Mini-NOTW II: "Making Money" - Game Thread

[Renata]

I'm not happy about it, but I have to retract my accusation against Seon. I've had confirmation from enough sources now; he's not the prophet who accused me. And that makes the rest of my thoughts about him of questionable value as well.

I do still think that the prophet is a member of the Undercouncil; it's the only thing that really makes sense of all of this. And I think that I'm finally getting a sense of why. I was "scanned" the day after I revealed the requirements for my victory condition to Niklas (though I presented them as a personal goal and was not specific about what I was after). In going back over my conversation with him, I can only conclude that he really did think I was guilty -- his demeanor changed noticeably once I started talking about my goals. Given Niklas's own status as a brigand, he can only have concluded I was a member of the Undercouncil, and that means that the Undercouncil must be described in someone's PM (Seon's? The brigands'?) as having a goal sufficiently similar to my own to raise questions. He would have spoken to the prophet about it.

And the prophet decided to eliminate the competition.

I guess the Undercouncil must have had some sort of warning about me, much as I was warned obliquely about them; this probably gave enough confidence for the outright lie -- after all, me dying as a "Kingpin" doesn't sound all that innocent, right? Could certainly be passed off as a threat.

I've narrowed the possible prophet down to three possibilities based on accumulation of information, but I can't make an accusation. It's up to the rest of you, or not. As for you smugglers, though? Watch yourselves. I'm guessing you have worse than me on your tail.

 

[Renata]

(previous post crossposted with Seon)

And Seon, it's true you didn't tell me that you were a prophet explicitly, but you certainly implied it when you said you'd told oyzar as much and then got all cagey about your actual ability!

But whatever, it's water under the bridge now.

 

[Bratmon]

My brain hurts. Just as I figured out everything with the knowledge I had, I was overloaded again.

 

[Renata]

This doesn't seem to be going anywhere. We are evenly balanced; if I cast a support vote for myself right now we'd be tied at zero votes for everybody. I suppose I can't expect people to lynch a claimed prophet on the word of a single person.

Bratmon, I'd like to explain your connection to Niklas and oyzar. You were the second vote for hell_hound, changing your original vote to do so, and I can't for the life of me figure out what your connection to them could have been. Unless you're the last brigand.

You also failed to respond to my question about the hell_hound bandwagon, one of only a few players to ignore me entirely, and two of the others are at the top of my list of probable Undercouncil prophets. The last is Niklas himself.

Let's go after a brigand if we can't figure out what's going on between the prophet and me. I no longer have a weapon, and if past experience teaches me anything about trying to be a wolf prophet, it's that it gets progressively harder the longer the game goes on. He can't kill enough people not to get caught out eventually.

 

[Bratmon]

All right, I will now post this in public:

Back when I voted, Oyzar threatened me. He told me that Bringdads could kill. He told me that he'd kill me if I didn't vote for Hell_Hound. He also said he'd kill me if he saw anyone voting for him, acting like I told the secret. Why me? To pounce on the weak one, of course. Please don't kill me.

 

[Seon]

For some reason, Bratmon, that seems like a horrible lie. I cannot see why oyzar would risk himself as to force you to vote against Hell_Hound...

 

[Bratmon]

I can't tell his motives, but he needed to start a bandwagon. He knew I wasn't experienced enough to try to kill him.

 

[Diamondeye]

GM Comment: Due to real life issues, the next two updates (night falls & morning post) will be approximately 4-5 hours early. This means that night falls in approximately 31 hours, instead of 36. The night retains the 24 hour length, and the next day will be those 4-5 hours longer to bring this game back to original scale.

 

[Kulko]

I do not find Bratmons explanation satisfactory. Why did you not point out afterwards what had really happened. Also at this point oyzar was in control of a solid voting block and needed not to fear too much reatliation, if he went about it openly. Why take such an incredible risk of admitting that he is a threat to the caravan to you?

EDIT: Lightfang can have the armour.

 

[Bratmon]

I told you, I thought he controlled kills.I have nothing else to say, but after I die, you will realize....

 

[Krill]

Still chewing on an apple

Bratmon...I did not have you down as a possible Undercouncil member, but I now would not be surprised if you were one. Perhaps one doth not protest too much? Surely even a well devised lie would help your fellow innocents escape, after your death? One thinks you would at least be that magnanamous?

I also think that while I have this knife, I am at risk of death from an undercouncil member. I think they feel threatened by it's use...at its potential use against them.

So I am giving an open request to our surviving members! Give me infomation! Give me suspects! And I promise to use this knife tonight against the enemies of us merchants!

 

[BananaLee]

I'll be out of town all weekend. No idea if I'll get a computer in WHangaparoa.

 

[Diamondeye]

GM Reminder: This day ends in roughly 65 minutes, so if you want to change votes / vote on other items, do it soon.

BananaLee, consider asking one of the reserve players to keep your character while you are away. Nictel is first reserve.

 

[Renata]

I am going to vote that Niklas's ring goes to Tasslehoff.

 

[Renata]

(BTW, that was only edited to correct misremembered details, at Diamondeye's request.)

 

[Diamondeye]

Update: Evening, Day 4

The end of the day only confirmed what had been obvious for the entire day: the caravan was buzzling with activity, and the traders were discussing heavily, intent on saving their lives.

Someone had had it harder than others; Renata, the wine trader, had been under extreme pressure, but had eventually delivered an explanation that satisfied, if not all, then at least enough people to keep him alive for one more day.

Bratmon was the unlucky one today. In stark contrast to Renata's lengthy and coherent explanation, he had given a short answer to the questions raised against him, and that proved his downfall.

Kulko, the last Hippus guard, and Krill, now with Renata's knife, dragged Bratmon to the side of the road, the other merchants watching in excitement and fear. Krill was about to lead the knife to Bratmon's throat, when Kulko stopped him. The guard murmered to Bratmon: "Any last words?"

Bratmon nodded, and swallowed his spit one last time, before speaking.
"Oyzar was right. You are too stupid to see a threat when it spits you in the face. Maybe you got us, but there are other, more deadly people on this caravan. We never killed anyone," he then adds under his breath: "never got the chance to, either. I hope Agares takes you all."

Krill quickly cut the throat of the furs trader, since it had by now become obvious that

Spoiler :

Bratmon was a brigand!

The traders went to their tents with an uncertain hope in their hearts; they had rooted out the brigands, but according to the dying breath of two of them, the killers had not been among them. Would there be a killing tonight?

Vote Tally:

Accusations:
Winston Hughes: Renata
BananaLee: Renata
Bratmon: Renata
Seon: Bratmon
LightFang: Renata
Tasslehoff: Renata
Renata: Bratmon
Krill: Renata
Kulko: Bratmon

Total:
Bratmon: 3
Renata:1

Mithril Vest:
Renata: Renata
BananaLee: LightFang
LightFang: LightFang
Krill: LightFang

Total:
LightFang: 3
Renata: 1

Golden Ring:
BananaLee: BananaLee
Renata: Tasslehoff

As the vote is tied, nobody recieves the ring. It will be up for vote again tomorrow.

It is now night!
People with night PMs, send me your orders!
Any items that Bratmon had will be voted on tomorrow.
Morning comes in roughly 24 hours.
Until then, public posting is closed!

 

[Diamondeye]

Update: Morning, Day 5
The morning sun's feeble rays reached the diminished caravan, which slowly woke up to yet another day of the nightmarish trek towards Kwythellar. The merchants quickly gathered, noticing the absence of their last Hippus guard, Kulko.

As they went to the tent where he had slept, it became obvious why he had been missing. As with the previous victims of the nightly killings, Kulko had had his throat cut in a single, lethal strike. They needed not to examine the body to realize that

Spoiler :

Kulko was innocent!

Kulko appeared to have owned a little idol figurine, which they brought along for voting that day.

However, after this depressing morning surprise, they noticed that they were, in fact, also lacking the arts trader, BananaLee. They went to his tent and found his body.

The assassination had not been as flawless as that of the other targets, crude cuts were scattered over BananaLee's face and throat, and spatters of blood were everywhere.

Spoiler :

BananaLee was innocent!

Everyone looked at Krill, who had been given a knife the day before. That was perhaps the right place to look, because, protruding from where Krill's right eye had been, was the shaft of an arrow. They watched in horror as the potions trader sank to the ground, another arrow catching him in the chest mid-air. His knife slid from his hand as he hit the ground, dead.

Spoiler :

Krill was innocent!

They all looked in the direction from where the arrows had come, to see LightFang, the spices trader, standing with CCRunner's bow, an arrow on the string. He was also wearing the mithril vest. His voice boomed out in a commanding tone:
"Whoever had the Devilweed, hand it over now, and I'll let you live."

The merchants stood as shocked, nobody reacting, until Seon panicked and mumbled something unhearable. LightFang pointed the arrow at Seon. "Repeat."
Seon spoke, hearable this time: "I said I don't have it, please, please let me live! I... I can help you. I-"...

He was cut short when LightFang nodded briefly. From behind, Seon's throat was cut by Renata, who sported a knife like the one that he had given Krill the day before.

Spoiler :

Seon was innocent!

Renata quickly joined LightFang at his side, looking at the remaining two people, Winston Hughes and Tasslehoff. Both of them were paralyzed by fear. LightFang shook his head and let an arrow fly. It caught Winston Hughes in the shoulder and sent him to the ground, critically wounded. His silky garments provided no protection at this range. Tasslehoff whimpered. "Pl-pl-please don't kill me."

Renata moved her lips silently, mimicing what was known as the number one rule of the Undercouncil: "Leave no witnesses". He then proceeded to attack Tasslehoff with the knife, quickly bringing him to the ground.

Spoiler :

Tasslehoff and Winston Hughes were innocent!

LightFang and Renata went over to the body of the fine clothes trader, and searched through the various pockets of the blood-drenched suit. They quickly found multiple small bundles of devilweed leaves, which they promptly secured within their own garments. They then dragged the bodies to the wagons, and LightFang went to his tent to get the bag of moonsugar he had stolen from Sepuku earlier. Meanwhile, Renata seached through the furs on the late Bratmon's wagon, quickly finding the weapons the brigands had concealed: Renata took the Light Crossbow with him, and found a Stiletto for LightFang. He also picked up the golden ring that Niklas had owned when he lived.

They then proceeded to set fire to the caravan wagons, a fire that quickly caught on due to the many clothes, furs and herbs. They were just about to leave when they noticed a large bag of golden coins where Seon had lain. They picked it up with a shrug and mounted their horses, previously of Sepuku's small herd, and rode for Kwythellar.

Once again, the Undercountil had gotten its will.

The game is over!
The Nightwatch team wins!

Feel free to discuss the game now, character and team PMs as well as awards will be up sometime later!

Also, congratulations to PaulusIII, who actually also achieved his victory condition, personal goal, and survived. He will share the first place with the hard-working assassins, Renata and LightFang!

I hope you all enjoyed the game as much as I enjoyed hosting it!

 

[Krill]

oops.

I new it was one of bananalee, Kulko or Renata. Lightfang I thought was the outside chance...

Oops

Good game.

 

[Diamondeye]

Nightwatch PMs:

Spoiler LightFang, the Spices trader :

Role: Spices trader
Strength: 2
Victory Condition: Nightwatch: You and your ally must eliminate the guide's accomplices and obtain the following items: Bag of Moonsugar, Devilweed, Mithril Vest. Each night, one of you can use your knife to kill someone.
Ability: Thievery: You can attempt to steal from someone at night. You can steal from the same person your ally targets for killing.
Item(s): Knife (+1 strength, used for killings)
Personal Goal: Same as Victory Condition.

Background Story: You and your collegue, who is acting as the Wine trader, are not what you look like. You are Nightwatchmen, sent by the Undercouncil of Kwythellar. Your objective is simple; make sure that none of the wares that sorts under the smuggling ring of the Undercouncil falls into the wrong hands. That means the drugs moonsugar and devilweed, and the precious metal, mithril. It looked to be a simple objective, until one of you accidently overheard the guide talking to someone else - about a planned ambush ahead.
Since the ambush would surely cost both you your lives, and spread the illegal wares all over Erebus, you decided it was time to strike; you went ahead and killed the guide. Now, that removed your primary concern; that of imminent death at the hands of an ambush party. However, you still need to get hold of the illegal goods, and in order to survive, you must also track down and kill any accomplice the guide must have had.

Since you are the most nimble of the two of you, you can sneak into people's tents at night and attempt to steal whatever they are hiding - this will be crucial to your mission.

It won't be easy - but then again, you are among the best. And you know what will happen if you fail - the Undercouncil of Kwythellar is a harsh master.

Spoiler Renata, the wine trader :

Role: Wine trader
Strength: 2
Victory Condition: Nightwatch: You and your ally must eliminate the guide's accomplices and obtain the following items: Bag of Moonsugar, Devilweed, Mithril Vest. Each night, one of you can use your knife to kill someone.
Ability: None
Item(s): Knife (+1 strength, used for killings), Encoded intelligence list (You can use a night to gain information on one player - this counts as a night action, and will not simply present to you whether the person is guilty or not - merely what he has been involved in until now)
Personal Goal: Use your intelligence list to track down at least two targets (either guide's accomplices or holders of illegal wares - the mithril vest is not counted).

Background Story: You and your colleague, who is posing as Spices trader, are sent by the Undercouncil of Kwythellar on a very simple mission; several of the traders in the caravan are dragging along illegal goods that sort under the smuggling ring of the Undercouncil - obviously, you cannot allow that monopoly to be broken. So your task was to track down the items, obtain them, and disappear.
Unfortunately, that is no longer an alternative. One of you found out that the guide leading the caravan was working with one or more accomplices on the caravan, and had set up an ambush that would mean the death of everyone else - including you. And it would mean that the illegal goods would be distributed all over Erebus and be out of the hands of the Undercouncil. So your task is a bit harder now:
You must track down and kill the guide's accomplices, and also obtain the illegal goods.

Of course, you have some ways to do this; your colleague is pretty nimble-fingered and can steal at night, and you yourself carry an encoded intelligence list, which holds detailed information about everyone on the caravan. Since it is encoded, you will have to use an entire night to decipher the information on a single person.
And of course, both of you carry your trusted knives. Every night, one of you can "get rid of" one of the other players.

You have already located the mithril vest; it is (surprisingly!) in the hands of the armor merchant. However, since it is a mithril vest, it protects him from your knives - and stealing a shirt someone is wearing while they sleep is not possible. So you have to find another way to get hold of it.

Spoiler Team PM :

Team: The Nightwatch
To: Wine Trader, Spices Trader

You are the 'wolves' of this game. Or, to be precise, you're the people killing someone at night. But you're not the only threat to the caravan.

Your goal is twofold: To secure the illegal goods you were originally sent for, and to kill the members of the other team of 'wolves'.

Each night, one of you can kill a person. Exactly one of you. Not both of you, and you cannot choose not to kill anyone at night.
Other than your knives, one of you carry an encoded list that can provide info on one player, but it takes a night to decode that info. The other person can steal.

Items you must possess to win:
Mithril Shirt,
Bag of Moonsugar,
Devilweed.

You know that the Mithril shirt is in the hands of the Armor Trader, but you also know that it protects it's owner from assassination, and is unstealable. The other items, you will have to find out for yourself.

You will not be able to know if all the wolves of the other team has died before you have attained the items (which would make you win).

Do your best, both as villains and as active and engaged players,
-Diamondeye

Spoiler Team PM, when the last brigand died :

the last brigand has been killed. Apart from this being a part of your victory condition, it will also enable you to overpower the caravan, providing an alternative to finding the devilweed by thievery and/or voting. This will happen when your total strength is equal to, or higher than, the strength of the remaining others on the caravan.

Brigand PMs:

Spoiler Bratmon, the Furs trader :

Role: Furs Trader
Strength: 2
Victory Condition: Brigand: You and your allies must be able to overpower the rest of the caravan.
Ability: Furs: While furs bring in a good coin on the market, the reason you love it is the ease with which you can hide items in it. At any time, you can hide two items which cannot be detected or stolen. You will automatically hide your starting item unless you PM me otherwise. Items hidden in your furs will still come up for vote, should you die.
Item(s): Stiletto (+1 Strength)
Personal Goal: Possess a ranged weapon (in addition to your stiletto) when (if) your victory condition is reached.

Background Story: You always had a good eye for profit - not just the type about where to buy and sell what goods, but also more... Intriguing deals. Which is why you, immidiately after hearing that the Kwythellar Merchants Guild had decided to send a large caravan through the jungle to Balmesque lands had gotten a fantastic idea:
You and your old accomplice, the jewellery trader, made sure that you would be on the caravan when it departed - and you had a clever plan: you had hired a group of Hippus mercenaries, led by the Hippus Mounted Swordsman who is guarding the caravan, to ambush it on the way to Jubilee, and kill all of the merchants and guards except the four of you (guide, swordsman, jewellery trader and yourself), and then simply roll the caravan the last couple of miles to Jubilee and cash in the profit for yourselves!

Of course, whoever had killed the guide had ruined that plan. You were still several days from Jubilee, and there was no way you could find your way through the jungle without the guide. But you and your allies had quickly seen the potential of the situation: If you could just avoid being killed at night or executed, you would eventually be able to overpower the dwindling group of "honest men" in the caravan, and score the profit for yourselves still. While you know that returning all the goods to Kwythellar would not yield as high a revenue as if you had arrived with it in Jubilee, you would still make a pretty penny, and would be considered a hero in the Kwythellar Trade Guild.

And, if you could somehow get hold of a ranged weapon to dislodge the Mounted Swordsman after you had coorporated in subdoing the others, you are convinced that you could handle the jewellery trader by yourself, and get off with all the revenue instead of one third of it...

Spoiler Oyzar, the Hippus Mounted Swordsman :

Role: Hippus Mounted Swordsman
Strength: 3
Victory Condition: Brigand: You and your allies must be able to overpower the rest of the caravan.
Ability: None
Item(s): Sword (+1 Strength)
Personal Goal: Have a higher strength than your allies when (if) your victory condition is reached.

Background Story: You are an experienced mercenary warrior of the Hippus, who, when approached by two Kuriotate merchants, immidiately spotted profit. And not just a normal guards wage;
The two merchants, the furs trader and the jewellery trader, had already had a plan; they had enlisted a guide who would lead them to Balseraph lands of a certain path - where, near the Balmesque borders, your loyal warriors would be waiting to ambush the caravan, killing everyone but you and the two merchants. The profit would have been huge.

But someone threw a spanner in your plans; the guide was found dead, when you were pretty certain that only a couple of days ahead, your loyal warriors were waiting. Now, without the guide to get you there, they are waiting to no avail. And if you return home empty-handed, you are quite sure that you will have neither warriors or hands for much longer.

Luckily, the greed and panic among the merchants can work to your favour; if the caravan is reduced enough, you bet that you and your allies can overpower the rest of the merchants and return home with the goods, renewing your warriors' faith in you and earning a pretty coin as well.

And of course, your share will be even larger if you could somehow overpower your "allies" after that...

Spoiler Niklas, the Jewellery trader :

Role: Jewellery trader
Strength: 2
Victory Condition: Brigand: You and your allies must be able to overpower the rest of the caravan.
Ability: None
Item(s): Poison Ring (Can be used to poison someone once - send in orders during the DAY. If you are killed, the ring's secret is lost and it becomes worthless)
Personal Goal: Use your ring to poison one of the people responsible for the death of the guide.

Background Story: Your business was doing fine in Kwythellar, but your greed was doing even better, so when your old friend, the furs trader, approached you to discuss the caravan that the Kwythellar Trade Guild had decided to send to Balmesque lands, you were all ears. And when he told you of his bulletproof plan, you realized the man was a genious.

Together, you arranged for a group of Hippus mercenaries to ambush the caravan only miles from Jubilee, killing all the other merchants. The leader of this group, the Hippus Mounted Swordsman, had followed along the caravan as protection. You had also hired the guide, who knew the area very well, to arrange where the ambush should be and lead the caravan straight into it.
But now, with the guide dead and the caravan still several days from its intended destination, it looks like your plan wasn't all that bulletproof. Luckily, the three of you had quickly been able to stitch together an emergency solution: If you could avoid the killings and the executions, you could overpower the rest of the caravan once it had been weakened enough, and bring back the goods to Kwythellar for sale there instead. While it would not be as profitable as actually arriving at Jubilee, you would get your money back atleast fivefold - nothing to be sad about.

Oh, and in your proffession, you often deal with types that need to "die unexpectedly" - which is where a little poison comes in handy. You suspect it will have the same effect on whoever killed the guide. It'd be a good way to get rid of a potential danger to the plan.

Spoiler Team PM :

Team: The Brigands
To: Hippus Mounted Swordsman, Jewellery Trader, Furs Trader

You quickly and descreetly sent each other gazes as the guide, your companion, was found dead. Things were not going according to plan.
In a couple of days, the caravan would have reached the end of the jungle, and rolled straight into the hands of your companions. Unfortunately, you do not know the road through the last part of the jungle!

So an emergency plan quickly formed once the decision to decimate the caravan had been made: Overpower the decimated caravan once it had been reduced enough. Tracking down the killers would be practical, but is not a necessity.

You are a team of 'passive' wolves: You cannot kill people at night. If you got your hands on one of the killers' knives, however...

Victory condition: You must have a strength higher than the rest of the Caravan.

 

[Kulko]

Ouch, that really hurts.

Should have listened more to BLee and just kill Renata to be sure. But after all my other contacts had proved to be brigands I didn't want the only other person to reply to my messages to die.

I did distrust LFs story, but i thought a scan tonight was good enough.