it's only because I haven't put the smileys that people have (unfortunately) come to rely on to communicate tone in forum posts. As you read above I haven't said anything that is aggresive.

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Yeah, I'm just being super-careful here because I know that mafia games can get quite heated (with me being a culprit on more than one occasion), and I want to avoid that here.

And I know what you mean about smileys, but I've learned that sometimes you have to use them in mafia games to maintain a friendly tone even as you tear into someone else's carefully-crafted arguments.

Tboy said:

Hate to state the obvious... but perhaps instead of having intricate debates about percentage likelihoods and so on, we instead vote for the person who seems most likely to be the butcher of our dearest monarch? That rather seems our purpose, methinks.

I can understand abstentionism via lack of knowledge - though I still disagree with it - but not the rest of the tactics proposed. Can't see the woods for the trees, it seems.

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Agreed. As far as I'm concerned all this strategising and numbery is just making it harder to tell who might be mafia.

Caledorn said:

We still lack the votes from the following Princesses though, so a tie may yet be forthcoming : mgsmuhammed, Umarth & Tegvtec

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Sorry about that, madam.

BTInternet was being a total cad for the last few days.

Nonetheless, reading through the thread, I feel Slaze is more likely than Caledorn.

Not that I trust any of you, I simply distrust you to varying degrees.

Vote:Slaze

Tboy said:

vote for the person who seems most likely to be the butcher of our dearest monarch? That rather seems our purpose, methinks.

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In which case you should go for ash.

Tic0 said:

In which case you should go for ash.

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Classic case of mistaking activity level for guilt. I will point out that I have clearly outlined the reasons why I think what I do about different people; I'm being very transparent.

That said, if I was killed off (I expect the Mafia to kill me off tonight), then it may actually make this game more entertaining... I mean, if you see an "innocent" beside my name after I'm dead then there is no reason to distrust my motives.

For that reason I would suggest that the next game: dead people can't speak. There is very little penalty to dying - in fact it is a bonus if you are already dead because people no longer spend time accusing you... they just spend time listening to your theory.

So bring it - I have nothing to lose.

ash88 said:

For that reason I would suggest that the next game: dead people can't speak. There is very little penalty to dying - in fact it is a bonus if you are already dead because people no longer spend time accusing you... they just spend time listening to your theory.

So bring it - I have nothing to lose.

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Gah! Yet again I find I agree with you, Ash .. This is getting disturbing even to me.

And thank you for at least giving me some trust, mgsmuhammad, and for not deadlocking this into a tie!

Just keep digging your hole, mistress Caledorn.

I'm sure big, strong Ash will protect you if you buddy-up for long enough.

And no problem. Slaze's gotta go. If we're gonna have to make shots in the dark against each other, we might as well start with the crazies.

mgsmuhammad said:

I'm sure big, strong Ash will protect you if you buddy-up for long enough.

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indeed!

Caledron knows he is number 2 on my list to take out. If Slaze wasn't here, well... Caledron wouldn't be agreeing with at least one of my decisions

That said - Caledron: I accept cash money bribes

The second afternoon saw the group begin to get a grip on the voting system, with six out of the eight Princesses casting a vote. As different theories of sound democratic practice were set forth, the debate took an intellectual turn, inspiring more of the Princesses to stand up and be counted.

After early voting against Princess Tegvtec tailed off, it looked for a while as if a tie between Princess Caledorn and Princess slaze might go the distance. But, when it came to the moment of reckoning, the decision was clear...

As she knelt to receive the final judgement of the Amazon court, Princess slaze stared at the others, shaking her head sadly. Moments later, she lay broken on the Palace lawn, and an uneasy feeling settled on the remaining Princesses. From the look on her face before she died, it seemed clear that...
Tally
Caledorn - 2 (Tboy, slaze)
slaze - 4 (ash88, Caledorn, landlubber, msgmuhammed)

Living Players
mgsmuhammed
Caledorn
Umarth
ash88
Tegvtec
landlubber
Tboy

It it now night. You may continue to post, but voting must cease until morning.

Mafia, please send your orders.

Morning in roughly 20 hours.

Winston Hughes said:

Princess slaze was Innocent

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Okay - that was unexpected. Sorry, slaze.

ash88 said:

Caledron knows he is number 2 on my list to take out. If Slaze wasn't here, well... Caledron wouldn't be agreeing with at least one of my decisions

That said - Caledron: I accept cash money bribes

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I don't want to bribe anyone to allegedly prove my innocence - it would quite obviously be "sort of" contradictory - but thank you for the offer.

Slaze! What the?!?! Why were you acting so odd? I mean - you kept going on about wondering how Winston was running the game when he already told us??!?

Oh, no.

I tried to explain myself, I was only trying to act for the benefit of the townies. But then ya'll turned Salem Massachusets on me.

slaze said:

I tried to explain myself, I was only trying to act for the benefit of the townies. But then ya'll turned Salem Massachusets on me.

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I was never convinced by Slaze's arguments.

In contrast to the previous morning, the first thing the Princesses did when they got up on the third day was to count their numbers. Sure enough, somebody was missing. With no little trepidation, the remaining six made their way to the room of Princess Tboy...

Upon arrival, they found their worst fears realised. Tboy's head had been cut clean from her body, and now sat perched atop a cupboard, staring down at the group with frozen features contorted into a mask of pure agony. The body itself had been horribly defiled, with strange and profane markings carved into the skin, as if part of some grotesque ritual. This time, however, the murder weapon was nowhere to be found.

Not wishing yet to dwell on the possible reasons for this, the group set about searching the room for the missing weapon, or any other clues they might come across. Alas, no such evidence was forthcoming. Nevertheless, having been through her possessions, they could be quite confident that...

Living Players
mgsmuhammed
Caledorn
Umarth
ash88
Tegvtec
landlubber

It is now daytime. Please cast your votes.

Night will fall in roughly 48 hours.

Note: I'm going to be busy tomorrow, and will not be able to do a Midday Post. However, if anyone else wants to post a tally of votes, they are free to do so.

Egads! I guessed they were onto me - thought I might be next. Still, I'm flattered that they thought I was a threat.

Pretty gruesome death though. All for the sake of a pun...

Right, I can let loose with opinions now - my ghostly form being fortunately un-decapitable. Goody. Stealing Ash88's system, kinda, I shall put the person I believe is most likely to be guilty in bold underlined, in second italic underlined, and mildly suspicious underlined only.

mgsmuhammed - Reasonably active, but her opinions have been forthright and not too widespread. She posts often enough to influence people, but not enough to get noticed. Sniffs of mafia to me.

Caledorn - Obviously I had my suspicions, namely due to Hercules90's suspicious disappearance. However, that was when I had far less evidence to go on than I do now. Taking all that into account, Caledorn's behaviour strikes me as that of a perfectly reasonable Townie - though this could of course all be a well-thought out cover.

Umarth - Strikes me as taking a fairly large interest in the game, reasonable and open, no particularly suspicious behaviour.

ash88 - Insanely active, but I cannot tell if this is genuine civic duty or an excellently thought-out plot. Judging by her behaviour elsewhere, I am inclined to believe the former.

Tegvtec - Very few posts, no voting. Either a lurker or a quiet mafioso. Either way, a lynching shouldn't be too damaging - unless she takes a more active interest, of course.

landlubber - Reasonably active, little suspicious behaviour. Strikes me as an active townie.

On the evidence, I would therefore advise my surviving royal sisters to execute Tegvtec at this current juncture. May Diana be with you all!

Gonna have to go with Tegvtec on this one.

Since my last post a lot of new stuff to evaluate has come up but the post could have influenced peoples behaviour as well.. Slaze's death although unfortunate, as I mentioned in my post previously, was key to limiting down the options. Unfortunately as an innocent Slaze was less valuable. His innocence only makes Umarth slightly more suspect imho.

Umarth: (Previous Votes: Tic0, ABSTAINED): He first drew attention to Slaze's inactivity in this thread but continued postings elsewhere which culminated in a bunch of us voting for Slaze - myself included. He voted for Tic0 - an innocent - because he didn't like the sound of a stalemate even though we had no idea what a stalemate would lead to at that point (we don't currently either). Since the last vote UMarth has suggested that conversations about voting strategies are a determental (Agreeing with a point Tboy raised).

Caledorn: (Previous Votes: Hercules90, slaze) : You have done a phenomenal job of doing exactly what I would do if the townies thought I was guilty. That said, this isn't that difficult - but the fact that it could equally be geniune or a well acted part isn't forthcoming. That said, everyone who has ever voted for Caledorn is dead. In the first election Hercules90 voted for him and was killed by the mafia. In the second election slaze was killed by the town, but TBoy was killed by the mafia.

Tegvtec: (Previous Votes: ABSTAINED, ABSTAINED): He has been very inactive and has had no content in his posts. He has never voted for anyone having abstained in both votes.

mgsmuhammad: (Previous Votes: ABSTAINED, slaze): He has posted very few times. Since the last vote he has been more active/detailed (and blamed internet connectivity on his lack of posts). He was the first one to come up with mafia number ideas. He suggested Slaze was more suspicious then Caledron but then suggested that Caledron was digging himself into a hole.

landlubber: (Previous Votes: ABSTAINED, slaze): Voted for Caledron when he alleges he wanted to go for a tie last vote, but changed his vote to Slaze after it was pointed out that wasn't the best plan by Ash88. Since voting for him in the first vote Ash88 has said that landlubber is last on his suspect list, so if landlubber is found to be mafia it casts some doubt on Ash88 <gulp>.

Ash88: (Previous Votes: landlubber, slaze): Yep, I'm very active. I also voted for slaze and was a huge part of championing that cause. I think it was reasonable to suspect slaze given his odd posts, but for the sake of completness I am including myself.

A note on Tic0's plan: Tic has championed the idea of abstaining for a round. Initally I misunderstood him, but he was persistent in his explanation and once I understood I saw the wisdom in his plan. If we all abstain this round then our odds are better next round and we still have the same number of votes before we lose the game. I will follow suit if we abstain, but if I see some votes come in I will vote as well.

My only concern is one of the mafia jumping in and casting a vote in the 11th hour. With their night phase this will effectively take out two people and put us much closer to game over. Anyone that does vote at the last minute is effectively declaring themselves mafia (regardless of the excuse) imho, But if anyone does see an 11th hour vote by all means vote to tie it up quickly (assuming Winston wont kill 2 of us with a tie!).

The other thing is both mafia (assuming 2) could do something sneaky in the 11th hour... so its a risk!

ash88 said:

Caledorn: (Previous Votes: Hercules90, slaze) : You have done a phenomenal job of doing exactly what I would do if the townies thought I was guilty. That said, this isn't that difficult - but the fact that it could equally be geniune or a well acted part isn't forthcoming. That said, everyone who has ever voted for Caledorn is dead. In the first election Hercules90 voted for him and was killed by the mafia. In the second election slaze was killed by the town, but TBoy was killed by the mafia.

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As I have previously said, I understand why you are suspicious. I would like to correct you - once again (I believe I did it earlier too) - that I did not vote for anyone in round one - I abstained. So it should say (Previous Votes: Abstained, slaze).

I must say though, that I find your faith in my skills at deviousness quite complimentary - so thank you for the confidence in my skills, Ash. I'm kinda tired of insisting that I am innocent by now, so I won't even bother to reiterate it - if I get lynched this round, you'll see (And I believe that the mafia has then won, if there are two of them).