Night of the Werewolves XXV: Border of Life

Very nice, AAR, Backwards Logic. Probably more charitable towards me than I deserve. :p

I'm going to try to write one of my own, but between leaving for a holiday tomorrow and my general wordiness, it may never get completed. Here, in any case, is the first two days.

Part One – the Beginning, and hints of things to come.

So I got my PM – prophet again! Well, OK. I was actually hoping for something a little less immediately involving, since my previous two games (Diamondeye’s MNOTW-2 and Splime’s Doomed Galactic Journey -- can't really count thomas's as I died the first night) had taken a lot out of me. In any case I wasn’t going to make the same “mistake” I’d made in DGJ, where I’d wound up with a circle of trusted allies, yet had to do most of the heavy lifting myself. This time I would go straight to the top, so to speak: before the game had even officially started, I let Chand know I would have the dogs check out Niklas the first night.

Imagine my surprise when I actually talked to Niklas at some point during that first day – before any nighttimes, you understand – and he started asking me what I was doing with my dogs at night. Errrrrr. I BS’ed, naturally. He knew it, naturally. (See his PM when they’re all posted.)

The other thing that happened the first day that I remember as being significant was that I spoke to Nictel. He immediately struck me as being vastly different towards me than he had been in DGJ, which I saw as a good sign, since in DGJ he was a bad guy. However, he did have some troubling information to impart: something about his PM might make him “look bad”, he said. If I were him, would I go around telling people about it, in case it were later discovered? I said no, I wouldn’t, and that was the end of that conversation. (What was I thinking?)

The morning of Day Two started out pleasantly enough. Niklas was not a werewolf. And though the revelation of the Vicar’s status suddenly cast doubt on my ability – could I detect only the werewolf himself (there appeared to be only one), or could I detect the accomplices, too? – I continued to believe that I was best off telling everything to the people I had scanned. (I reasoned that I might well wind up scanning a non-werewolf bad guy (or even an accomplice, perhaps), but the use of my ability on them with no result would mean I was no threat – a good thing for my survival.)

Before I could talk to Niklas, however, oyzar ambushed me. Even with what was to come later, that was one of the most stressful conversations of the game. He implied he knew I had been doing something suspicious at night (but wouldn’t tell me what he knew or how), and demanded to learn my ability or he’d get me lynched. I told him if he tried it, he was dead; and after an hour or so of more of the same we finally ended the conversation having neither budged an inch.

On top of that, Methos continued to make weird noises about the werewolf maybe being innocent, and I resolved to scan him that night as a result. I also talked to Ekolite, who told me the first (and maybe the second) of his several stories that Backwards Logic referred to. And I went back and rectified my mistake regarding Nictel from the previous day, finding out that he had to be active for six nights in order to gain an ability. For this information I paid with my own motivation (to gain a weapon), which had far-reaching consequences – Nictel started voting me the Staff of Lugus as an unasked-for favor (and I wound up getting it).

After all of this I finally caught Niklas online and found out that the previous night we’d both scanned the other. IIRC I told him I would be scanning Methos next, and he told me he would be casting a broad net for his second night: it wound up being Frozen In Ice, Thomas.berubeg, Backwards Logic, PaulusIII, and Diamondeye. (Pretty good instincts there, eh Niklas? All three priests, the head ghost, and a prophet, in one net? Chandrasekhar must have died laughing when all he could return was a generic ‘yes’.)
 
After all of this I finally caught Niklas online and found out that the previous night we’d both scanned the other. IIRC I told him I would be scanning Methos next, and he told me he would be casting a broad net for his second night: it wound up being Frozen In Ice, Thomas.berubeg, Backwards Logic, PaulusIII, and Diamondeye. (Pretty good instincts there, eh Niklas? All three priests, the head ghost, and a prophet, in one net? Chandrasekhar must have died laughing when all he could return was a generic ‘yes’.)
Not to mention that the prophet was also the possessed killer. I should get an award or something. :cool: :lol:
 
After Methos broke the staff and was revealed as innocent, we began discussing what Nictel had said about thomas. Since Nictel was claiming him to be the final priest and at this point we were pretty certain of PrinceScamp’s innocence, the only possible remaining ghost was thomas. I too had a spreadsheet (Methos had the same one as well), and thomas had never accused neither DE nor TFA. While he had also never accused Frozen, this was only one case of possibly being a priest. With the lack of votes against both DE and TFA, we felt this could be two cases where the votes would point to thomas being a ghost. Since according to his line of logic the remaining ghost had to be either Stuck in Pi or myself and I knew that was wrong, this threw even more suspicion on Nictel’s motives. We began working under the assumption that Nictel could be the final priest and thus was very close to winning. We knew he wasn’t a ghost from Methos’ scan and my scan of him on night six was inconclusive. Either way though, thomas’ death would shed further light on the situation so we still felt it was best to see him dead. The question became who do we poison/stab this day, and again we’d pick the wrong one, which almost cost us the next day.

I must dispute the voting section of this. any self respecting "evil" knows better than NOT to vote for thier teammates when they appear to be close to dieing. not doing it appears suspicious, and can be tracked (as in what you were doing.)

Also, I was never active at night, as far as I know.
 
Amazing AAR BL. It is nice to know what happened after I died.

Wait, What? What on Earth is that all about? I was immediately suspicious of him, and even more so when he started asking for the knives that the now deceased LightFang had left behind. I made my first real gamble and contacted oyzar about my findings and how I was leery about Methos getting the knives.

Our discussion was interesting to say the least. Turns out he can watch people too with his telescope and on the second night he saw Methos ‘sleeping.’ He’d also revealed to me at this point that he’d scanned Niklas and Renata. He pointed out that Niklas has some inconsistencies with his story, specifically that he claimed he was active at night when oyzar saw otherwise. Seemed to me an odd thing to lie about, but it’s Niklas; I’m sure he had a good reason to. He also revealed in our first conversation that we had three scans at our disposal and said Renata could scan for werewolves. Definitely a good piece of info to have, but I didn’t want to spook her and contact her about it. I’d get to that later. Later that day he’d come back to me saying basically the Methos checks out and is probably one of the better options to have the knives. It was still hard to believe, but I let it go.

Telling each of you about the other wasn't an easy decision. And both of you were very angry at me when you eventually found out... I am glad it worked out in the end, but if BL had been a killer of the ghosts or something it could have been bad. In fact after getting to know TFA's "ability" I sorta suspected you since it would only make sense on an innocent if there was a bad guy scanning for night activity.

I don't have count for how many times I asked methos what his ability was during that day. I asked him after I scanned him too, though at that point he claimed he didn't have any (ofc he also mentioned that he would say that no matter what was true). Eventually he did tell me that he could scan ghosts. He only told me because he knew I wasn't a werewolf from renata scanning me and he knew i wasn't a ghost from him scanning me. Since Renata also had scanned Methos to not be a wolf i was pretty sure he was innocent and as such told BL.

It certainly wasn't DE's kill the inactives that killed him. As far as I know this message popped up on Ekolites IM out of nowhere:
Methos's goal is to destroy us (spirits), we need to get rid of him
This was after Methos confronted PS after he decided that he wasn't a vengful spirit because Chand had told him he was a lingering spirit. I don't belive that is anything that an innocent would post. And no BL I was never convinced that PS was innocent (my vote stayed against him all along). PS could have left it at that, but decided to play smart and it came VERY close to winning him the game...

'Your window popped up over another one, I'm messing with diamond eye, he is a killer'

We all know what happened to DE after that. As you can see from this, the chance that BL was a ghost was so very small because he was basically the one who got DE and later PS lynched (even if he failed once).

We really gained ground here with regards to Frozen in Ice. With Niklas’ death, Methos and I felt that the ghosts were scared of these puppets and with D’Art voting both of them to Frozen as the day’s first post stood out as odd. The two things we had going against us at this point were 1) Methos had scanned Frozen and he wasn’t a spirit and 2) D’Art was first to accuse Diamondeye, so a lynch against him would go nowhere and make whoever accused him look suspicious.

We were worried Renata asking for the dolls/puppets would make her a target, but she felt she had a pretty good idea what they did (to her credit she did know) and felt they were worth the risk. She also brought up snippets of a conversation with RRRaskolnikov saying he had to ‘do something before he died so he could rest in peace’ and should be scanned by Methos. On the side, Methos and I brought up to each other a few times that Renata could be a wolf and is faking her prophet ability. It was more speculation than anything since we had nothing concrete to back that thought up, but it was something we couldn’t easily dismiss.

By midday PrinceScamp was getting the votes piled up against him again, but with Splime’s good alignment scan and nothing else terribly out of place besides his character story it seemed like a bad idea to have him killed. I had also found out about the IM screwup he had with Ekolite, but the reasons behind what he said made sense to me and Renata, oyzar and I didn’t think it was enough to have him killed. We kicked around other various lynch targets – PaulusIII, Splime, D’Artagnan, and others until Methos made the decision for us by voting ZPV. Oyzar was certain this was a mistake since we felt he was innocent (93% sure in fact ) and then Renata and I made a number of witty remarks of how well that worked out in NOTW XXIII.

The votes I think were even until Frozen came along at the last minute and made this comment:

Princescamp, you still have not erased all of my suspicions about you.

(OOC:I believe you get to live this way though)

It was the OOC Comment that hit me the wrong way. If I had the votes counted right, PS was going to live anyway had Frozen not voted. Not only that, but according to Renata, Niklas had told her before he died that Frozen had some sort of night ability. It wasn’t completely a done deal that I was scanning Frozen, in fact I was wary of both CCRunner and Splime at this point. I should point out that no one had told me anything about Splime having an alignment ability until many days after his death. Anyway, I would in fact end up scanning Frozen with Methos scanning RRRaskolnikov at Renata’s suggestion, oyzar scanning Adrogans, (instead of PaulusIII), and Renata I think scanned thomas.berubeg, although it may have been D’Artagnan.

Regarding Frozen in Ice, he acted a lot more suspicious than that. He had at some point told Niklas that he was active at night after Niklas went and scanned all the baddies. I fished for some information and out of nowhere:

oyzar wanna tell me what your ability is?
Frozen In Ice it is a protection ability, that is all I will reveal
oyzar you can protect people during the night?
Frozen In Ice no, it is only for myself

This sent of alarmbells ringing. Not only is a protection ability not consistent with being active at night, but a protection ability (either of yourself or others) is by far the easiest ability for a wolf (of any sort) to claim. CCRunner claimed one in Renata's game, LightFang claimed one in DE's MNoTW2 (and so did Bratmon for that matter). I didn't know anything of the Evil priests at this point and since Frozen wasn't a ghost this left me fairly certain that Frozen was a werewolf. Lucky we decided to have Renata scan D'art (who made himself suspicious by voting all those items to a suspicious person for not much of a good reason) and BL scan Frozen (It was really a tossup between me and BL, but we figured that BL was more likely to find out something as his scan seemed more reliable). I scanned Morgan pretty much on random (there were so many people we hardly knew anything about). Unfortunatly I though that for some reason the people who were away at the start of the game (Winston and Paulus) were less liekly to be bad guys and as such never ended up scanning them.

It was a very fun game to play, too bad it ended way too soon for my part. I was sure it was my post against PS that killed me, but as it turned out TFA killed me because I asked too many questions. He feigned rage at me disturbing him when he came online, and I for one was completly fooled.
 
as it turned out TFA killed me because I asked too many questions. He feigned rage at me disturbing him when he came online, and I for one was completly fooled.

An enraged Forest actually told me that, in some future game where he was playing a wolf, you would be his first victim. The funny thing was that I was already pretty sure he was a villain in the present game. My fellow wolves and I doubted his story from the moment he told it, and actually talked about killing him the first night. But we decided he was more use to us alive, for the time being. So, when you died, I immediately assumed that Forest was responsible.

However, I had already shown my non-ghostliness by starting the bandwagon against DE, and I didn't want the ghosts to see me (either in Lord or Wolf form) as a direct threat to them. So, as I had done right from the start, I settled for telling all and sundry what I knew about Forest, planting seeds of doubt about his innocence whilst making out (in most cases) that I felt some trust for him regardless.

Even when Forest was up for the lynch - and I was secretly cheering for him to get the chop - I decided to keep up the act. ZPV's accusation of Adrogans allowed me to do that quite nicely, whilst also reinforcing the Seneschal's trust in me, and solidifying the connection between us in the public eye. The latter would eventually result in Adrogans' death, but, from the sounds of things, that may well have saved me from getting killed by PrinceScamp.
 
Thank-you for a wonderful game, Chandrasekhar! :goodjob:

Spoiler my and MooseWarrior's PMs :

Lovers Team

Welcome, enthralled companions! You are the lovers team, and you're innocent, with a twist.

Your primary special ability is something that mafia game players everywhere would envy - you both have another player that you can trust completely. You have access to each others' starting PMs, as well as the absolute knowledge that no mechanic in the game can make your victory conditions different from each other. Use this ability wisely - it might not be as spectacular as a true prophethood ability or a double-digit strength, but it's far from useless.

MooseWarrior:

Role: Fisherman
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Amurite
Base Strength: 2
Item: None
Ability: None
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Miller must survive.
Background: You were born to a poor family in a small Amurite seaside village, and as soon as you were old enough, you made your living mostly by hauling in nets to feed your aging parents and several younger siblings. When a plague passed through the village, your parents died, and you yourself were bedridden for months.

When you were able to walk again, it seemed that your siblings had learned to survive without you. Your little brother was hauling in the nets now, and your sisters were getting married off to other families. There was no place left in the village for you.

You left on good terms with everyone, to see the world and maybe return a little wiser. Instead, you found the Miller here at the Castle. Though you met not long ago, you feel like you've known her all your life. Now that she's in danger, you're willing to use all your strength to see her safely through this crisis.

ZPV:

Role: Miller
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Amurite
Base Strength: 1
Item: None
Ability: +1 secret vote
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Fisherman must survive.
Background: You grew up in a once-prosperous family in the Amurite capital, a family that had been brought low by betrayal from without and stupidity from within. So, you were forced to go out and earn a living yourself.

Eventually, you ended up working at a mill in the countryside a few days' ride from the capital. It wasn't the job you had envisioned yourself taking, but you took to it rather quickly, and more importantly, made a good impression on the local lord - you had always been a people person. Things soured when one of the lord's aides made some unwanted advances on you, and eventually, you were forced to flee. There was no place for you there.

For awhile, you merely wandered, but you then came across the Fisherman. Though you met not long ago, you feel like you've known him for all your life. Now that he's in danger, you're willing to use every skill at your disposal to see him safely through the crisis.

(Note that this PM takes the place of your individual character PMs.)



@Backwards Logic: superb AAR!
It turns out the telescope was giving me false negatives :( I can't believe I didn't spot them, though. It seems so obvious now.

At least until his death, he didn't appear to stir from his room. You weren't able to make out what happened in the room when he was killed.

It's difficult to make out any details through the telescope, but you don't see the Sculptor leave her rooms during the night.

You don't see the Soldier going anywhere at night.
 
Hahaha wow BL it seems I really was living life on the edge this game - Seems I was on your hit list for quite a while. Luckily Renata trusted me well enough not to want to kill me on your hunch, and methos got cold feet or something and cancelled his poison order. I don't know why yu thought I was more likely to be a ghost then PS, would I have called out abut DE and the msn fiasco if I was? I don't think so.
 
I'm certain that I told Aramazd about it specifically in his character PM, too.
You'd did. Looking at the PMs I sent to Winston it was just that I didn't really elaborate on my item. My intention was to give it to one of my teammates if it looked like I would die, but I got killed unexpectedly on the first night.

Anyway, my PM:
Role: Vicar
Alignment: Good
Ethnicity: Malakim
Base Strength: 1
Item: Staff of Lugus (+1 Strength - Can be broken to skip an execution and a night)
Ability: Calming the Beast - As long as you're alive, you help the lord resist the urge to go out and kill.
Victory Condition: Redemption of the Beast
Motivation: Kill the source of the enraging aura.
Background: The Second Sight is a blessing and a curse. The divine perception granted to priests of Lugus extends through time and space, engraving a complete image of all possible pasts, presents, and futures on your mind. Only through discipline and faith in Lugus can sense be made out of it all.

So it was that when you met the current lord of Castle Animus, it took you some time to make sense of it all. You knew, beyond a doubt, that he was a werewolf. It took only a bit longer to realize that he was the only hope for avoiding a great catastrophe. The nature of this disaster remains cloaked to you, but with divine clarity, you know this - the lord must live, and he must make his stand at Castle Animus, or a great many lives will be lost, and the forces of evil will profit greatly.

Yet it's not turning out to be an easy task. Someone is channeling Aeron, god of rage, here at Castle Animus, and it's awakening the beast within the lord, forcing him to kill his own guests. With your own magic, you can counter this, partially, but not completely, and not forever. You must see to it that the one casting this spell is killed, somehow.

You also have another ability at your disposal - your staff is charged with the divine power of revelation. By destroying it and releasing the contained energy late in the day, you can save an innocent from execution, and make all night actions invalid for the following night 'till dawn. You, specifically, will also receive detailed information about the person you've saved. Note, though, that if you use this ability, and the condemned turns out to be guilty after all, he will not be saved - the following night will still be skipped, though.
 
Spoiler GHOST TEAM :
Welcome, vengeful spirits! You are the ghost team, and you are here to see the rebirth of Lady Animus, archmage of life. To fulfill this task, you each have your own abilities.

Your leader is the ghost of Lady Animus herself, masquerading as the Healer. With her mastery over the spirit, she has exerted enough influence over a particular innocent, the Gardener, so that your chosen kills will be carried out by proxy, and none of you will appear to be active at night. Note that the Gardener is unaware that she is being controlled, and unaware of the ghost team - her victory condition is not the same as yours, even though it helps you immensely for her to remain alive.

Also among your number is the ghost of a valiant Paladin, recently slain on the battlefield by the forces of the Ashen Veil. His prowess in combat may prove useful, and he has the ability to scan the alignments of the innocents.

Lastly, you also have the help of the still-living Butler, loyal to his mistress even across the border of life. As he is not a ghost, even attempts to detect supernatural beings will not find him out of the ordinary.

For your team to win, the ritual of rebirth must be completed, and it is a ritual that is fueled by souls. Every kill you make will bring you closer to your goal, but the ritual cannot absorb more than one soul each day, and kills made by other factions will not count towards your goal. You can not win by overwhelming the innocents with your strength, and if the last innocent dies, but the ritual isn't completed, then no one wins. The number of souls required to complete the ritual is unknown, so get busy.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. Good luck!

The ghosts were intended to be the "main" bad guys from the start. I thought it was a nice twist to have the main killers be the ones going for the "ritual" victory condition.
Spoiler WOLF TEAM :
Welcome, conflicted murderers! You are the wolf team, and you're just doing what you have to, even if it's unpleasant. To make this go as easily as possible, you each have your own abilities.

Your leader is the Lord, a baron of good standing in the Summer Court. Afflicted with lycanthropy through no fault of his own, he now must give into his curse and kill, or else go mad and die. Nonetheless, he commands your unconditional loyalty. The Seneschal is loyal to him as well, though he does not know of the lord's lycanthropy, and would likely turn against you if he did. However, the Seneschal is the only one with enough knowledge of the castle's catacombs to preserve the Lord's life in case the lynch mob comes calling - so long as at least one of the other members of the Wolf Team survives along with the Seneschal, the Lord need not fear execution.

Also among your number is the old master of weaponry, the Master-at-Arms. Though past his fighting prime, there are few in this land with such knowledge and expertise with so many blades. He may train armed innocents to use their weapons more effectively, raising the innocents' strength to thwart the other great threats this castle faces.

Lastly, you also have the help of a Vicar of the Empyrean, whose second sight told him not only of the Lord's affliction, but also how a horrible fate would come if the Lord did not make his stand at Castle Animus. With his magic, he works to calm the beast within the Lord, helping him to resist the urge to attack.

For your team to win, the Lord must survive this ordeal without escaping. The other threats that face this castle must be wiped out. You will not overwhelm the innocents with your strength, even if yours combined exceeds theirs - your victory condition is not mutually exclusive with the innocent one, and strictly speaking, you aren't their enemies, though if the lynch mob comes calling, that won't matter a whole lot.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. Good luck!

Strictly speaking, their victory condition wasn't the same as the innocent one - if Winston had died, then you all would have gotten an Innocent Victory, and the dead innocents would be considered victorious as well as any living wolf team members. And yes, the wolves' victory condition was entirely dependent on the Lord surviving.
Spoiler PRIEST TEAM :
Welcome, profane conspirators! You are the priest team, and you're here to kill everyone and find some forbidden knowledge. To fulfill this task, you each have your own specialties.

Your leader is the priest of Mulcarn, masquerading as the Sculptor. Her frozen soul wards off the attacks of whatever strange beings are behind the mysterious killings, and this oppressive aura extends to cover the whole castle, blanketing it in winter and thwarting other large-scale magic in the vicinity.

Also among your number is the priest of Agares, going as a Bard. Using the dark magic at his disposal, he may evade death by the mob, and so long as he lives, an aura of despair will influence the innocents. Even if victory is at hand, and all the night killers have been defeated, they will continue to lynch each other as though their lives depended on it, at least for a time.

Lastly, you also have the help of the priest of Aeron, who appears to be the Blacksmith. With his Body-sphere spells, he can fight off werewolf attacks singlehandedly, and as a byproduct, a furious aura permeates the castle - apparently, it is this that drives the werewolf insane and forces him to kill off the innocents one by one, unwittingly doing your bidding.

For your team to win, you must have enough strength to overpower the innocents. Though you lack a night kill ability, the other denizens of the castle seem quite happy to kill each other off, so it should only be a matter of time 'till you have the upper hand. With these fools out of the way, you should have plenty of time to find the hidden library of Animus, whose tomes will surely grant you incredible power.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. Good luck!

If I could have corrected one balance issue in this game, it would have been to make this team a little stronger. And it wouldn't have been by extra strength points or something - I would have given them an active mechanic, like a kill ability or something. Each priest's ability was completely passive, so all they could really do was try to stay away from the lynch mob and hope they weren't attacked. That's not what being on an antagonistic team should feel like.
Spoiler LOVERS TEAM :
Lovers Team

Welcome, enthralled companions! You are the lovers team, and you're innocent, with a twist.

Your primary special ability is something that mafia game players everywhere would envy - you both have another player that you can trust completely. You have access to each others' starting PMs, as well as the absolute knowledge that no mechanic in the game can make your victory conditions different from each other. Use this ability wisely - it might not be as spectacular as a true prophethood ability or a double-digit strength, but it's far from useless.

MooseWarrior:

Role: Fisherman
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Amurite
Base Strength: 2
Item: None
Ability: None
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Miller must survive.
Background: You were born to a poor family in a small Amurite seaside village, and as soon as you were old enough, you made your living mostly by hauling in nets to feed your aging parents and several younger siblings. When a plague passed through the village, your parents died, and you yourself were bedridden for months.

When you were able to walk again, it seemed that your siblings had learned to survive without you. Your little brother was hauling in the nets now, and your sisters were getting married off to other families. There was no place left in the village for you.

You left on good terms with everyone, to see the world and maybe return a little wiser. Instead, you found the Miller here at the Castle. Though you met not long ago, you feel like you've known her all your life. Now that she's in danger, you're willing to use all your strength to see her safely through this crisis.

ZPV:

Role: Miller
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Amurite
Base Strength: 1
Item: None
Ability: +1 secret vote
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Fisherman must survive.
Background: You grew up in a once-prosperous family in the Amurite capital, a family that had been brought low by betrayal from without and stupidity from within. So, you were forced to go out and earn a living yourself.

Eventually, you ended up working at a mill in the countryside a few days' ride from the capital. It wasn't the job you had envisioned yourself taking, but you took to it rather quickly, and more importantly, made a good impression on the local lord - you had always been a people person. Things soured when one of the lord's aides made some unwanted advances on you, and eventually, you were forced to flee. There was no place for you there.

For awhile, you merely wandered, but you then came across the Fisherman. Though you met not long ago, you feel like you've known him for all your life. Now that he's in danger, you're willing to use every skill at your disposal to see him safely through the crisis.

(Note that this PM takes the place of your individual character PMs.)
I don't think the lovers mechanic has ever been used in quite this way, before. I'm quite happy with it. It's unfortunate that they didn't really get much of a chance to play off each other, but complete mutual trust can be a strong thing in these games.
Spoiler Astrologer :
Role: Astrologer
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar
Base Strength: 1
Item: Key to the Observatory - The privilege of the castle's Astrologer. Required for ability.
Ability: Night's Watch - Each night, you may watch one person to see if they're active at night.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: Place the first vote on a player who turns out to be an enemy.
Background: Even since you were a child, you were always fascinated by the mysteries of the night sky. At first, you only took up astrology as a hobby, since you enjoyed cataloguing the positions of the stars anyway, but it eventually became your career. As the Astrologer, you know that sometimes the stars reveal the will of the gods, and sometimes they don't, but when people need some reassuring words or a safely vague prediction to give them peace of mind, you're happy enough to oblige, as long as they pay.

You doubt that reading the stars would give you any clues as to the identities of those attacking the castle, even if they were visible through this horrible weather. Fortunately, the observatory's telescopes can point downwards as well. Each night, you can focus your telescope on one character's dwelling to see whether they're active at night.

Ideally, you'll be able to maintain the image of the omniscient reader of fate through this crisis. You're hoping to place some votes that seem quite prophetic in retrospect. To count, the vote must be your first vote of the day, and the first vote against that character. If that character later turns out to be an enemy of the castle, you'll be satisfied.
Of the players active at night, more were prophets than were killers. Many of those with night actions also wouldn't show up as "active" with the Astrologer's ability, due to staying in their rooms and using magic or whatever. It was a pretty unreliable ability. And yes, the Key to the Observatory would confer false prophethood on whoever used it, as ZPV had the misfortune to demonstrate. The Astrologer's motivation was intended to force the player to go out accusing people and stir up trouble, but that's not really oyzar's style, so it didn't work that way.
Spoiler Bard :
Role: Bard
Alignment: Evil
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar
Base Strength: 1
Item: Staff of Agares (+3 Strength - A sign of your god's favor. Can expend 2 strength points to avoid a lynching.)
Ability: Aura of Despair - Even after all killing parties are wiped out, innocents will continue to lynch each other for at least a couple of days.
Victory Condition: Absolute Dominance
Motivation: Either the Fisherman or the Miller must die, but not both.
Background: You have come here on a mission from the dark gods. As a priest of Agares, you are certainly the most evil of your team. As is fitting for a priest of the God of Despair, seeing these pathetic innocents trying so desperately to avoid their inevitable fate fills you with the utmost amusement.

It was by the irresistable power of Agares that Duke Animus first fell from grace, and the destruction of his house inevitably followed. Now, you are here to reap the rewards of that plan by finding all the forbidden knowledge that the old archmage had gathered over the years. To do that, though, this castle must be emptied. As the innocents turn against each other and form lynch mob after lynch mob, their despair grows ever greater, and your abilities ensure that you have little to fear from their panicked accusations.

You do have some personal stake in how the exeuctions go, though. In your brief time at the castle, you have noticed that two of the denizens are obviously in love: the Fisherman and the Miller. Of course, nowhere is there such potential for despair as in the union between two lovers. Should one die, the other will surely be filled with the most exquisite despair. So, see to it that one dies, but the other doesn't. Death puts an end to all emotions, after all.
When the Bard didn't get lynched, that was due to his staff's ability. It had nothing to do with the knives. That sure caused a lot of confusion. I might be a little to blame. :p Funny how he earned so much suspicion for trying to fulfill his motivation - it had nothing to do with his victory condition, but it led to him getting scanned, and the rest was history.
Spoiler Beggar :
Role: Beggar
Alignment: Good
Ethnicity: Elohim
Base Strength: 1
Item: Quarterstaff - A simple, basic weapon. No strength bonus.
Ability: Eye of Sirona - Each night, you can determine whether one person is actually a vengeful spirit.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: Find and protect the one being possessed.
Background: You were not always a beggar. Long years ago, you were a battle Monk of the Elohim, and you hunted down demons and other abominations as a way of life. Those were the days... But the passage of years and all those battle scars eventually started to weigh you down. You could've retired on a decently comfortable pension, but instead you opted to embrace the humility that the Elohim Monks idealize, and live a humble life as a wandering beggar.

On your wandering pilgrimage, you thought it appropriate to visit Castle Animus. As soon as you arrived here, you knew that something was wrong. An ominous energy pervades the place, and you feel vengeful spirits gazing on the living with envy. This is a bad place, and it might have been smartest to leave while you still could, but you wanted to investigate more, and so here you are. Now you can use your training as a Monk to root out the vengeful spirits among the denizens of the castle, though your abilities in a straight fight have long ago decayed into worthlessness.

One other thing has come to your notice - you sense that there is one killing on the spirits' behalf unwillingly. It's a textbook case of possession, and you've faced this sort of thing before. The only way to stop it is to either kill the one doing the possessing... or the one being possessed. But you've grown sentimental over the years - you sympathize with the one being used as a pawn by malevolent forces. Using your abilities, you can also find the one being possessed. Protect that person.
His motivation turned out to be protecting the Gardener, and his ability would register a hit on the Healer and the Paladin, while it would identify the Gardener as the one being possessed.
 
Spoiler Blacksmith :
Role: Blacksmith
Alignment: Evil
Ethnicity: Calabim (Khazad abductee)
Base Strength: 4
Item: None
Ability: Aura of Rage - Forces the werewolf to continue killing or else go insane and die.
Victory Condition: Absolute Dominance
Motivation: One innocent at the end of the game must be at 4 strength or higher.
Background: You have come here on a mission from the dark gods. As a priest of Aeron, you are certainly the most evil of your team. Though you're as intelligent if not moreso than most people, you have given your heart to your inner beast, and you enjoy living a monstrous existence as a predator.

You grew up among the Calabim as a bloodpet, a source of food for vampires. Some vampires prefer to feed from dwarves, as your sturdy constitution can let you survive frequent feedings. Still, your eventual death would have been inevitable, if you hadn't managed to break free from your bonds and smash a puny bloodsucking aristocrat's face in. By all rights, you should have been executed on the spot, but apparently your ferocity attracted the notice of a priest of Aeron, and you were taken in as an apprentice.

You didn't have anything to do with this plot to uncover Animus's hidden knowledge, and you were only brought along as an afterthought to be a meatshield for the squishier priests. That doesn't bother you at all. You look forward to the final battle, when the innocents are worn down to the point that you'll be able to reliably overwhelm them and crush their bodies into a bloody pulp. Your only regret is that it'll be too easy by that point - if you can orchestrate events so that one of the innocents will at least prove a worthy challenge for you, you'll be a lot happier in the end.
The Blacksmith was the only one on the priest team that could increase his strength through weaponry. The others had a high strength through weapons, so they couldn't stack anything but the armor on top of that, but the Blacksmith's base strength was high on its own. Apart from that, he had a slightly self-destructive motivation, but he abandoned it when it became clear that he was going to need to get really lucky to have a chance at victory in the first place.
Spoiler Blademaster :
Role: Blademaster
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar
Base Strength: 2
Item: Mithril Sword - An enchanted mithril longsword with strange red runes etched into it. +1 Strength.
Ability: None.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: Find some way to improve your sword technique.
Background: You have always known your path in life, a luxury which few have - you are a Blademaster, and your highest purpose is to become among the greatest sword fighters of the world. For you, combat is not a tool, and it is not a career. It is your way of life.

Your blade only came into your possession recently. It happened on your way to Castle Animus, in fact. As you walked down the highway, you were attacked by an old man wielding that sword. At the time, the sword was covered in blood, and you had thought that he had just killed someone. Only later did you learn that the blade itself bleeds from the runes when drawn in combat. The man was a better fighter than his appearance would suggest, and you may well have died there if he had not pulled back suddenly. Laughing, the old man stuck the sword in the ground and said that you would likely need it in the near future. You asked him what he meant, but he was suddenly gone.

The sword was clearly not made by mortal hands. Though its balance is unfamiliar to you, its edge is sharp, and it possesses an aura of magic that even you can feel. You sense that it has a will of its own, and when you sleep, it keeps vigil. Maybe that old man wasn't insane, or at least not entirely insane. The sword may help you survive this crisis.
The sword also granted protection from the ghosts' attacks, and the Blademaster's motivation was to seek out training from the Master-at-Arms. A shame that Tolis never really showed.
Spoiler Butler :
Role: Butler
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar
Base Strength: 1
Item: Crest of Animus - A sign of eternal loyalty to the house.
Ability: Normalcy - As a living elf, any attempts to determine whether you're affiliated with the ghostly threat should come up clean.
Victory Condition: Rebirth
Motivation: The Lord must survive.
Background: It is said that few things in this world are exactly as they seem. Yet you have always defined yourself by your role as a butler, living a life of service to House Animus, and having no hopes or aspirations beyond your station. Your task now is nothing more than your duty.

After the fall of Duke Animus, and then the rest of his family, you were one of the few to stay at the castle. Lacking anything else to do in your life, it seemed right to stay where you had thought to serve as long as you lived. When this Ljosalfar Lord came to take possession of the castle, you entered into his service simply to stay here.

Then, one snowy night, when the howling wind was keeping you awake, you were visited by an apparition of the departed lady. She told you of her plans to return to the living, and asked for your services again. You were overjoyed to have another chance to serve - a chance to make up for not being able to save any of your masters.

Yet that is not to say that you lack any measure of loyalty for your official new master. If it's at all possible, you'd like to see the Lord get through this alive - the idea of striking down one you claim to serve, even if your services legitimately belong to someone else, makes you uneasy.
The Butler is always a bad guy. Anyway, I toyed with the idea of giving this role a more interesting ability, but decided against it. TheForestAuro made the best of it, anyway.
Spoiler Niklas :
Role: Child
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Amurite
Base Strength: 1
Item: Living Dolls - Toys that talk and move on their own. Required for ability.
Ability: You may pick up to five targets each night, and if any of them are active, you will know.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Mechanic should live, but the Groundskeeper should die.
Background: You're an Amurite orphan, and you grew up alone on the streets of Cevedes. Magic is an incredible thing, but it can't solve all problems, and even the Amurite capital has a dark underbelly. Living off food scavenged from the refuse pile and in makeshift shelters in dark alleyways isn't the best way to be brought up, but you've survived.

One day, you were feeling lonely, so you put together some dolls from bits of trash you found. When you talked to them, they talked back. They gave you all sorts of good advice on how to survive on the streets, but one day, they advised you to leave Cevedes by stowing away in a trade caravan. They led you to several places, and now you've ended up here. Fortunately, your dolls say that they'll help you get through this.

They're a little shy around other people, but at night, you can ask them to check on up to five players. If at least one of them is active at night, you will receive a positive response. If none of them are active, you will receive a negative response.

Anyway, among the people here at the castle, you like the Mechanic, and want to protect him. He makes neat toys. The Guardsman, on the other hand, is just sort of scary. His dogs seem savage, and he seems almost like a savage dog himself. You'd feel safer if he were dead.
Ah, I loved this mechanic. The dolls functioned just as well for any other holders as they would for the Child. Players who had night abilities, but weren't outside their rooms, wouldn't be scanned as active by the dolls. I recall that there were a few amusing misinterpretations of results.
Spoiler Cook :
Role: Cook
Alignment: Good
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar
Base Strength: 1
Item: Key to the Larder - Allows you to enable escape abilities. Required for ability.
Ability: Determine Intent - While you live, you will automatically enable anyone who attempts to escape the castle to do so.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: Help at least two other people escape Castle Animus alive.
Background: From the beginning, you had a bad feeling about this blizzard. It didn't feel natural to you - there was a malicious intent in the air. Quietly, you gathered your winter clothes and stockpiled enough food to last you for at least a few days alone in the blizzard. You've always gotten little premonitions like this, and they're spot on more often than not.

Yet when it came time to leave, somehow or another, you found that you had no desire to. If you leave, what's to stop these killers from slaughtering the whole castle? Maybe you have nothing but your vote to help the innocent cause, but you can't just leave these people to their fate. Yet if someone else wants to leave, that's their choice to make - it's not your place to force them to fight here against their will.

People who are about to flee pick up certain obvious mannerisms. If someone uses an escape ability while you still live, you'll be able to sense that, and make sure they're well supplied enough to survive. If someone attempts to flee the castle without your supplies, they'll almost certainly die. Anyone with the key to the larder can use your supplies, but only you have the perception required to supply even escape attempts you haven't been explicitly informed about.
Kind of a weak role, with a passive ability and a passive motivation, but Ekolite sure seemed to have the time of his life playing it out. I had to laugh at his kleptomania. :p
Spoiler Farmer :
Role: Farmer
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Amurite
Base Strength: 2
Item: Greatsword - An oversized blade that takes two hands to lift, let alone wield. +1 Strength for you, but some may be unable to wield it.
Ability: None
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Historian and the Philosopher should die.
Background: You just haven't been having much good luck lately. In the first place, living as a farmer in the Duchy of Animus was never an easy way to go. Even with the archmage's sheltering spells, the land just wasn't very arable. When the old noble went and got himself killed, things didn't improve, and your farm fell on hard times. Then, when you took your meager harvest to the castle to sell, you ended up getting caught in this blizzard. Now, your life is in danger due to werewolves and whatever else is killing people. Maybe, if you survive all this, you'll move away.

But for now, you need to use what you have on hand. A few years ago, when plowing the land, you hit something heavy and metal, and ended up digging up this gigantic sword. You're pretty strong, but you have no idea how anyone could use a weapon this big effectively. Even so, there's something to be said about just swinging the thing and destroying whatever happens to be in its path. It's better than nothing.

If everyone were as strong as you, this crisis probably wouldn't even be a problem. You've never quite understood why people in the cities and the castles tolerate people who contribute nothing. Even if not everyone can be bothered to pull their own weight in a fight, some so-called careers just irritate you. In particular, the Historian and the Philosopher seem absolutely useless. If some people have to die, it might as well be them.
Obligatory anti-intellectual. Anyway, his Greatsword would grant +1 Strength to anyone with a Base Strength of greater than 1, or +1 Strength to a person with 1 strength that received training from the Master-at-Arms. Someone with a high base strength and training from the Master-at-Arms would receive +3 Strength from it. It had the potential to be pretty critical, but ended up going unused.
Spoiler Fiddler :
Role: Fiddler
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Elohim
Base Strength: 2
Item: Fiddle (Your instrument of choice - required for ability.)
Ability: Gavotte - a one-time ability that extends the voting day by 24 hours. Requires the cooperation of one of your brothers.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Soldier must survive.
Background: You, along with two of your brothers, the Lutist and the Harpsichordist, make up a travelling band of musicians. You were on your way to Ljosalfar lands when you were caught by the blizzard at Castle Animus. Of your brothers present here, you are the middle in age, and you have another older brother that never became a musician. He ended up becoming an adventurer and disappearing into the wilderness when you were very young.

In truth, you never wanted to become a musician. Your eldest brother was a warrior by nature, and you wanted nothing more than to be like him. Your other brothers seemed to forget him as soon as he left, but you hope to see him again someday. As it happens, the three of you each turned out to have some talent at music, and you've been pretty successful so far, but your heart is elsewhere. This journey to Ljosalfar lands was largely your idea - and it has turned out to be as much of an adventure as you hoped. Perhaps too much of an adventure, in fact.

Anyway, among the occupants of Castle Animus, the Soldier in particular has caught your attention. He's clearly a veteran of more than one battle, and worse for the wear because of it. It reminds you of how your eldest brother may well be fighting for his life right now. Maybe it's just a superstition, but the idea has ingrained itself in your mind that if the Soldier makes it through this alive, maybe you'll be able to see your eldest brother alive again.

For now, though, you'll need to use every ability you have to see this crisis through. By performing your signature piece, you can extend the voting day by 24 hours. You can't do it alone, though - while you can't be sure that your brothers are innocent, you need their help to perform regardless. One of them must PM me with something alone the lines of "I agree to aid the Fiddler's performance" for your ability to be used.
He differs from the other brothers in that his Base Strength was 2. His ability probably had the most potential to be useful to the innocents, giving them more time to consider some shocking development, but it never got used.
Spoiler Gardener :
Role: Gardener
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Unknown (Raised Amurite)
Base Strength: 2
Item: Broken Sword - A mysterious heirloom, with no apparent use.
Ability: Lucid Dreaming - Each night, you may select one character to dream about. Your dreams have been quite informative in the past.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Harpsichordist must survive.
Background: Of your own background, you know little. Your earliest memories are of an orphanage in Amurite lands. You were the only elf there, for which you were mercilessly teased, and the mysterious man who left you there as an infant gave no clue as to your heritage but a broken sword.

As a young girl, you were always pale and sickly, and never quite in touch with the rest of the world. Even more strangely, you always had very vivid dreams, in which you saw things that later turned out to be real events that had happened the night before. You've never quite been able to figure out this ability, and neither have those few trusted people you've told about it. Perhaps it would have yielded more answers to ask an archmage, living among the Amurites, but the threat of being locked in a magical laboratory for the rest of your life doesn't appeal to you. In an admittedly blind attempt to find out just who you are, you decided to journey to the lands of the Ljosalfar, as living among other elves might shed some light on the problem.

Since your last stop on the Amurite border a few weeks ago, you've been feeling an odd affinity for gardening. Perhaps it's just your elven heritage manifesting itself. In any case, you do find that plants are somewhat easier to deal with than people, and your dabbling in this area is what has led to you becoming known as the "Gardener" among your fellow travellers and now the denizens of the castle.

Eventually, your path crossed Castle Animus, and so here you are. In your brief time here, you've picked up somewhat of a fondness for the Harpsichordist. Unlike his brothers, he seems to have such a great dedication to his work that it detaches him from the rest of the world. This reminds you of the odd detachment you've always felt. Misfits ought to stick together.
Ah, yes, the truest prophet in the game, balanced by the fact that as the one being possessed, the Gardener make it so that the entire Ghost Team appeared inactive at night by the scans of the Astrologer and the Child. So, it was kind of a give-and-take. Anyway, the out of body experience thing was meant to be a manifestation of the trademark Sidar divided soul ability, and the blade was that of Rathus Denmora, the Sidar hero.
Spoiler Gatekeeper :
Role: Gatekeeper
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar
Base Strength: 1
Item: Crossbow - Your weapon of choice. Sets effective strength to 3.
Ability: None
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Master-at-Arms must die.
Background: You've been the Gatekeeper of Castle Animus for many years, even back when the Duke was little more than an exceptionally talented mage. You and your trusty crossbow have seen countless people go in and out of the castle, and on the extremely rare occasion that someone tried to go in or out without the lord's permission, you denied them passage. Sure, it might be a rather dull job, and one that doesn't take much skill, but it needs to be done by someone, and you're that someone.

Your crossbow is a sturdy, effective weapon. It was made by the dwarves, and its mechanisms function flawlessly. You just point at the target, pull the trigger, and the bolt goes right where you want it. You mastered it after just a few practice shots, and you suspect that anyone could do so. Then again, it might not be a good idea to let it be known that you're so expendable...

Of course, some people have already made that assumption. The Master-at-Arms is so arrogant about his unparalleled mastery of combat. Every time he looks at you, you can feel his contempt. He's not so special, and in your opinion, his whole reason for being here is pointless. No matter how good you are with a sword, a crossbow bolt will kill you all the same. In fact, a lynch mob can do that too. Perhaps you should prove it to him directly.
Neither a powerful role nor a glorious one, but oh well, not everyone can be the direct descendent of an immortal hero. The Crossbow set strength to 3, meaning that it would grant +2 to people with a base of 1, +1 to those with a base of 2, and no bonus at all to those with a higher base.
Spoiler Groundskeeper :
Role: Groundskeeper
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar (born Doviello)
Base Strength: 2
Item: Key to the Kennel - Your privilege as Groundskeeper. Required for ability.
Ability: Release the Hounds - Each night, you may have your dogs investigate someone for werewolf scent.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: Acquire a weapon.
Background: You were born among the Doviello, but you have no memories of life among them. Shortly after you were born, your clan destroyed itself attempting to attack a well-fortified Ljosalfar stronghold. You were found as a baby at the deserted camp by the elves, and taken in to be raised among them. While you have some of the natural traits of the Doviello, you don't identify yourself as one of them.

Eventually you ended up as groundskeeper and kennelmaster for the lord here. You've always gotten along well with dogs, and your kennel is like your family. As it happens, few things drive a dog crazy like the scent of a werewolf - you can use this to your advantage by patrolling with your dogs at night.

Anyway, even if you're a tamed wolf, you don't like being declawed. You never received formal combat training, perhaps because the elves were uneasy about letting a "savage Doviello" hold a sword, but you still know how to fight. If you can find a weapon for yourself, you'll be happy to put it to use defending the castle. You're no berserker, but some part of you wants to draw blood for your pack.
The joke here is that the Doviello are always associated with wolves, and what's a dog but a domesticated wolf? Anyway, the Groundskeeper's ability would find any member of the wolf team, not just the Lord.
Spoiler Harpsichordist :
Role: Harpsichordist
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Elohim
Base Strength: 1
Item: Harpsichord (Your instrument of choice - required for ability.)
Ability: Capriccio - a one-time ability that allows the accused to escape the castle. Requires the cooperation of one of your brothers.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: Two or more songs must be played over the course of the game.
Background: You, along with two of your brothers, the Lutist and the Fiddler, make up a travelling band of musicians. You were on your way into Ljosalfar lands when you were caught by the blizzard at Castle Animus. You are the youngest sibling of your family, which includes your eldest brother, who never became a musician, instead opting for the life of an adventurer and leaving home before you were born.

Since you first discovered the joy of playing music, it has become the defining axis of your life. It wasn't your idea to start this musical band, but now, you wouldn't give it up for anything. You define yourself by your discipline and your expertise in your craft. This journey to the lands of the Ljosalfar is an opportunity for you to experiment with a new audience and perhaps learn from the elven musical tradition. Accordingly, you want to use this opportunity to put on some performances. They say that talent can really flourish in stressful situations, after all.

Your signature piece is quite amazing, in your fully justified opinion. It can hold your audience enthralled as the sun sets, allowing the victim of lynching for the day to make a dash for freedom and escape from the castle. There's no guarantee that the person so saved will be able to survive in the blizzard, but it's better than certain death by lynching. Note that you can't use this ability alone - one of your brothers will need to PM me something along the lines of "I agree to aid the Harpsichordist's performance" for your ability to be used. Also note that your audience will be quite aware that the would-be lynchee was aided in his escape by your music. You'll need to deal with that after the fact.
This musical ability was probably the weakest of the three, but as it happened, Ozbenno was the last of the musician brothers alive, so he got a special ability once the other two were gone. The "Dirge" replaced his standard ability, and gave him one unblockable night kill as long as he had the other two instruments. He was quite close to using it on Winston at one point, but was apparently persuaded otherwise.
Spoiler Healer :
Role: Healer
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar (Ghost)
Base Strength: 1
Item: Cherry Petal - Material component from the ancient tree, required to sustain this form. Cannot be traded.
Ability: Possession - Your picked night kills are carried out unknowingly by the Gardener.
Victory Condition: Rebirth
Motivation: The Fiddler must live.
Background: You have only the sketchiest memories of dying. The manner of your death remains a mystery to you. The intense pain tearing through your innards in those last moments might've been due to an ingested poison, a rival mage's spell, or even a simple knife wound. What you do remember is staggering through the great greenhouse that Castle Animus had been built around, through the perpetually blooming flowers that knew no winter, towards the ancient tree that had served as Archmage Animus's greatest material component.

Even as the wedding celebration - meant to be your own - devolved into chaos, as the merry chatter became cries of alarm and terror, as the music abruptly stopped, the ancient tree split its trunk and admitted you into it. When a gaggle of guests arrived moments later, the tree was whole and there was no sign of you, save a spattering of coughed-up blood.

The trickle of your spirit the tree was able to preserve has been enough for you to reach out and touch the world again, producing a semi-corporeal avatar of yourself and plucking the strings of fate to draw these fine sacrifices to you, for use in your rebirth. Not that you necessarily enjoy what must be done - these people, in all likelihood, had nothing to do with your death, so taking it out on them might not be fair, but you're simply not willing to give up your life. When you find the ones responsible for killing you, they'll have all these lives to answer for as well.

But that's beside the point. For more short term considerations, there is the Gardener, a fortunate windfall among your victims. Soon after materializing this form at Castle Animus, you went on a brief journey through the bordering Ljosalfar and Amurite lands, and were lucky enough to find this traveler on her way to Castle Animus. With your talent in spirit magic, you noticed that her soul seemingly loses its grip on her body during the night. Over the past weeks, you have been refining the ability to take advantage of this, and now you are confident that this will allow you to use her to commit your team's night kills without appearing to be active. You have no other reason to keep her alive, but so long as she is alive and free, this ability will prove useful to you.

On the other hand, you do feel a sentimental attachment to the Fiddler, and would rather see him live through this. He bears a resemblance to your would-be husband that his two brothers, the Lutist and the Harpsichordist, oddly don't. Perhaps it is merely a spiritual resemblance. Though you are quite certain that your betrothed was murdered shortly after you were, you still find yourself willing to spare this one innocent, if only for old time's sake.
Not much to say here that isn't common knowledge. If the Healer had survived, then the doll scan on the Butler would've turned up negative. Without the Healer, every member of the ghost team would appear active at night (this would also have happened if the Gardener had died), and as it happened, this became important when the dolls were used to scan TheForestAuro.
 
Spoiler Historian :
Role: Historian
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Sidar (Shade)
Base Strength: 2
Item: Longbow - Your weapon of choice, long unused but still functional. Required for ability.
Ability: Practice - Each night, you may practice your rusty skills. After six nights of practice, you will gain a new ability.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Gardener must survive.
Background: You are an immortal shade, and old, quite likely the oldest person here at Castle Animus. Your early days are largely forgotten, but some things are clear as though they happened yesterday. You were among the most elite of the Sidar archers, and your partner was an assassin of unparalleled skill. Together, you went on covert reconnaissance missions, assassination missions, and rarely, used your skills in pitched battle for the Sidar. Your partner was incredible, both as an assassin and as a shade. You admired him immensely.

Eventually, you decided to wane, as all shades eventually do, living the rest of your long, long life peacefully. You became a travelling historian, teaching the young mortals of the world about events long past for them, but relatively recent memories for you. One day, when you returned to the Sidar capital, you learned something surprising about your old partner and friend, the assassin, who never put down his blade. He had disappeared - the shades live ephemeral existences, able to fade into the mist at will, but this was something different. That assassin, that hero of the Sidar, had disappeared entirely, using a magic powerful enough that his face and name disappeared from all who knew him. Indeed, the people of the Sidar were slowly forgetting that he had ever existed. But you never forgot.

You gathered what rumors there were, picked the minds of all who might have information, and set out to find your old friend. It was said that he had fallen in love with a mortal woman, a violation of taboo that even you found a bit disgusting. Yet you continued to search, undeterred. Your searching took many years, and carried you across Erebus, but the Sidar are nothing if not persistent, and now here you are. The trail led you to an Amurite village, and an orphanage, where the young Gardener was raised. Though you can't remember the details of the assassin's face, you can't help but feel that hers bears a similarity. Perhaps she will lead you to your objective.

But you didn't expect to be put in a situation like this. It's been a long time since your life has been in danger. You still have your trusty longbow with you, but it's been many years since you've used it. You'll need to practice for at least six nights before you're confident enough in your skills to make use of it. Unfortunately, being gone from your room at night might make you look suspicious, but there's nothing you can do about that.
His partner, of course, was Rathus Denmora. Anyway, the ability he got was immunity to night attack as well as the ability to protect one other person. His protectees never ended up getting attacked, though.
Spoiler Hunter :
Role: Hunter
Alignment: Evil
Ethnicity: Barbarian
Base Strength: 3
Item: None
Ability: None
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: See to it that a majority of characters with a base strength of 1 die.
Background: You are a mighty orc warrior, once renowned among the peoples of the wilderness. Even as a child, you were always the strongest, fastest, and smartest of your clan. When you reached adulthood, you struck down the old, feeble chief of your village, and then you hunted down and killed his children to secure your rightful position as the new chief. For years, you led as a chief should, with a blood-stained iron fist.

That all changed when the Clan of Embers began to settle your ancestral lands. Following their fallen weakling of a god, those prideless orcs whispered poisonous promises and offered a more civilized life. They turned your clan against you, and you were forced into exile. Now you wander the world without purpose, releasing your rage on whoever irritates you. You'd be just as happy to see this castle crumble and its denizens be slaughtered, if not for the fact that you don't intend to die anytime soon. Maybe someday you'll have a chance to get vengeance on the Clan of Embers, but not if you die here.

Civilized life still disgusts you, though. Half of these pathetic elves and humans wouldn't last a week, if you were their chief. This systematic lynching of the unpopular isn't exactly the same as the rulership by the strong which you're familiar with, but perhaps it can be used to the same purposes. Let the weaklings die - with the threat of being overwhelmed by the attackers hovering over your heads, only the strong should be kept around.
Kind of a bland unique ability and motivation, but I think it's a pretty cool backstory.
Spoiler Jailer :
Role: Jailer
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Hippus
Base Strength: 1
Item: None
Ability: Loot - At the evening post, you will be informed of the items of any imprisoned players. You may choose to take these items for yourself as long as they're still in your jail.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Mercenary must live.
Background: Being a mercenary isn't easy. You need to put your life on the line just to earn a living, and there's always the possibility that you'll get crippled and deprived of your livelihood. That's why you quit a long time ago and got a cushy job keeping prisoners in line. You're rarely in danger, even when you actually have prisoners to guard, and you actually get to live in one place for long periods of time - most Hippus would find your life boring, but maybe you're just a little unusual in this regard.

You're quite like your Hippus brothers in your mercenary attitude, though. If there's an easy opportunity to make some money, you'll take it, even if it's not the most honest path. The pay for a jailer isn't bad, by your standards, but a lot of your wealth has come from "confiscating" your prisoners' belongings. If they don't want their stuff taken, they shouldn't get on the wrong side of the law, right? That skill might prove useful here, though you should keep in mind that you'll be a prime suspect when they return home to find their stuff ransacked.

Anyway, you're not the only Hippus here. The Mercenary is an old friend of yours. He's a little more bloodthirsty than you are, and when you dropped out of the mercenary business, he wasn't interested in dropping out with you. Still, he's not a bad ally to have, and he saved your life too many times to count, back when you still fought battles for a living. It's only fair that you do your best to return the favor now.
Obligatory crooked cop. Funny how the one time he actually used his ability, he was actually stealing from a bad guy, and yet he ended up getting caught.
Spoiler Jester :
Role: Jester
Alignment: Evil
Ethnicity: Balseraph
Base Strength: 1
Item: Hand Puppets - Your best friends in the world, and they add their voices to yours. +2 secret votes.
Ability: Wandering Mind - Each night, you may determine one sane character's motivation.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Maid, the Sculptor, and the Seamstress are almost as insane as you are. Protect them.
Background: Living among the Balseraphs, you weren't originally a jester. Instead, you were a mage specialized in mind magic. If living among the Balseraphs is a sure way to become at least a little insane, then training under Perpentach's archmages is a sure way to become more than a little insane. At the time, you thought that you could handle it, but instead... here you are.

But the past matters little to you. It's only a little more distinct in your mind than the future, anyway. Now you live eternally in the present, laughing at all the subtle ironies that seem to escape those grounded in the world of the sane. It'd be terribly ironic for everyone in this castle to die, but... Maybe it'd be even more amusing for them to live. To that end, you're willing to use your magic - more potent now, perhaps, than it ever was while you clung to sanity - to help the innocent cause.

One of your abilities is a sensitivity to other broken minds, and you've identified the Maid, the Sculptor, and the Seamstress as such. You have a soft spot for such people - try to see them survive through this.
rhawn :mad:
Spoiler Lord :
Role: Lord
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar
Base Strength: 3 (Cannot use weapons or armor)
Item: Varied Herbs - For all the good they've done...
Ability: Giving In - You may attack and kill a chosen target each night. Every night that you do not use this ability, your strength goes down by one point, but returns to full once you kill again. Attempts to make kills at Strength 1 are likely to fail. If your strength drops to 0, you will die.
Victory Condition: Redemption of the Beast
Motivation: The Lutist must survive.
Background: Lycanthropy is a new thing to you. It wasn't so long ago that you were just a simple member of the elven nobility. You were a warlord, and your skill in battle was surpassed only by your love for it. Yet your penchant for leading from the front lines put you in trouble one day, when your forces were set upon by a pack of wild man-beasts, and you took a wound. The next full moon, you realized that they must have been werewolves.

You've since retired from the front lines, and searched everywhere for a cure. The pots of herbs you keep on your windowsill have all failed so far. You hate the fact that you're turning into a monster and killing your own men, but you don't want to die. Up until now, you've managed to keep the deaths to a minimum, but a strange aura around the castle has been driving you mad at night, even though the moon isn't full. You have the willpower to resist it, at least partially, but it's taking a toll on you. So, you need to continue making kills until it can be lifted.

You have allies who know of your plight, as well as allies that don't. The Seneschal was a servant of one of your distant relatives before he came to serve you. You doubt that his loyalty is absolute, but he has an odd cunning that helps him navigate the notoriously twisted catacombs that the old Lord Animus kept beneath his castle. If you get caught by a lynch vote, he'll hide you away where no one can find you, until the crisis blows over. Just make sure he doesn't find out that you're a werewolf.

You've also developed a liking for the Lutist during your short time here at the castle together. They say that music calms the beast, and while you doubt that his is having any effect on your lycanthropy, at least it's pleasant.
Winston played this rather heavy role flawlessly, in my opinion. The wolf team earned its victory.
Spoiler Lutist :
Role: Lutist
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Elohim
Base Strength: 1
Item: Lute (Your intrument of choice - required for ability.)
Ability: Tocatta - a one-time ability that gives you five secret votes for the day. Requires the cooperation of one of your brothers.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Healer and the Maid should survive.
Background: You, along with two of your brothers, the Fiddler and the Harpsichordist, make up a traveling band of musicians. You were on your way into Ljosalfar lands when you were caught by the blizzard at Castle Animus. Of your brothers present here, you are the oldest, though you do have one older brother that never became a musician. He ended up becoming an adventurer and disappeared into the wilderness when you were young.

Anyway, it was your idea to start up a musical band with your brothers a few years ago, and you were as surprised as anyone at how well it all turned out. Truth be told, you mainly came up with the idea as a way to get popular with some of the well-bred ladies of the Elohim court, but you and your younger brothers ended up taking to your respective instruments like fishes to water. Eventually, Elohim audiences and Elohim ladies began to bore you, and so you and your brothers set off to find new venues.

So far the elves certainly haven't been a disappointment at all, so to speak... especially not that irresistably cute Healer, nor that smoking hot Maid. It'd be a terrible waste for them to die here. In fact, if you selflessly put it all on the line to protect them, maybe they'll see fit to reward you somehow or another. Perhaps your older brother had the right idea, saving damsels in distress from horrible situations like this one...

But you're a musician, not a warrior, and you have your own skills. By performing your signature piece, you can subtly manipulate the public opinion to suit your purposes. You can't do it alone, though - while it's possible that your brothers aren't innocent, you need their help to perform regardless. One of them must PM me with something along the lines of "I agree to aid the Lutist's performance" for your ability to be used. Note that your audience will be aware that you and your brothers have used some sort of ability, though there will be no indication of the secret votes' placement.
Giggity. This was an amusing character to write, and rather fitting for BananaLee's online persona and antics, all things considered. :p A shame he didn't live longer.
Spoiler Maid :
Role: Maid
Alignment: Evil
Ethnicity: Svartalfar
Base Strength: 1
Item: Silvered Knives - The tools of your craft. Required for ability.
Ability: Death's Glint - Each night, you may choose to kill one character.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: Kill someone, innocent or guilty.
Background: There's much that could be said about the life of the assassin. It's not for everyone - some people get cold feet when it's time to kill their targets, some aren't prepared to put their lives on the line for the mission, and some people just aren't that skilled in the art of assassination. You don't fall into any of those categories.

No, your flaw as an assassin is a bit more unusual. Your hands were stained red with blood long before you were brought into the personal employment of Queen Faeryl herself. You were once a serial killer on the loose in your Svartalfar homeland, and when you finally got a bit overconfident, and got caught by the palace guard, one of the first questions you were asked was about your motivation for killing all those innocent people. You had no answer other than that you enjoyed the act of killing, itself. A short time later, you were dispatched to the Kuriotates in secret with a list of names and faces, to use your talent and your compulsion for the good of your people.

Another thing that could be said about the life of an assassin is that it is not at all forgiving. A few months ago, you accidentally killed some people that were not meant to die. Now you're a refugee from the court that you once worked for, and you've been forced to hide as a mere servant to avoid the Svartalfar assassins that have been sent to eliminate you. Fortunately, you still retain your skills, and your tools - silvered weapons are strangely effective against all sorts of dangerous creatures, including werewolves.

Of course, life as a maid has been more than a little hard on you. Being forced to serve all of these irritating people has driven you to the edge of sanity, and worse, you haven't gotten the opportunity to kill anyone at all in weeks. It'd be quite satisfying and ironic if you were to kill one of the ones responsible for this whole mess, but at this point, you don't care a whole lot about who you kill, as long as you can release some stress by doing so.
As LightFang probably suspected, his motivation wasn't quite that simple. If the Maid killed someone, then two days later, LightFang would've been informed that his motivation was now to kill "just one more person." This would happen every time a kill was made. The knives granted a rather different ability in anyone else's hands, as you all might have noticed.
Spoiler Master-at-Arms :
Role: Master-at-Arms
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar
Base Strength: 1
Item: Longsword (+2 Strength for you, +1 for others. A simple weapon, but you've mastered every aspect of it.)
Ability: Train - Can familiarize an innocent with his weapon, causing it to give him +1 additional strength.
Victory Condition: Redemption of the Beast
Motivation: Use your ability on two innocents.
Background: You're ancient, even for an elf. The events of your younger years would be hard to recall, even if there was anything important enough to be worth recalling. You do remember that at a young age, you resolved to become a master at the art of combat, and today, you're everything you had ever wanted to become. Though your body has started to succumb to the long years and old scars, your mind and your skills are as sharp as ever.

You always liked the young lord. He was always courageous, leading from the front line. When he told you of his affliction, you decided to do everything you could to help him survive. Even as a beast, he's ten times the elf that any of these peons are, and he ought to be valued as such. You fully intend to root out the threats to this castle, but you don't consider the lord to be one of them.

Now, it might be possible to root out the enemies by voting, but the innocents will need to hold out against a possible surprise attack until then. To that end, you can train them in using whatever weapons they've brought to the castle. The catch is that to do this properly, you'll need to convince them to meet you alone at night. ((They must send me a PM with something along the lines of "I agree to meet the Master-at-Arms alone tonight.")) It's been awhile since you've had a new pupil - you look forward to teaching again.
Sure, go ahead and meet a member of the wolf team at night. What could possibly go wrong? Anyway, he was really close to completing his personal goal, but I suppose it just wasn't meant to be.
Spoiler Mechanic :
Role: Mechanic
Alignment: Good
Ethnicity: Luchuirp
Base Strength: 1
Item: Hand Cannon - At any given time, you can block one character's strength for endgame determination.
Ability: None
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: Survive long enough to see the mysterious construction completed.
Background: For most of your life, you lived as a toymaker among the Luchuirp. Gifted with talent beyond even what one would expect from the surface dwelling dwarves, you just wanted to make children smile. Yet when the Luchuirp went to war against the Calabim, you turned your talent to the war effort, creating golems of horrifying destructive power. You watched as your creations mowed down line after line of the enemy's conscripted thralls, people who were forced to fight against their will. Though you know it was the right thing to do, you still were disturbed by the memory years later.

Perhaps to get away from the memories, you left the Luchuirp and began to live a life as a travelling toy maker. That's how you ended up here at Castle Animus. Yet, you still have some of your more destructive implements with you for protection. Foremost among them is the Hand Cannon - at any given time, you can have one target "marked" by the weapon, who you will keep an eye on in case they try anything aggressive. This will neutralize their strength for endgame determination.

Your superhuman talent as a mechanic also serves you in another way. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that you have a sort of sixth sense for all sorts of mechanical gadgets, magical and otherwise. At night, you hear some small sounds, just at the edge of hearing, and when you drift off to sleep, your subconscious puts together the noises into a coherent picture. Somewhere in the castle, someone is making some grand mechanical device. If you can survive long enough for it to be completed, you may be able to use it.
If the Painter died, and the Mechanic got the key to the studio, then Mergle could've picked up where Jono left off.
Spoiler Mercenary :
Role: Mercenary
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Hippus
Base Strength: 2
Item: Mithril Plate - Your finely crafted suit of armor. +1 Strength, can be used alongside weapons.
Ability: None
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Jailer must survive.
Background: All the best mercenaries are Hippus-born, and you're no exception. Whether in a pitched battle or a nighttime raid, you're the top pick for any employer that knows his business. Your warhorse sprained a tendon while you were passing through Castle Animus, so he's resting in the stable right now, but you're a powerful warrior in your own right.

Your employers pay you well, as you deserve, and you recently spent a significant fraction of that cash on your new suit of armor. A smart warrior always knows to keep himself safe above all - while retreating too much will give you a bad reputation, death makes reputations somewhat irrelevant. You've already taken your armor out for a couple of test runs, and it's worth every copper piece. Not only that, but it's surprisingly comfortable. You've taken to sleeping in it just for an extra layer of protection, with this werewolf threat hanging over the castle.

Among the denizens of Castle Animus, you were very surprised to see the Jailer, and even more surprised to see that he was working as a jailer in the first place. He's Hippus as well, and the two of you go way back. The man is crooked, through-and-through, so you find it absolutely hilarious that he'd be working for the long arm of the law. Still, you've seen enough of your brethren die in battle. You intend to protect the Jailer, if it's at all possible.
The Hippus friends were both innocent, go figure. Anyway his armor provided protection from wolf attack.
Spoiler Merchant :
Role: Merchant
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Amurite
Base Strength: 1
Item: Fine Saber - An officer's weapon, effective and aesthetic. +1 Strength, +1 Secret Vote.
Ability: None
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Healer should live, and the Beggar should die.
Background: You're a merchant, nothing more, and nothing less. It's what you always wanted to be, despite your wealthy family pressing you to spend at least a few years in military service. Not that you see it as shirking your familial duties, of course - as far as you're concerned, using the family wealth to earn more wealth is far more important than personally sending men off to die pointlessly, regardless of the family's traditions.

Still, as the eldest son of the family, you were entrusted with the family's heirloom, a fine officer's saber. Perhaps they hoped that it would be a constant reminder of what you ought to be doing. You must admit, it's a masterpiece of craftsmanship, and looking at it makes you daydream of leading a mighty army into glorious battle to win victory and honor... but those are just daydreams. Here and now, you have a different sort of battle to fight.

Anyway, aside from keeping your own hide in one piece, you have some vested interests among the denizens of Castle Animus. Firstly, you want to keep the Healer around. She's your best customer here at the castle, buying all sorts of esoteric plants and extracts that you never thought you'd find a buyer for. The Beggar, on the other hand, is bad for business all around. The coppers he gets from the sympathetic donors are coppers that don't get spent on your wares, since he doesn't buy much from you, and his ragged form is an eyesore in the first place. The castle would be better off without him.
Straightforward character, straightforward ability, straightforward motivation. Didn't work out so well. :backstab:
 
Spoiler Painter :
Role: Painter
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Amurite
Base Strength: 1
Item: Key to the Studio - Your privilege as the castle's resident painter. Required for ability.
Ability: Inspiration - Each night, you may choose to wander the castle grounds, looking for something to inspire you. After a certain number of nights, you may be inspired and receive another ability.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Blademaster must live.
Background: You've never been very smart, or very strong, or really skilled in anything useful. You acknowledge that fully. Most of the time, your mind is up in the clouds, thinking thoughts entirely unrelated to the matter at hand. This business with the killers bothers you on some level, but it hasn't really sunk in that you could be killed. Maybe it's better that way - after all, anxiety doesn't help anyone.

Having your mind elsewhere can be helpful, too. While others are worried about the here and now, the things that exist, you're considering the things that have the potential to exist. It's what makes you such a good painter, and it could save your life here. You're not always certain what it is that's bubbling on the edge of your subconscious, but you've started to build something in your studio. You're not really sure what it's supposed to be, but it looks like it might be useful. It's still missing something, though, you're sure of that. You need one last jolt of inspiration to finish it - and if that means your night activity looks suspicious, you'll just have to deal with that.

One factor that helps, though, is the Blademaster. As an artist, you can appreciate his dedication to his art. As an artist, in fact, you consider the man himself to be a work of art. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that you're somewhat infatuated with him, though you doubt he's even noticed you, watching him practice his sword forms in the courtyard from your studio's window. He's an inspiration, too, and as long as he lives, maybe you'll be able to find the inspiration for your project more easily.
The number of nights needed was six. It would've let the Painter escape with one person. Heh, Jono da Vinci.
Spoiler Paladin :
Role: Paladin
Alignment: Good
Ethnicity: Bannor (Ghost)
Base Strength: 2
Item: Angelic Armament (+2 Strength, immunity to night attacks for you - varied effects based on alignment)
Ability: Detect Alignment (usable once per night to find one character's alignment)
Victory Condition: Rebirth
Motivation: Slay that which is evil; protect that which is good.
Background: Your last moments are vivid in your memory. You were leading a small force of Bannor's finest in the desperate defense of a small outpost on the edge of Infernal lands. It was no surprise - the outpost was there merely to harass the Infernals and drain their resources from their other conquests. When the Infernals came pouring over the horizon like a sea of death-given-form, you led the charge into their ranks, and took down many of their number before a Balor skewered you with an enormous spear and cast aside your corpse like a worthless husk.

Yet perhaps it was right, in a twisted sort of way. The Healer's magic has brought a semi-corporeal avatar of yourself from beyond the border of life, to serve briefly in completing her plan, and your soul alone is no less mighty than your living body was. You've even projected an apparently real manifestation of your holy equipment with which to fight the forces of evil. At first, you had your doubts about whether this was the right thing to do, but you were eventually persuaded that for an Archmage Animus to walk again would be a great boon for the forces of Good, while most of these peons would make no difference one way or the other.

Still, you cannot give up your holy mission now, even in this unexpected last task before you accept your final reward. There are some here who are worthy of saving, some who will continue to do good if they are given the chance. You must find these with your ability, and try to let them escape unharmed. On the other hand, there are surely some here with hearts black as the Balor that slew you. See to it that their evil souls are put to a use far greater than anything else to which they could aspire.
A good bad guy. He really was useful to the innocent team, with his high strength and ability to detect evil, and he came so close to victory.
Spoiler Sculptor :
Role: Sculptor
Alignment: Evil
Ethnicity: Illian
Base Strength: 1
Item: Staff of Mulcarn (+3 Strength - A sign of your god's favor. Grants protection supernatural attacks.)
Ability: Aura of Stasis - Some unknown force is trying to cast a powerful spell to seize this castle's magic for itself. So long as you live, this will not be easy for them to complete.
Victory Condition: Absolute Dominance
Motivation: Mulcarn's will cannot be denied - let none escape this castle while you still draw breath.
Background: You are the leader of this mission on behalf of the dark gods. As a priest of Mulcarn, you are certainly the most evil of your team. Your obsession and hatred of humanity knows no bounds, and you will not be satisfied until all are dead or in slavery to your god. The chance to kill this whole castle would have you jumping for joy, if you were the sort of person to show even the slightest flicker of genuine emotion in the first place.

It was your idea to come here in the first place and seal the castle with a winter ritual, so that the inhabitants could be induced to kill each other off, leaving you and your allies free reign over the castle. And indeed, they seem to be doing just that, though not quite in the way you had anticipated. In particular, you're a little uneasy about whatever it is that killed the carpenter - you detected hints of high level Nature magic near the place of his disappearance. Fortunately, Mulcarn's Ice spells are diametrically opposed to the Nature sphere - with his power, you yourself will be safe from the carpenter's fate.

As the one who made this plan in the first place, you are of course committed to see it succeed. More than that, though, you feel it is a matter of pride that no one should escape this blizzard. Some will surely attempt to flee the castle. While there's no practical need for everyone to die, so long as they leave you with enough time to find Animus's secret library and loot it of valuable knowledge, you personally don't want to see anyone make it out alive.
Passive ability, passive motivation. Bleh, should've thought up something more interesting.
Spoiler Seamstress :
Role: Seamstress
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Amurite
Base Strength: 1
Item: Vials of Poison - What your would-be employer left behind. You refuse to use this item.
Ability: Insomniac - You can't be killed at night.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Jester must die.
Background: You've lived at Castle Animus for years, and you once served Duke Animus yourself. In fact, you were the one that killed the young Duchess. You never meant to - the mysterious man told you that the poison would only knock her out, and you were going to be payed well. You wove the needle into her dress, and watched her throughout the night, but when she grabbed at her stomach and stumbled off into the greenhouse, you knew that something was wrong. Then she turned up missing, and all presumed her dead.

When you stormed into the house of the mysterious man that hired you, you found him murdered, his office ransacked, his potions smashed and scattered. In a daze, you gathered a few of the vials that were still intact, then left the place and did your best to forget it had all ever happened.

Now, though, you're sure that your mistake has come back to haunt you. You're sure that the Duchess is back to take vengeance on all the poor, damned souls in Castle Animus. Every night, you lie awake, tossing and turning, afraid to go to sleep and have the same nightmares that have plagued you since that fateful evening. During the day, the Jester laughs - at you, you're certain. Somehow, she knows of your sin, and she laughs at your fate.
Amusingly, as I was designing this game, I thought that the Seamstress was the most unfortunate character. Funny how that worked out.
Spoiler Seneschal :
Role: Seneschal
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Khazad
Base Strength: 1
Item: Key to the Catacombs - Required for ability.
Ability: Asylum - You may hide no more than one player at any given time in the catacombs beneath the castle in response to a lynch vote, or to keep him safe from attack. You may not use this ability on yourself, since you'd have no way of getting food and water to yourself. Players protected in this way will not be able to vote, and their strength will be irrelevant to endgame determination. You may reveal a protected player at any time.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Lord should live, and the Butler should die.
Background: You grew up in service to a Khazad noble family, and you served gladly and to the best of your ability. You still serve it now, though not in a way that you had anticipated. The lord of that family is rare among the Khazad in that he gets along well with elves, and he was an old friend of the current lord of Castle Animus's late father. So, he sent you to spend some time here as a gesture of goodwill.

You don't feel much one way or the other to this elven lord, but you have an obligation to see him live through this. To help fulfill that obligation, you have some useful skills at your disposal, chief among them that trademark Khazad cunning about underground passages. The catacombs beneath Castle Animus are as convoluted as any you've seen, but you have a good enough grasp of them that if you hide someone down there, no one but you will be able to find him. If the lord gets on the bad side of a lynch party, you can keep him safe, as long as you don't die and strand him down there. This ability may be extended to anyone you wish to protect.

You have an odd dislike for the Butler, though. He's not in the lord's service. He served the departed Lady Animus, and the Duke Archmage before her. Though he claims that he just has nowhere else to go, you distrust his motives. It might be safest if he were to die.
Notice the motivation to kill the Butler - a very genre-savvy character. Kind of a rough role, needing to protect the werewolf without having the werewolf victory condition.
Spoiler Soldier :
Role: Soldier
Alignment: Good
Ethnicity: Bannor
Base Strength: 1
Item: Shield of Sacrifice - Allows you to defend one person each night. If they're attacked, you will probably die in their place.
Ability: None
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: Obtain the Angelic Armament, the Paladin's item.
Background: You were a soldier once, and that gives you a unique bearing that tends to make others assume that you still are. But you ceased being a soldier months ago, when you were crippled in a battle against the Infernals. You were lucky to get away so easily - it was a doomed battle, which you had volunteered for fully expecting to die gloriously. Instead, you took a blow to the head, were dragged off the battlefield by a medic, and woke up with half your body numb. Since then, you've learned to move well enough that your condition isn't immediately apparent, but you will never fight again.

Now you wander the world without a purpose. It was pure chance that you ended up here at Castle Animus during this crisis, but perhaps it was fate. If your life can have meaning in saving others from a horrible fate, then you'll count it well spent. If you die in defense of another, and that person survives to the end of the conflict, then your spirit will surely rest easy.

Of course, not everyone's life is worth saving. The Paladin is a fraud. The paladins are the elite enforcers of Junil's justice, and each paladin's set of equipment is unique. You've seen this so-called paladin's armor before. It was in the very battle in which you were crippled. There was a paladin there, and he was a true hero, leading the rear guard to give your unit at least a small chance at escaping. As it happens, you did escape - you owe that paladin your life. Somehow, his armor must have been looted from his corpse, and is being used by this pretender. Obtain the Angelic Armament yourself, and bring it home if you can. You owe your savior that much.
Note that the Angelic Armament granted immunity to night attacks and two points of strength to all Good characters. That means that if the Soldier had gotten ahold of it, he would've been able to protect people much like the Historian became able to. A sort of compensation for an otherwise somewhat doomed character.
Spoiler Vicar :
Role: Vicar
Alignment: Good
Ethnicity: Malakim
Base Strength: 1
Item: Staff of Lugus (+1 Strength - Can be broken to skip an execution and a night)
Ability: Calming the Beast - As long as you're alive, you help the lord resist the urge to go out and kill.
Victory Condition: Redemption of the Beast
Motivation: Kill the source of the enraging aura.
Background: The Second Sight is a blessing and a curse. The divine perception granted to priests of Lugus extends through time and space, engraving a complete image of all possible pasts, presents, and futures on your mind. Only through discipline and faith in Lugus can sense be made out of it all.

So it was that when you met the current lord of Castle Animus, it took you some time to make sense of it all. You knew, beyond a doubt, that he was a werewolf. It took only a bit longer to realize that he was the only hope for avoiding a great catastrophe. The nature of this disaster remains cloaked to you, but with divine clarity, you know this - the lord must live, and he must make his stand at Castle Animus, or a great many lives will be lost, and the forces of evil will profit greatly.

Yet it's not turning out to be an easy task. Someone is channeling Aeron, god of rage, here at Castle Animus, and it's awakening the beast within the lord, forcing him to kill his own guests. With your own magic, you can counter this, partially, but not completely, and not forever. You must see to it that the one casting this spell is killed, somehow.

You also have another ability at your disposal - your staff is charged with the divine power of revelation. By destroying it and releasing the contained energy late in the day, you can save an innocent from execution, and make all night actions invalid for the following night 'till dawn. You, specifically, will also receive detailed information about the person you've saved. Note, though, that if you use this ability, and the condemned turns out to be guilty after all, he will not be saved - the following night will still be skipped, though.
Notice that both wolf accomplices got powerful pro-innocent abilities.

And I seem to have lost the philosopher's PM.
 
Unfortunate as in... :p?
 
Unfortunate as in... :p?

You had vials of poison on you, yet you couldn't even use them to kill, and the ghost team had a very strong in-character reason to see you dead if you breathed a word of your background.

Also:
Spoiler Philosopher :
Role: Philosopher
Alignment: Neutral
Ethnicity: Ljosalfar
Base Strength: 1
Item: None
Ability: Detect Divinity - Each night, you may detect one person's alignment, as well as their connection to the gods.
Victory Condition: Innocent Victory
Motivation: The Vicar must die.
Background: The Luonnotar have small chapters all around the world. You've never been to the lands of the Grigori, but as the son of a minor noble family, you had access to the best tutors that could be had, and one of them happened to be an elven Luonnotar. Soon after you reached adulthood, you followed in his footsteps. You've seen the truth, that the gods worshipped by the peoples of Erebus are nothing more than petty, squabbling usurpers.

This crisis has the look of something engineered by the gods. Most likely, they have sent their pawns here to kill each other on their behalf. Of course, they couldn't have predicted that you'd be here, and with your abilities, you can foil their plans, whatever they are. You can determine not only someone's alignment, but also whether they have a direct connection to any god.

Fortunately, some people don't even bother to hide their status as pawns. The Vicar might or might not have anything to do with this crisis, but his continued existence irritates you. That one might claim to be a priest of truth, while upholding the vile lies that give the gods power over humanity, disgusts you. Make sure that he dies.
This is the other alignment prophet, and this one would get an additional note if the person he scanned was of the priest team.
 
Yup. But you said that I was unkillable at night, and since I didn't know if I could survive another one, I said that aloud in Public forum :p
 
By the way, Chand, Great job on this game! I had been sort of fading on NOTWs (being so ancestral at them) but this revived my interest for them.

Congrats.
 
Once again amazing game Chand!
Sorry to all, but i am not going to post an AAR for the simple reason I haven't taken many notes and I am too lazy to go back to my dozens of PMs :p Moreover, there have been some very detailed ones already posted :)goodjob: at BL) where you can find most of what I've been doing...

@Chand:
"RRRaskolnikov's ability wasn't limited to innocents, though. If thomas.berubeg had gotten the Greatsword in addition to the Mithril Plate, and had gotten training from RRRaskolnikov, his Strength would've reached a whopping 8!"

"Ability: Train - Can familiarize an innocent with his weapon, causing it to give him +1 additional strength." This was really confusing... We really thought (I discussed it with my wolf buddies) we could use it as kind of a "scan"...

:goodjob: to all players!
 
We really thought (I discussed it with my wolf buddies) we could use it as kind of a "scan"...

I was never entirely convinced of that, mainly because there was no explanation for why it wouldn't work with villains. But it certainly served our purposes to act as if it did double up as a scan. After all, anyone who believed (or even had a slight suspicion) that it only worked on innocents, would more-or-less prove their innocence by agreeing to be trained.
 
Or they could claim they belived it only worked on innocents while suspecting otherwise and as such "proving" their innocence.
 
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