Wherewolf? - Game 15

[malcolio]

1. Introduction

The road was long for those that travelled it. In this weather it was a muddy route that sucked at your shoes and slowed even the well-fed horses down to a stumbling pace. The rain had long since soaked through all who moved underneath it, but still fell at an angle to lash the face and blind the eyes. Yes, the journey was long for the refugees, their destination one not worthy of their efforts through the harsh elements, yet to stay where they had come from…

Only a handful had survived the massacre in the town. They were the first to leave when each new night brought with it mutilated bodies. They knew the stories, whether they decided it was witches or ghouls or other legends. The howls though, as they began their journey, answered their fears. Werewolves had returned. With it, death.

They journeyed quickly at first, speed was essential to escape, and yet stragglers caught up who told of the destruction of their beloved town, the deaths of those they had known all their lives. Such fearful words and the endless travel wore them down, with the storm seeming like another sign from high that their cowardly actions were being punished. Yet they pushed on, for the city was ahead, and with it safety. It was all the travellers could think of to raise their spirits, as the days dragged by and the road went ever onwards.

You are on that road, a fleeing civilian from a small town attacked by werewolves. Or are you? Perhaps you are hiding a secret from the others, one that would kill you if you revealed it, or be disbelieved if you did. Whether you are friend or foe you must last the next few days and nights before the city is reached and the journey ends.

2. Preparations

Post in this thread to sign up to play. Once a good number of players have been reached the narrator, ie me, splits the players into two uneven teams of civilians and werewolves. The narrator then sends a PM to each player, telling them their role.

3. Players

Narrator
The narrator will declare when each Day is over, will describe who has been lynched by the civilians or killed by the werewolves, and will organise voting. Their narration adds flavour to the game, but will also contain hints as to what is happening in the game play.

Civilian
If you’re a civilian, you really don’t know what’s going on: the only person you can rely on is yourself, not knowing who to trust, and who not. However, you’ve got to work out who might be only pretending to be an innocent civilian, and gang up with others to have them lynched (explained below).

Werewolves
As an evil werewolf, the initial PM from the narrator giving you your role will tell you who your fellow werewolves are, and by deduction, who the innocent civilians are. You must communicate with your team mates as to who you want to kill per day in this thread whilst not giving your own identity away.

Special Roles
There is at least one player in this game who has special abilities that civilians and werewolves do not have. What these abilities are, and how many of such roles exist, will have to be discovered during the course of the game.

4. Gameplay

The Game is split into ‘Days’ of roughly 48 hours each. Deadlines will be declared by the narrator, and within them civilians must vote on who to lynch, and werewolves must PM the narrator as to who they want to kill.

Lynching
All players have a chance to participate in a lynching – the werewolves having the advantage of knowing who not to lynch. Any player at any point during the day can accuse another of being a werewolf in disguise, and ask for them to be lynched.

Each player has one accusation of who they want lynched that Day, by putting the name of the accused in bold. If a majority (more than half the number of players who have voted that Day) is not found, nobody is killed. Voting, and the Day, ends around 10pm GMT, after which no more votes are counted. You cannot vote for yourself, nor can you abstain. Whoever 'wins' the vote is removed from the game, their identity being revealed.

Killing
Each day the werewolves may send a PM to the Narrator, saying which civilian they want to kill. Unlike the vote for lynching a true majority is needed for a successful kill (more than half the number of werewolves currently playing). If a civilian is killed off this way their identity is revealed by the Narrator. Unlike previous games werewolves are not told after the fact who they all voted for.

5. The Dead

This separate thread (http://forums.weebls-stuff.com/showthread.php?t=73213) is where eliminated players, or those not playing, can commentate on the game. If you are eliminated please only post in the Dead thread, unlike previous games there are no ’final words’ allowed.

6. Victory

If the werewolves kill off enough civilians so that there are equal number of players on each team, the werewolves win. If the civilians kill off every werewolf, the civilians win. The narrator will declare the winners, reveal all roles and how votes were made, plus any extra facts.

7. Additional Rules

One of the most important points of this game is that the civilians don’t know who to trust, and the werewolves have difficulty communicating, If players cheat by communicating with one another outside the game, or specifically trying to use the forum's features to work out a player's identity, this ruins the fun, so I urge people to resist the temptation. If it’s found out you have been cheating you will be removed from the game.

If a player is inactive for two straight days (ie 96 hours) you will be removed from the game. This will happen even if you have been PMing the narrator due to your role. You will only be kept in the game despite inactivity if you let the narrator know beforehand, and the gap of game play is not too long. Roles left open will be advertised as available for anyone else to pick up for a small period. If they are not filled their identity will be revealed.

8. TL;DR

For experienced players, the following rules are different:

No PM each Day telling the werewolves who they all voted for.
No abstains.
No final words.
Unspecific roles. Within the civilians and werewolves is at least one special player with useful skills.
The narration will occasionally give clues in reference to what is happening in the game.

9. Players

Below is a list of players signed up for the game, with those crossed out who have been eliminated:

adrenaline / Vercci
argh
doctor_fruitbat
Elbowman-iac
friendly spoon
GazzyW
glitch
happy-go-lucky / Nimblewright
harryashfield
Iball
JackCopsey
Magic Noodles
Purple Wabbit
Shalashaska
slush puppy
Small Fry
swarfegahead / Elbowman-iac
tehmoogles
Turkey Sandwich
woodchip50 / GazzyW

[GazzyW]

Alright! This looks like a fun scenario, nice job malcolio!

[Iball]

Ooh, sign me up!

Loving the rules, especially werewolves not knowing who they all voted for!

One question - do we have to vote each day, for lynching? I know you said we can't abstain, but that's not exactly the same thing...I'll admit I did enjoy in #14 that we could just say whatever without being forced to mention names, but it's your call of course. :)

[malcolio]

One question - do we have to vote each day, for lynching? I know you said we can't abstain, but that's not exactly the same thing...I'll admit I did enjoy in #14 that we could just say whatever without being forced to mention names, but it's your call of course. :)You don't have to vote, no, but as the last game has shown the less people that vote the easier it is for people to be lynched.

[Small Fry]

Whoop I'm up, but not until we sort out these naughty men in #14 :D

[tehmoogles]

Sign me up :)

[Purple Wabbit]

Me please :) - I have been wanting to play in one of these games for ages.

[harryashfield]

I'm in.

[Shalashaska]

Yeah okay

[woodchip50]

i am in. :)

[swarfegahead]

nice job mal, liking the new twists in the rules, especially not giving details on the special roles, adds to the mystery of the game. looking forward to playing again.

[Elbowman-iac]

sure why not

[JackCopsey]

Sign me up please!

[Magic Noodles]

Count me in please.

[malcolio]

Cool, so far we have 19 players, which I'm pretty sure is the largest amount of players we've had for one game (or if not the highest, very close!). With that in mind I'll start sending PMs out with people's roles as soon as Game 14 ends. :)

[GazzyW]

Cool, thats about.... 9 werewolves?

[malcolio]

That would be something you'll have to find out!

[GazzyW]

:confused::eek:

DUN DUN DUN!

[Small Fry]

If there were 19 players, I'd guess there'd be about 6 or 7 wolves. Big game anyway.

[malcolio]

I'll be pushing the start of this game to the weekend. I'm presuming Game 14 will be over before then, but it gives me more time to work out narration and fine-tune the rules. With this many players some of the rules that worked before might not work now, so I want to check the game is as balanced as possible. :)

[adrenaline]

can i join. maybe a bit late sorry about that. But yeah. :)

[malcolio]

They had gone on for as long as they could that day, the rain stopping as they did. Their route ran through a dense forest, but as the sun disappeared behind the trees a small clearing was found. It provided room to sleep in and space to rack up the horses, but the pause in the journey left time to dwell on the horrors that the travellers had left behind. They ate their small meals silently, deep in thought. Even those who knew each other before the journey kept quiet, eyes cast downwards, a collective fear hanging over the party that to admit their plight would somehow reinforce it.

The toll man, harryashfield, spoke first. Covered by a heavy hooded cloak he leaned against a tree, standing apart from the other travellers.

"We should not stay here long," his voice barked, "by dawn this clearing must be a mile behind us."

"And why is that?" asked JackCopsey, a merchant known for fish both in produce and demeanour, "we have travelled on this road fast enough already, the town is many leagues away."

The toll man spat back, "But our foe is not!"

A tense silence followed, with all of the refugees now listening.

"Those are dangerous words," spoke doctor_fruitbat, the parish constable, "I'm sure we are all burdened enough as it is, without your paranoia to add to our fears. If the creatures were following our trail we would have known it by now. A collector of coin knows nothing of werewolves!"

"Know them? No, but I've seen them plenty!" With that harryashfield drew back his hood, to reveal bloody scars running across his face. The fresh wounds ran from his right ear, cutting deep into his cheek and splitting his chin. Rough bandages partially covered the red furrows, but they were old and matted with blood.

The toll man smiled at the shock he had produced, the wryly grin only worsening his deformed face. "I kept to my station, not to charge passage but to protect the bridge from the beasts. Little good my sword did me, but my stand was enough to convince those creatures to hunt other men. I kept the road open with these marks, so that all of you could flee. However there are those here who joined out party late, besides those of you who I have never seen cross my bridge before. I do not know of werewolves, any more then any of you, but whilst the moon is dark they can walk among us, and it is that which I fear now."

The constable stood up and jabbed his finger at harryashfield. "Wretched man," he shouted, "were this any other time I would ask the jailer to put you in the stocks." GazzyW the town jailer looked up at his name being mentioned, but otherwise sat watching doctor_fruitbat. "Leave your ill thoughts to yourself, so we may journey in peace!"

Small Fry the magistrate finally spoke. "We are all tired, tired in body and in mind, so our words may be harsher than we mean, or less thought out than they should." His speech carried weight as leader of the town, so that neither constable nor toll man rebuked him. "I suggest we look for sleep now, to be fresh to move on tomorrow. We will start at the sun's rise," His words were met by a triumphal smile from the toll man, "the quicker to reach the crossroads and the tavern there. We can then replenish our supplies and perhaps hear word on what has befallen us. So let your concerns rest this night, lest you slow us down in the day!"

With that the magistrate moved away and began preparing for bed, his example prompting the rest of the travellers to do the same. The toll man simply walked away, placing his hood back over his head as he did so. Others watched him go, not sure whether to be thankful or afraid for what he said.

Day 1 has begun

You should all have received a PM, giving you your role. If you haven't, let me know. The end of Day 1 will be at 10pm GMT 26/10/09. Good luck to you all!

[JackCopsey]

Yey, I'm a fishmonger. Behold my fishy powers! :D

For now, I'll remain neutral. But at the first sign of blood, it will be off with someone's head! In the meantime, I shall be sharpening up my machete, ready to kill those pesky werewolves.

[Iball]

Wait, so does that make the toll man innocent, then, or are the roles purely aesthetic (I'm sure there's a better word than that, but you get my drift)? :s

Anyway, yeah, I agree. Neutral for teh win! Need to make up for my bad bandwagoning skills last game...:(

[Magic Noodles]

I be keeping my head down for now, won't be suggesting any names, but if any evidence comes our way we'd do our best to act on it. I distinctly remember, in a past life, things went on f'ever like this. I only be a common noodleherder, but one o' many things my ma taught me was that you can trust people only a wee bit further than the werepups themselves.

(I'm neutral, to put it short, but will be willing to bandwagon with the right insentive. Also it could be that he got those scars as a werewolf, so it doesn't really matter much.)

[harryashfield]

I have no strong feelings one way or another.

[tehmoogles]

Well, I've no idea who to vote for at the moment, seeing as only a few people have posted. I suppose we'd better get the ball rolling. More people post please, so I can do a pathetic psychoanalysis of you :)

[malcolio]

Wait, so does that make the toll man innocent, then, or are the roles purely aesthetic (I'm sure there's a better word than that, but you get my drift)? :sThe narrations will contain hints to what is happening in the game itself. Where the hints are, and how clear/many of them there are, you'll have to work out yourself. :p

[Shalashaska]

Nothing to go on really.

[doctor_fruitbat]

Nothing to go on? harryashfield is clearly a wolf. I'm assuming werewolves work like zombies, so he's been infected, or something...

[Small Fry]

How unsympathetic of you to attack the bravest and most worthy of us all. He put his life on the line to allow us more time to flee. Is that not worthy of your respect? And yet you accuse him of being one of them on what? A whim? A flight of fancy? I'll hear none of your ridiculous accusations until more evidence comes to light. I remember last time something like this happened, and you were quick to accuse then too. We found you out as an evil-doer, by God we did. Be thankful no-one has died and be rational.

[Magic Noodles]

As a man o' medicene I'd thought you'd ha' at least two brain cells to rub together! The Lord be my witness, I say t'occurences Baron Malcolio mentioned ha' little to do with anything at all.

(Wow, Northern accents look really confusing when typed)

[Iball]

Ow ow! Enough with the name drops already! Can't we get through one day without them?

[slush puppy]

Why does everyone always unnecessarily name drop in the first round?! We know it does better to sit and wait it out for a while!

[harryashfield]

Vote me off, will ya?! I'll reciprocate to save me getting a majority. doctor_fruitbat

[woodchip50]

i vote for NOONE!

[swarfegahead]

As the only Irish traveller (hehe) amongst a what I pressume are mostly British community, I'm gonna vote for nobody, so as not to rock the boat.




thinks a horribly racist "lynch the irisman, he's a werewolf!" death would be hilarious for me, but maybe a bit too far.

[GazzyW]

I'm a jailer? And a badass? Thank you Malc.

So... long road we're walking, then?

[doctor_fruitbat]

Oh, so it's talk like a farmer day, is it? I speak the Queen's/King's/Tentacled Overlord's (delete as applicable) English and it suits me fine.

[GazzyW]

Aye, I got a new donkey before the darned wolves took the village. I hadn't finished playing for it, damnation.

[Magic Noodles]

Donkeys be ver' ver' int'resting.

Let's discuss 'em for th'remainder of the game.

[Purple Wabbit]

Hmmm, I don't trust any o' thee as fer as I c'n see yer. But fer now, I'll keep me old eyes open and stay mum. I'll wait for one of yer ter slip up.

[malcolio]

I regret setting this in a historical setting already... :p

[Magic Noodles]

Ruddy hell!


Ahhh the fun...

[Elbowman-iac]

By eck, I ain't god t' foggiest where t' start on this un fellers.

Tek care, wolves ont road.

[friendly spoon]

lets play the waiting game yay

[argh]

I'm going to go with not going for anyone today.

[slush puppy]

Theres already been a pretty obvious namedrop, so if something comes of it atleast we have something to go on tomorrow. Think this is the first game I've been in when nearly everyone has agreed on waiting for a while =D

[GazzyW]

Hmm, so donkeys ye wish to be talking about eh? I remember the first donkey I e'er saw. Great shiny coat, powerful back legs, and the longest....ears I e'er did see.

Jailers lo'e us some donkeys. Some literally. Alright, I said too much to you non-jailers.

EDIT: I just want to make "DONKEYS" the theme of this game. <_<

[Magic Noodles]

We're lucky not t'be farin' against t'weredonkeys. They're worst o' lorra them.

Still, we'll 'ave a lorra toil agait th'end wi' all th'wovles.

[doctor_fruitbat]

I'd like to point out that secret keywords were a tactic used by the wolves last time, so the sudden prolific use of that particular d-word for no rhyme or reason is making me suspicious of four particular people.

Just you watch yourselves, lads...

[slush puppy]

I also thought that... But your behaviour isn't as innocent as it could be, namedropping in the first round...

[GazzyW]

D-word? In my day we said what was on our mind, young whippersnapper, and we enjoyed it, no matter what the concequences!

And besides, I've seen a few more words than just your "D-word" repeated in front of my ears. Just saying.

And besides besides, fruitbat seems to have a strange penguin thing at his side all throughout o'r travels.

dood

[adrenaline]

Just spent a few minutes reading up on all the posts. Still have no idea who to vote for. :)

[Magic Noodles]

D-word? I heard a b-word, an s-word, e'en an f-word, but I ain't heard a d-word! The man o' medicene there don't seem too fond o' keepin' his head down, that I know.

[doctor_fruitbat]

So that's two of the people I'm suspicious of who have so far responded with even more nonsensical jabbering, apparently to make my point look silly. And failing.

You're talking in stupid voices, using the same words in distinctly odd ways and then trying to laugh it off when I point out that it was an instrumental tactic for previous wolves, including the silly voices as a delivery system for the words.

This is first round fail at its finest. If I die then you all know who to go for.

[JackCopsey]

Aren't you taking this a bit far? I mean, they're just trying to have a laugh, for pete's sake! Trying to keep your sanity is about all you can do when werewolves are afoot...

[slush puppy]

I don't know...obviously code words were an issue last game, but that was also the case with secret roles. Then again this early into the game it could just as easily be nothing, quite often people talk in role at the beginning of the game and then stop bothering further in.
If they were wolves though I don't think that 2 of them would be so obvious so early on, and accusing people this early is a risky business!

[friendly spoon]

ooo arr

[doctor_fruitbat]

I won't be swayed by your magnificent logic. Everyone listen to me, the nut with the syringes and bonesaw.

[GazzyW]

Syringes? Bonesaw? Are you the medic from TF2?

(Can you Guess Who?)

Anyway, I doubt even if I was a wolf, I'd use a word like "donkey". It's a bit too....weird. Even for the Weebl's Stuff forums.

[tehmoogles]

I don't think the 'donkey' thing is anything to do with the game - I think he's just trying to be 'random'.

[GazzyW]

Like a good Brit, messer moogles.

So, if anyones actually watching this thread, would you like to engage in some old fashioned roleplaying?

[malcolio]

Day 1 is now over

Nobody slept well that night. An unspoken agreement had it that one man would stand guard at a time, the toll man first, woodchip50 the gamekeeper second, and finally Private Turkey Sandwich. He had been a musketeer in Sir Philip Skippon's Regiment of Foot before the New Model Army had disbanded. Now he wore his red uniform again, stained as it was, with musket and cartridges on hand. Upon returning to his home town he had been shunned, most of the civilians being royalists, but right now the refugees were thankful to have someone trained in warfare on their side, even if they knew bullets made of lead would not be enough to stop any attack.

A low growl came from the dense foliage. Sitting on a small boulder, Turkey Sandwich quietly placed his musket across his lap. In the heat of battle speed was essential, but right now he ignored his training and slowly handled the cartridge and primed his weapon. Standing up, always with an eye towards where the noise had come from, the soldier used his ramrod to push down bullet and paper wadding, wincing at the sharp scraping of metal as he did so. Finally ready to fire, Turkey Sandwich brought the butt of his musket up to his shoulder, and pulled the cock back. He peered down the length of the gun, still staring at the growth of brambles and trees from where the unnatural sound have occurred.

Nothing. In the many minutes it had taken to ready his weapon the soldier had not heard the sound again. Had he heard anything at all, or was his mind wandering, looking for sleep?

A sharp crack of sound awoke the refugees. Despite the darkness a cloud of smoke could be seen, with it the smell of black powder. Confused voices began shouting in all directions, whilst a short rumbling bellow came from somewhere in the smoke. Out of it came Turkey Sandwich, looking dishevelled and sporting a cut through the sleeve of his uniform. Those feeling brave gathered around him armed.

"We're under attack," cried tehmoogles, "may the Lord have mercy on us!"

The huntsman swafegahead ignored this and looked at the soldier. "What has happened? Why did you fire your musket?"

Turkey Sandwich wiped his brow, "The bellman is correct. A werewolf came out of the forest and attacked me. I fired and saw him off well, but for this wound," he opened the tear in his sleeve to reveal a bloody wound beneath, "I fear it may have been a faint. Are we all accounted for?"

"Accounted for?" the constable seemed the most shocked at the soldier's news, "fleeing civilians cannot be tallied, how are we to know who is in this party?"

"We would not have this problem without your argument against the toll man," swarfegahead turned for support from harryashfield, "where is the man when we need his council?"

The magistrate looked ashen. "We must search this clearing, now!"

The solider began reloading his musket. "Aye, if luck is with us he is still alive."

The group spread out and shouted at the other refugees to follow their lead. Torches were lit, the flames darting shadows amongst the foliage.

He was discovered leaning against a small tree, bent forwards clutching his stomach. The hunter found him and by the time others arrived harryashfield's head had been lifted to reveal his dim eyes. Blood ran from his lips, whilst his hands struggled to conceal the wound to his body.

"Do not be afraid, you go to a better place," swarfegahead struggled to say anything to the barely living man, "you have saved us all again, the werewolves have left us now!"

The toll man gave a guttural laugh, blood spilling from his mouth as he did so. The refugees had gathered around him now, argh the herbalist looking into her pouch for something to administer, but the physician put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. glitch could see the gouged flesh from the toll man's stomach and knew that their knowledge of medicine was useless now.

harryashfield looked up at them all. "You have slain me, but it is too late. We know you are among us..."

doctor_fruitbat knelt down beside him. "You have done more for this town than any other. Your words were true but I did not heed them. Forgive me."

The toll man did not reply. His eyes stared at nothing, until they were closed by the constable.

Results

The civilians tied at two votes, so nobody was lynched.
harryashfield was killed by the werewolves, and was a civilian!
glitch and Turkey Sandwich need to post in the next Day in order to stay in the game.
happy-go-lucky can't play this week, so her role has been taken over by Nimblewright.

Day 2 has now started and will end at 22:00 on 28/10/09.

[Magic Noodles]

The most likely reason for these most unfortunate o' circumstances is that the wolves're goin' off the narration, or maybe the first vote o' t'day.

So I reck'n we should keep quiet an' see.

[Turkey Sandwich]

Wow, I have a musket.

I'm not sure who to vote for, if anyone, at the moment. I'm going to read through yesterday and see if I can find anything suspect, but I think the theory already outlined may have some weight.

[Magic Noodles]

Shhhh... yer'll disturb the village folk.

[doctor_fruitbat]

Sorry, I was just barfing up the last of the twee sincerity I was spouting back there. Anyhoo, totally my bad. But remember, I'm the nut with the syringes truncheon! because I'm a constable you see, ha ha man am I whacky You would all be wise to harken to my wisdom, and I'm sticking with my donkey theory.

[Elbowman-iac]

'tis crazy talk man! Talkin' about some donkeys don't make nobody no enemy!

[GazzyW]

Donkeys Donkeys Donkeys.

So, still don't know who to blame. I doubt it is fruitybat, but then again he could be doing a daring double dance maneuver.

[JackCopsey]

I still disbelieve this "d-word" theory. If anything, the fact that a certain doctor brought unnecessary attention to it might indicate that they are trying to show that they are a wolf in the most subtle way possible...

Anyway, for now we'll just have to not vote, and hope for the best.

[Nimblewright]

Yes, the donkey theory is altogether quite farfetched.

[Iball]

Hmm, I had a second look through, and yeah, 'donkey' doesn't make any sense whichever way you look at it.

The werewolves could have worked off the narration, but how could they pick out one name? Unless the others are wolves, or something, making one name stand out. They could have targetted harryashfield by looking at people's votes during the day, so the simple answer to stop that from happening is: don't vote!

Anyway, I'm glad people are being sensible. There's still 19 of us left, so no point in accusing people yet. :)

[GazzyW]

Sorry, I was just barfing up the last of the twee sincerity I was spouting back there. Anyhoo, totally my bad. But remember, I'm the nut with the syringes truncheon! because I'm a constable you see, ha ha man am I whacky You would all be wise to harken to my wisdom, and I'm sticking with my donkey theory.

Yeah, not a werewolf. More like an angry fellow political party member. :eng101:

[Magic Noodles]

Donkey don't sound much like harryashfiel', me friend. I oughter take a closer look at the first page really.

Ah, I wer right t'first time. Harry were both t'first vote, an' first person in t'narrative.

If I wer' you lot I'd take a close look at the first t'ave their name dropped today, an' pray.

[GazzyW]

I'm hungry. Wait, sorry.

Aye, I hunger. There we go.


On a more sane note, I'm going to stay away from voting today, as there seems to be nothing up with anyone.

Donkeys.

[friendly spoon]

aww i wanna be mentioned in the narration :’(
yeah its pretty weird how the wolves got someone so early i doubt there are that many wolves in the game.

[glitch]

i vote for iball.

call me crazy, but i find people who make specific reference to the fact that they're a civilian...are in fact often not. sorry.[/QUOTE]

[JackCopsey]

You're crazy, glitch!

Mainly to break majority vote, and also because you're jumping to conclusions way too quickly. And we all know how quick the wolves are...

[GazzyW]

Does anyone mind if I vote for them, just in case I need to break majority vote?

[Purple Wabbit]

I still don't have anything beyond vague suspicions, so I'm not accusing anyone today.

[woodchip50]

i am accusing Purple Wabbit

because what rabbit is purple?
and also because i fear a majority vote, when i am sure that first kill would have been luck mainly.

[Elbowman-iac]

There ain't no reason t'be votin' yet.

[Small Fry]

Has all sense deserted you? Are your memories really that awful? The constable rashly accused harryashfield yesterday due to impatience and fear. We all tried to persuade him not to, but he would not retract his accusation. Of course, our constable could not be a werewolf. Or so we thought. Is it not too much of a coincidence that the good toll man is no longer with us? That he was ambushed and slain in the night?

I do not believe in coincidence, friends, and I shall endeavour to make sure that doctor_fruitbat does not remain with us for much longer, for I am almost sure he is one of them!

[Nimblewright]

I do agree with Small Fry, constable doctor_fruitbat did act suspicious. So very nervous about the donkey thing for no good reason...

[tehmoogles]

I'm gonna have to disagree once again. I highly doubt all the wolves know each other, and so it's unlikely that one name-drop by one could make them all vote. It's more likely simply the first name-drop they saw, or even blind luck.

[Magic Noodles]

I doubt it be the const'ble. He made a mistake we all could have made, he was just unlucky enough f'r it to lead to worse. No self-respectin' wolf'd screw up like that, an' I see it as more likely they went off've the narration, mineself. So I'ma gon' vote Small Fry cos' I don't trust him an' his sudden bandwag'nin'.

[Elbowman-iac]

Hells Donkeys what be happenin' 'ere! Par'noria be settin' in I think.

[Iball]

This is getting rediculous...it's like nineteen eighty-four or something! :( There's no need to be so suspicious quite yet.

I really don't think its worth targetting anyone, even if there is any evidence, until we have more proof. When someone comes up with a better idea than 'I have a gut feeling' then I'll happily join the bandwagon, but until then experience in this game has shown that blindly lynching doesn't get you far in the long term.

EDIT:

Go Oceania, boo Eastasia! :D Yay for Donkeys!

[swarfegahead]

Hmm, 'tis a tricky situation, to be sure! I've got my suspicions, without getting too specific about it, but we are too few in numbers to start killing eachother on mere suspicion. I shall think on this another night.

[Small Fry]

At any other point, a blatant name-drop leading to a death would be sure evidence of a wolf in the midst. I don't see why there's such confusion over this?!

I'm gonna have to disagree once again. I highly doubt all the wolves know each other, and so it's unlikely that one name-drop by one could make them all vote. It's more likely simply the first name-drop they saw, or even blind luck.

This is complete bollocks. It states in the first post that all the wolves know who each other are, and therefore who the innocents are, and only a few games have not had this rule, so why you'd assume otherwise is very strange. I am intensely suspicious of anyone who defends such a blatant name-drop and even more so when they site rules which aren't applicable. To the people who say it was just random luck, why on earth would he vote in the first place? It was obviously foolish if he is innocent and unlike him at all.

The only way I can see him not being a wolf is if they saw the first vote and decided to act on it, but what are the chances of them all having the same idea?

EDIT: Dropped my role-playing because this is srsbzns.

[doctor_fruitbat]

The chances of them all having the same idea are pretty high given that it is the easiest and most bloody obvious thing to do.

[slush puppy]

It is the most obvious thing to do, but in past games the wolves (or whatever characters they were) weren't that together that quickly. But I don't really see what harm waiting some more will do, to get some actual evidence. Also if it was a name-drop it's a bit of a bloody obvious one! I'm not sure what my opinion is on whether he's a wolf or not, but I don't want to randomly start lynching people already! I'll vote if I need to to stop a majority.

[Purple Wabbit]

Having thought about it, looking back the individual in question does look highly suspicious. I don't think it's enough to accuse with, though, so I'll stick with waiting it out.

In addition, I'm scandalised that I should be suspected :p

[malcolio]

Day 2 is now over

Nobody wanted to sleep again after the attack, so after burying harryashfield they carried out his last wish and left the clearing straight away. The parish constable lead the way on his horse, with the refugees now speaking in hushed voices of what had occurred, travelling huddled together. They all now eyed each other warily, distrust seeping into their minds as the toll man's last words echoed in their heads.

It took leaving the dense forest, the landscape ahead nothing but flat sunny fields and the outline of the tavern in the distance, to lighten the mood of the party. The herbalist made the point of walking faster, to come up along side glitch on his mare, carrying both the doctor and the medical supplies he managed to save.

"I could have helped him. I had some Datura on hand, it would have eased the pain."

The physician snorted. "Or quickened his death with greater agony. Plying your plants on livestock might work, but humans require the medicine of science, not folklore!"

"I could have helped him! Whether it was to dull his senses to his wound, or put him out of his misery. Better that than standing idly by to just watch him die. And what of your science? It's folklore that's guiding us now against our foe, your books hold nothing on werewolves!"

"Perhaps not, but where was your lycanthropic knowledge when we needed it last night? If you had supported the toll man's words he would be travelling alongside us now!"

Before argh could splutter back a reply the huntsman at the front of the party shouted out. "The inn has been attacked," swarfegahead pointed at the building, "someone has set it on fire!"

Sure enough what from afar looked like smoke from a kitchen chimney was the remains of a fire that had claimed most of the woodwork. From where the refugees were nothing more could be made out, but that of a stone shell of a building next to a deserted stables and postal office. The party had stopped at the hunter's news, the magistrate now bringing his horse around to address them.

"This could be nothing to do with us, but it would be foolish not to be wary after what occurred last night," Small Fry paused to consider his words, "I need four to scout ahead and see what awaits us. My ride can be used, for speed is essential should something be amiss."

The huntsman was eager to go, as was the gamekeeper, woodchip50. He was without a mount, and so graciously accepted the magistrate's horse, after loading his blunderbuss. They were joined by the doctor and parish constable, neither armed with anything more than daggers. They rode quickly, the remaining travellers watching the four horses come to the crossroads and then dismount outside the entrance to the smoking tavern.

The four scouts saw nothing untoward as they crossed the land in front of the tavern. The post house and stables seemed normal, yet empty of life. The gamekeeper led the way through the smouldering inn door into the ruined interior, swarfegahead lagging behind with his obsolete but still deadly longbow at the ready. Inside was nothing but charred timbers and blackened objects. The four spread out, to search for any clues as to what had happened. glitch found it near what had been the cellar entrance: a burnt husk of a body. He quickly called the others over, but after the shock had passed the gamekeeper and constable quickly excused themselves and went outside.

swarfegahead watched the physician turn the body over carefully. "I don't blame them for leaving. I'm used to seeing burnt animals, but this? At least their death was not from our foe."

"If only that was so. Look here," he pointed at a cremated shoulder, which although wasted away still bore deep claw marks, "this soul did not die from the fire." A startled cry came from outside, the two men quickly running out whilst readying their weapons.

They came to find the gamekeeper and constable in the midst of four strangers, all fatigued. The two men quickly lowered their weapons, and stood by to hear the newcomers speak.

"Thank god you have come," said one, wearing the battered badge of a post rider, "we have been hiding in the post house the whole night. Strange creatures attacked the inn, we don't know where they came from!"

"The blood! Oh god, the blood," the woman babbled to herself, scratching at her face, "they clawed at everything, they slew us like cattle, blood everywhere..."

She was held tightly by another man, wearing simple peasant clothing. "I apologise for my wife, Purple Wabbit was in the inn when we were attacked. I don't know how the fire started, but it was enough for both man and beast to flee. We sheltered in the post house with adrenaline, and Nimblewight the innkeeper. We are lucky to be alive!"

"Iball is right, but our luck is all the more for you being here," the innkeeper trembled as he spoke, "my tavern is gone and all is wasted. Please let us join your party so we may leave the terror that struck us."

"We would be glad of your company, but those creatures..." woodchip50 was silenced by a shake of the head from the constable.

"The city is our destination," doctor_fruitbat pointed down the road, "join us and we will continue with great speed. The rest of our group is coming, look!"

So they were, it being soon before the two groups joined together. It was then that the huntsman noticed something wrong. "Where is the magistrate," woodchip50 looked around, "I have a horse to give him?"

Small Fry was nowhere to be seen.

Results

The civilians managed 6 votes, but there was not enough for a lynching.
Small Fry was killed by the werewolves, and was a Warlock! A Warlock being no different from a normal civilian, except being shown as a non-civilian to those roles that can ask for identities of others.
argh and Shalashaska need to post this Day to stay in the game.

Day 3 has now started and will end at 22:00 on 30/10/09.

[Magic Noodles]

Bugger.


P'haps the wolves have a role o' their own or somethin'? We must be missing somethin'. They aren't goin' off first to speak per day, order of posts in gen'ral, namedrops or nothin'. I'll scout around for any trends.

[slush puppy]

How did that happen?!

[Nimblewright]

It's quite obvious what 'appened 'ere.

Small Fry discovr'd doctor_fruitbat's secret, and was killed by them wolves before he could discover more.

I ain't trustin' fruitbat, let that be sure.

Not sayin' I'm votin', I'm just terribly suspicious.

[Magic Noodles]

Awww crap, there is a special wolf role (can't be bothered with th'accent). Though from the narration

A Warlock being no different from a normal civilian, except being shown as a non-civilian to those roles that can ask for identities of others.

I can guess that it's the "PM a name and recieve their role" one, and that we have one too.

And namedropping, while not in bold, is extremely suspicious. Killing someone for namedropping yourself would be suicide as well, so there's no use in pointing fingers atm.

EDIT: Holy crap Iball's a wolf, and most likely the role.

This is getting rediculous...it's like nineteen eighty-four or something!

Look at post #84.

[slush puppy]

Woah sneaky! I wouldn't have noticed that! Although she (I think it's a she?) did use that phrase in the last game and she was innocent, and at the time she said something about it being a quote from something she liked....I dunno!
That is one giant coincidence/namedrop though!
So we (potentially) know 2 peoples identities, good going so far! (obviously not on the whole people dying) One of the first games I've been in where stuffs kicked off right at the beginning!

[Magic Noodles]

So it's either chance that that's the first number the wolves saw, and that it just happened to be the warlock, or Iball dunnit. It's a pretty odd coincidence, as the warlock seems just to be a trap-character for instances like this.

Also please try not to use numbers other than one so often ;)

[slush puppy]

Or as someone else said before it could be that Small Fry was on to something in his posts, as he was accusing someone who name-dropped someone else that died. (Sorry if thats confusing I'm trying not to say names!)
What do you mean by trap-role sorry?

[Magic Noodles]

If someone targets the warlock, it would hint that they found out that the person is the warlock, meaning the person is the wolf-role. If that makes any sense :D

And I still maintain that the person you are referring to is most likely innocent, as the #84 is just too much evidence to suggest otherwise. Iball would have simply namedropped someone other than the person in question to even the votes, instead of having the namedropper contract-killed. Elimating Small Fry would have put the person in question in deep foodoo, which it clearly has.

[Turkey Sandwich]

Wait, I'm confused. I get the #84 thing (well noticed btw :D), but I'm not sure what else you're inferring from that. Where do you get the idea that there's a special wolf role, and what do you think it does?

And if anything, the warlock seems designed to 'trap' or confuse the detective role, assuming there is one - so why would the wolves target him?

[slush puppy]

Kind of =] I think we've got some good leads to go on though!

Oh now I'm confused again! Thats a good point, really it's in favour of the wolves, even though it is a civvy role, but obviously they didn't know about it, otherwise they wouldn't have killed him. What special wolf role could there be? If there was a "detective-wolf" role, that would be a majorly unfair advantage, as they'd just kill off all the special roles and fuck over the civvies.
I realise that might not have made any sense to anyonde other than me, but my thoughts are a bit more ordered now =/

[Magic Noodles]

What I mean is that, because malcolio said the warlock would appear as that to the roles, as opposed to role, and there being at least one role per team, means there is most likely a "detective" on either side.

And I've just noticed what a big target I'm making myself for the wolves. Crap.

The idea is that, because it's a trap role, and because malcolio only tells people the name of the role, not the description, they didn't know it was a trap. And now we have Iball.

[Turkey Sandwich]

Oh I see what you mean - if the wolves had a detective role of their own, they could perhaps find out who posed a threat to them and bump them off. I suppose if the wolves didn't know what the warlock was, they could have taken it to be some kind of anti-wolf role and attacked; if they did know what it was, it would make more sense to leave him alive so as to use him as a decoy against the civilian detectives, though as you say, nobody usually gets a description.

But there could still just be two detectives on the side of good, hence the plural. It's all just speculation at the moment.

[Magic Noodles]

I still maintain that mentioning 1984 was too random to not be on purpose.

[Turkey Sandwich]

It's definitely suspect, yes, and may require a lynching. But if he's a wolf then he needn't be any sort of special wolf, is all.

Btw, it's nice to be able to say wolf again, rather than having to remember to change it to 'spy' or whatever!

[Magic Noodles]

Yeah but still, a wolf's a wolf.

[Turkey Sandwich]

I agree. Going to wait for other people's input before I vote though, in case there's some glaringly obvious point we've missed that proves his innocence. Which seems unlikely.

[doctor_fruitbat]

Check post #19.

Small Fry again. The chances of both numbers being coincidence are next to zero.

Iball is definitely a wolf, then. The wolves' supposed special role could well exist, but then Malcolio is more than smart enough to keep it ambiguous by saying 'those roles' rather than 'that role'. I guess we'll see when we off Iball.

[Turkey Sandwich]

Feck me, you're right. Okay, forget waiting, we need to get the ball rolling. Or should I say the Iball rolling?

I'm sorry, I had to say it.

[malcolio]

Although she (I think it's a she?)Iball is my twin brother, so I'm fairly certain he's a he. :p

[joezeo]

New in here.Say hi to all of you.

[GazzyW]

^ ...hi?

Anyway, sorry, but I think we do need some action now, and I think your a good guy, but Iball, I choose you.

[JackCopsey]

Very good point. Although this Small Fry incident could purely be chance, I am too suspicious not to vote for Iball!

I'm just hoping that this "blind" band-wagon doesn't backfire.

[glitch]

Voting for Iball because everyone else is, but mainly because I did last time too.

I don't really understand how a 1984 reference is suspicious, or what's significant about posts #84 or #19, but this game always did confuse the hell out of me :( So many subtle hints and misdirections...

edit: Right, got it. God I'm slow. And that's some brilliant hinting.

editedit: Strengthens my justification for voting for Iball too.

[tehmoogles]

Iball, whilst I'm impressed by that, you got found out.

There's a similar role to the Warlock in some games I've played - it's called the Miller, where they're innocent but appear evil if dreamed of - basically it's there to cock up the reliance on detective roles.

[Nimblewright]

Okay, that's just too much coincidence for me to believe in.

Neatly done, Iball, but I think I'm gonna vote for you.

[Iball]

Magic Noodles
EDIT: Holy crap Iball's a wolf, and most likely the role.

Look at post #84.

Well spotted Magic Noodles, I salute you!

I suppose the whole numbers idea isn't going to work any longer (I should have just stuck to my first mention of 19, but wanted to make sure all the other wolves saw it). Also, he had post count 19 and 84, I couldn't resist! :D

In hindsight, I probably should have let someone else do all the name-dropping, but this is the first time I've been a wolf...:( Anyway, obviously this post is going to be really well scrutinized, so to my fellow wolves (you know who you are) go with the idea we managed to suggest, just above the nunber method I implied, but try to be more subtle than me, okay? The Donkey idea was a failure, for a start!

EDIT:

Yes, I am a guy. I don't mind, I've called plenty of others men enough times in this game! Moo moo!

EDIT2:

Please please please don't follow any other name drops any other wolves have made this round, fellow wolves - it confuses the issue and it'd be obvious what the name-drop is once you've done the kill. Just a thought!

EDIT3:

Just to make it obvious, kill Magic Noodles tonight! :D I'd have gone after you anyway, Magic Noodles, because like harryashfield and Small Fry I think you're a good player. :)

[glitch]

Iball you surrender far too quickly :D

It was a good hint though, I'd never have spotted that by myself (it took me an amazingly long time to understand even after it was explained).

[Elbowman-iac]

Iball is goin' ter die now, ye filthy murd'rer!

[Shalashaska]

Whoa that is the most elaborate move I've seen so far in the game. That was actually awesome.

On the other hand I've tried to study the past couple of pages I missed but it's all pretty complicated.

[tehmoogles]

Well, that was an interesting post. Implies they know who they are, which is a bit of a pain in the arse for civilians.

Mentioning the donkey thing is most likely trying to throw us off - I see no reason to mention it otherwise, as if it were a real plan that would have given some more clues as to the other wolves.

[friendly spoon]

iball

[argh]

Well, looks like theres nothing to do but vote for iball and say good bye to Magic Noodles.

[swarfegahead]

IBall will not live another night, string him from the tallest tree!

Fair play though, that was some clever hinting!

[JackCopsey]

Wait a second...doesn't Iball's previous post count as a death-list or something? A very short one, but a list nonetheless.

[malcolio]

Wait a second...doesn't Iball's previous post count as a death-list or something? A very short one, but a list nonetheless.There's nothing wrong with that. There are significant rule changes from the last game. Being able to make death-lists would be one of them. ;)

[JackCopsey]

Damn... :(

[Magic Noodles]

Hey guys, seeing as though I'm about to die, may as well tell you I'm the werewolf slayer / detective. All I'm gonna say is, watch out for trends, watch your words, and don't forget that chain chomps aren't neccesarily vicious.

And, as a great scholar once said, pteropus personatus est innocens.


Goodbye my people!

[adrenaline]

Well. That was a lot to read. Haha.
i'll be going for Iball then.

[Iball]

Yeah, malc let me know it was okay, but I thought it'd be pushing things if I did a bigger list than that. I know how annoying it is when other werewolves in the past have blatantly pointed out stuff. I think you'll excuse me if I point at Magic noodles though! :D

I feel a lot better knowing we'll get the spy - woo!

[slush puppy]

It's all kicking off since I was last here! It's a bit gutting that such an observant player is also our helpful role! Not that it makes a bit of difference but Iball.
So I take it you didn't find out anyone elses identity Magic Noodles? I guess I can say your name now and it doesn't really matter?

[Magic Noodles]

Read the post, slushy. I didn't even ask for iball's identity.

[slush puppy]

You're not dead yet though! Surely you can ask for someones id today? I'm sure the rules used to be you could ask at any point in the 48 hours and be told that day. I'm not sure how malcolios doing though. Would be helpful it it was still those rules.

[Magic Noodles]

No, what I'm trying to say is I've already posted other identities in this thread, and yes I've sent off for one.

Read post 132 carefully.

[slush puppy]

Ah sorry. Just went through and yes I see you've claimed someones innocence more than once, I think I missed one of the edits, I see now.

[Purple Wabbit]

Hmmm, guess I'm going for Iball as well then.

Now to go back and scrutinise the thread.

Also, wonder if there are any more roles like Small Fry's? o.0 - that's a bit of a disadvantage for us.

[Magic Noodles]

At a guess I'd say no, but now we (presumably) won't have a detective (me) so that doesn't matter. Even if we did, it'd only be bad for the wolves, as the civilians don't need to hide anything.

[GazzyW]

Just a questio to Malc, the narrator. If a player dies, is it acceptable to communicate to them outside the game on the games events if both are dead, one is dead or not at all.

[malcolio]

Just a questio to Malc, the narrator. If a player dies, is it acceptable to communicate to them outside the game on the games events if both are dead, one is dead or not at all.Generally talk about the game should be kept to a minimum, outside the main thread. That's the price of dying! The more you talk outside the game the more you influence what is happening within it, even if you don't mean to.

But the Dead thread is there for those who aren't playing but want to comment on the game, comments though that shouldn't affect it. So for instance, if it had been harryashfield who had pointed out Iball's name drop I would be pretty pissed off, as that would be unfair on everyone playing and potentially ruin the game. If though he just commented on who was winning, or about the narration, or the different revealed rules etc, then that's fine.

tl;dr: Talking is fine as long as you don't mess the game up!

[GazzyW]

Danke.

[doctor_fruitbat]

Right-o then, so we have this to go on:

Anyway, obviously this post is going to be really well scrutinized, so to my fellow wolves (you know who you are) go with the idea we managed to suggest, just above the nunber method I implied, but try to be more subtle than me, okay? The Donkey idea was a failure, for a start!
Which probably refers to this post (http://forums.weebls-stuff.com/showpost.php?p=2287893&postcount=73), most notably this particular bit:

The werewolves could have worked off the narration, but how could they pick out one name? Unless the others are wolves, or something, making one name stand out.
Which could mean:

- they'll be attempting to reach a consensus through narrative luck, or may already have been in luck somewhat from previous narrations
- they might start targetting people who talked about donkeys
- they won't do any of this, now that I've mentioned it

Something to think about, but probably not best to read into it too much for a round or two yet.

[Turkey Sandwich]

To be honest, it would probably be best if you don't tell us anyone innocent's identity, Mr. Detective, because if you did it would be a blatant target for the wolves once they get you (assuming they do of course). It would be a different story if you had had more time and collected a long list of names, but apparently all the civilian roles are being killed of pretty quickly this time. :(

I have to say, that does lend credence to your idea that there's a special wolf detective role though...I shall give this further thought.

[Magic Noodles]

As I said before, I've already said the names and roles, they're just hidden well enough for them to be too vague for the wolves to vote on. It's one single post by the way, and if you do figure it out, don't say the names or the roles. That'd be blatant namedropping. Just act on the evidence, but subtley.

[tehmoogles]

The fact that Magic Noodles is now likely to die is just another reason why we need a protector :(

EDIT: Also figured out at least one name and role from your postings - that's a relief.

[doctor_fruitbat]

I won't be able to post until sometime Sunday, so if I seem to be absent that'll be why.

[malcolio]

Day 3 is over

Everyone began to panic at the news that Small Fry was missing, other than the four newcomers who were just confused at the commotion. It was doctor_fruitbat who took charge and quickly mounted his horse.

"To the woods! We must search for the magistrate to have some chance of finding him alive!" He didn't wait for an answer, setting off at a trot to look around the road that led from the forest. Those with mounts of their own followed quickly, so that a wide search of the plains alongside the highway could be made.

It was a small crop of bushes half way from the crossroads where Magic Noodles spotted something amiss: a pair of boots half hidden by a thicket. He shouted for attention and was soon joined by the other riders, quickly enough to see him part the branches and have Small Fry's corpse revealed.

They dragged him out, glitch dismounting to again perform a hasty autopsy.

"It was a simple strike," the doctor said, probing the still-warm body, "a deep puncture into the heart through the midsternal line. On it's own any man with a true blade could have caused this death, but here," he rolled the head so that it stared upwards, "there are claw marks on the face and slight bruising on the mouth. The same wounds as harryashfield, though this time it seems they were made to silence the magistrate as the killing wound was delivered."

swarfegahead was shocked. "But how could this be? Even if the werewolf was silent they could not have committed such an act without being seen!"

The constable nodded. "I am hoping those that were with Small Fry will have seen enough to point to the killer. They are fearsome, but assassins?"

glitch was not so sure. "I'm afraid it isn't as simple as that. Look here," again he turned the face of the magistrate, this time pointing at one cheek, "the claw marks here are but scratchs from nails, and here the blood has formed that of simple human prints. Notice too the lack of tracks other than those of boots. It seems our foe can not only turn to beasts at will, but change with great speed and keep part of their previous form!"

It was sickening news, but the physician repeated the revelation to those who had just arrived to the scene by foot. The accusations started, those who had been with the magistrate last quickly excusing themselves of any blame for his death. In the commotion none paid attention to Magic Noodles kneeling down besides Small Fry, to feel his clothing and unbutton the dead man's cloak. His cry of triumph was enough to peter out the arguing.

He snapped clean from the magistrate's neck a small medallion. "Do you all know what this is?" He held it aloft, showing it to be made of five metal bars that interlocked to form a five-pointed triangle.

Purple Wabbit, still trembling in her husband's arms, responded first. "The sign of a witch!"

"That it is," he faltered, clearly not expecting her to have the answer, "this man was a servant of the devil, a warlock whose aim was to doom us all!"

"No, it cannot be," argh was shocked, "his guide was true, he did all in his power to help his town!"

"His town?" Magic Noodles threw down the medallion, "he helped us against the werewolves, but it seems the Anti-Christ's forces are fighting amongst themselves. We were used as nothing more than pawns to be killed for his own ends!"

"How can you be so sure?" This demand came from the yeoman Iball, still comforting Purple Wabbit, "what makes you condemn a dead man on such little proof?"

GazzyW stepped closer, to lean into Magic Noodles' face. "He is right, who are you to make such claims? I have tried to place you since we started this journey, but you are a foreigner to our town," the jailer grabbed the man's cloak and held him close, "speak, stranger!"

Magic Noodles brushed off the jailer's hands and smoothed his clothing. "I am the Witch Finder General. I have been tracking the devil's helpers for some time and had rumours of dark plans in your town. Were I to know it was not just witchcraft I would have come better prepared. Small Fry has been leading you astray, the man you knew was nothing but a deceiver!"

His announcement silenced his accusers and the parish constable had heard enough. "I am thankful for your help but it pains me that you have hidden your true purpose until now." In response all the Witch Finder General could do is shrug in apology.

"Let us leave now," woodchip50 was still astride his horse, and motioned it to point back away from the forest, "the witch has suffered a deserved death and we have stayed here too long. It seems our only hope is to travel fast and guard against the beasts that are hiding amongst us."

Nimblewight nodded. "Your words are true, we must steal away!"

"Yes," said Iball nervously, "I do not want my wife and I to suffer the same as the magistrate and toll man!"

There was a slight pause. "Wait," asked the gamekeeper, "how do you know of the toll man?"

"You must have spoken of him to me, one of you must have told tale of his death..."

"No, none have said of what we have been through before we met," woodchip50 wheeled his horse around to face Iball, "your mask has slipped!"

With that woodchip50 fired his blunderbuss down at the yeoman, at such a close range that the man was shredded by the various iron balls that exploded from the musket. He was flattened to the ground and if he was but human he would have stayed there. Instead his body convulsed and withered until before the party was an unnatural wolf. It sprang at the gamekeeper and dashed the rider to the ground, but the Witch Finder General was before the creature and fired true with his pistol. The werewolf howled with pain and staggered, but one swift swipe of it's claws dug deep through Magic Noodle's belly. Both man and beast fell together.

It had been but a moment, but the witch finder and what had called itself 'Iball' were dead. swarfegahead rolled over Magic Noodles and gagged as organs spilled out of the man's stomach. glitch examined the werewolf, which had just as quickly reverted back to human form.

Using a pair of pliers the physician prised out the bullet that had come from Magic Noodle's dragoon. "Silver. The general hunted more than witches, it seems."

"God blind me, but we must bury the fallen and leave here!" GazzyW stepped away from the corpses.

"No," doctor_fruitbat blocked the jailer, "we cannot travel yet, we must know from the inn survivors what they know of the yeoman. Especially his wife, she must have known his true self!"

The refugees turned to Purple Wabbit for her to reply, but her body was slumped on the ground. The physician rushed over to her as others backed away, nervous of what she might do.

glitch turned her head, and looked up at the onlookers. "She has left us. But this was not the work of the devil. Someone strangled her with cord, not but a moment ago." He snapped from around her neck an amulet. "She was in a pact with Small Fry too, she bears the same medallion!"

The parish constable's face was pale with dread. "We flee, now."

Results

Iball was lynched by the civilians, and was an Alpha Werewolf! This role is the same as that of a werewolf, except if asked to be identified by the special role that can, is revealed as a normal civilian instead.
Magic Noodles was killed by the werewolves, and was a Werewolf Slayer! A role on the side of the civilians who could PM me each day and be told vaguely the identity of another player.
Purple Wabbit was killed by an Assassin, and was a Witch! A Witch being no different from a normal civilian, except being shown as a non-civilian to those roles that can ask for identities of others.
woodchip50 needs to post in the next day to stay in the game.

Day 4 has started, and will end at 1/11/09 at 22:00.

[GazzyW]

Well blow me away sunny jim. (?)

Alpha werewolf, undectectable by Slayer, right?

[malcolio]

Well blow me away sunny jim. (?)

Alpha werewolf, undectectable by Slayer, right?Yep, exact same role type as some previous games. :) Will edit that in.

[JackCopsey]

Anyone else got theories on who is a werewolf? 'Coz I've drawn a blank. (fishmongers aren't the cleverest of fellows)

[GazzyW]

Won't be here for most of tonight, and probably not too much of tommorrow as well. If I don't say anything, then I am not voting for anyone.

[Elbowman-iac]

I have some ideas.

[slush puppy]

I'm pretty sure I've worked out both the roles that Magic Noodles found out, which although doesn't help us that much, it's 2 less people we won't accidently lynch.

[JackCopsey]

Yeah, well I've worked out that much! :p

[Turkey Sandwich]

Oh I get the clues now. Duh. *smacks head*

And I have a couple of theories on whodunnit, largely based upon who seems to have been 'pointing out' possible tactics the wolves could be using. I won't be voting today though, and I suggest nobody else does either.

[argh]

You guys are doing better than me, I can only get one, (132).

I have no idea who the wolves are? We got any special good guys left?

[tehmoogles]

I have some ideas.

Care to enlighten the rest of us?

[malcolio]

Just to warn everyone that the end of the Day might be delayed. Even if I do post the results on time the narration won't be. So apologises in advance!

[doctor_fruitbat]

I'm back. Busy night then, but at least we got the alpha wolf.

[Elbowman-iac]

Care to enlighten the rest of us?

I would but they're not very good ideas. I'm not so great at this.

[slush puppy]

I do agree that anyone pointing out how the wolves could be working out who to kill is slightly suspicious. For example Iball said something about how they could be working off the narration, which we now know was actually him saying, come on wolves work off the narration! If that makes sense? So unless there is actual evidence of that being how they're working, the ideas about that should be kept to a minimum, as even if it is said by a civilian, that could just give them more ideas.

Also Iball posted a "namedrop guide" in the dead thread, so it just shows it's a way of them communicating with each other.
Not voting today! =]

[friendly spoon]

aww people are getting really good at this :(

[glitch]

I have no ideas about anyone...Anyway. Maybe reading over everything again will help. By the way my participation might be fairly sporadic over christmas. (Away seeing friends.) Does anyone know how long a game of this size might last?

[woodchip50]

way i dont know whats a happening been a busy halloween.

HAI!

back for the count.

[malcolio]

Day 4 is over

Although they wanted to leave the crossroads far behind them the refugees had to spend too much time finishing certain tasks first. The Witch Finder General was given a proper, if brief, burial by the road near the woods. The two witches and werewolf were buried together, face down, their grave unmarked. Then all the hay and other supplies that could be taken from the stables and post house were removed, before the travellers could finally resume their journey.

There were enough horses now for all to have a mount or share one, so the road passed quickly beneath them. Patchwork fields spread out across the landscape, the woods behind them disappearing from view as the land dipped downwards towards a large river in the distance. By midday the horses and riders were growing tired, so all were pleased to see a farm house come up ahead. It was a low, squat wooden building surrounded by a handful of barns and sheds. Seemingly it was deserted.

"This was the werewolf and witch's farm," Nimblewight gestured to the buildings as they neared them, "their farmhands died in the fire at my inn. This land will be empty for some time now."

The constable reined in his horse. "Then let us rest here briefly and restock our supplies."

"Have your wits left you?" Turkey Sandwich, sharing the horse of swarfegahead, gave doctor_fruitbat a sullen glare. "We cannot afford to leisure, nor to explore the home of Satan's helpers!"

doctor_fruitbat returned the stare. "Be that as it may our lack of rations and fodder for our steeds cannot be ignored. Better to delay our journey now then have it end against our wishes later!"

GazzyW moved his horse between the two. "The constable is correct, private. Only some here have ever travelled so hard, the rest must eat and drink plenty or else the road will be their deaths."

Turkey Sandwich realised his view was a solitary one. "So be it, but let us be quick in our foraging!"

The group entered the farmyard and dismounted, some staying to rack up the horses whilst others began walking towards the various buildings.

"Wait," shouted woodchip50, "the beasts are amongst us and we will be easy prey for them if we wander alone."

"What do you suggest?" swarfegahead has already reached the farm house, "even if we go paired we might still be in danger. Or do we travel as one group and waste time?"

"Make it two groups then. One to search the house, one for the barns and to keep an eye on the horses." The gamekeeper began loading his blunderbuss once more.

Nobody disagreed with this plan, other than Turkey Sandwich who frowned but said nothing. Two groups naturally formed from those who had already wandered ahead, so that quickly the house was being explored. The soldier sat down by the abandoned kitchen stove and started the long process of arming his musket, watching the merchant go through the drawers and barrels around him. Jack Copsey happily stuffed stored fruit and old bread into his pack, one glare from the soldier stopping him from offering anything he found.

GazzyW soon became lost in the barn, seeing the others move off down different paths between the stacks of hay and various rusting ploughs. He could hear the herbalist and physician bickering to each other, but otherwise the building was quiet. He found some twine and began tying a couple of haystacks together to pull out for the horses.

"Horses need food more than I do," the jailer quickly knotted the two stacks together, "better to starve near the city than be a plump wretch for the devil." He turned to begin dragging the load out. He moved instead to face his killer. "Mother..."

Results:

No votes means nobody was lynched by the civilians.
GazzyW was killed by the werewolves, and was a civilian!
adrenaline, Nimblewight, Shalashaska and swarfegahead need to post this day to stay in the game.

Day 5 has now started, and will end at 22:00 GMT on 3/11/09.

ALSO: What are people's opinions on pausing the game for the Christmas period? Say 15/12/09 to 5/1/10? Tell me what you think and I'll go with what the majority want. :)

[Elbowman-iac]

That sounds good to me, I'm away for Christmas.

[slush puppy]

Boo for losing another person.
Yay for pausing over christmas.

I'll contribute to actual game stuff tomorrow, tired tired.

[Shalashaska]

If it goes on that long yeah you should pause it.

[doctor_fruitbat]

GazzyW was pretty pivotal to the donkey theory, so yeah, I'll just drop that now.

Also yay to an xmas break, I guess. Not a problem for me to carry on, but I imagine others would appreciate a pause.

[JackCopsey]

Same for me. I am free during Christmas, but it would be better to pause the game for people who are away.

EDIT: Voting for argh because i am very suspicious of this post (http://forums.weebls-stuff.com/showpost.php?p=2290140&postcount=159), especially considering that in this post (http://forums.weebls-stuff.com/showpost.php?p=2288782&postcount=121) Iball suggests that the number method is continued.

Although everyone knew Gazzy was innocent anyway, I suppose.

[slush puppy]

That for one is Magic Noodles, who's already dead, and 2 is a post that he pointed out everyone to look at very carefully, if you don't remember? Why would she be name-dropping someone who's already dead, in such an obvious way.

[argh]

Same for me. I am free during Christmas, but it would be better to pause the game for people who are away.

EDIT: Voting for argh because i am very suspicious of this post (http://forums.weebls-stuff.com/showpost.php?p=2290140&postcount=159), especially considering that in this post (http://forums.weebls-stuff.com/showpost.php?p=2288782&postcount=121) Iball suggests that the number method is continued.

Although everyone knew Gazzy was innocent anyway, I suppose.
I was just hoping someone could suggest what the other one was. I couldn't find it.
No voting yet.

Edit, christmas break appreciated.

[swarfegahead]

i currently have no real leads to vote on. i have work soon, but i shall read over the thread for anything interesting when I'm home

[JackCopsey]

Why would she be name-dropping someone who's already dead, in such an obvious way.

Firstly, when she name-dropped Gazzy he wasn't yet dead. This could easily have been a target for the wolves to vote for. (seeing as they had a choice between 2 known innocents)

And secondly, the name-drop wasn't particularly obvious, seeing as it referred to a post which referred to an innocent player. This is the kind of "subtle number method" (as mentioned by Iball) which the wolves could pick up on.

Also, you seem to have misunderstood what I meant by the name-drop. (it didn't refer to Magic Noodles)

[slush puppy]

Oh I get what you mean, nevermind. But I've had a look through about the GazzyW thing, I can't find it, could you point out the post? Sorry I'm not retarded I swear.

Buuuut JackCopsey just because you're above me, and I don't want a majority, I don't think theres enough evidence to go on.

[JackCopsey]

Whoops - suddenly realised that both people Magic Noodles claimed were innocent were mentioned in the same post! (I won't mention the post number for obvious reasons) So I am no longer suspicious of argh.

However, I will keep my vote for her, to stop me becoming the majority.

[malcolio]

Day 5 is over

Shalashaska heard a horrendous scream come from the rear of the barn. He pulled out his dagger and headed towards where the noise originated from, but the maze of haystacks and towers of crates made the going difficult. He didn't know what to do when he reached the werewolf, his area of expertise being in words not blades, but he would not be known as a coward. Frustrated he began pushing down piles of wooden boxes and made a path over the fallen produce to the back of the building. Before he could reach the source of the cry he discovered the parish constable, who grabbed Shalashaska and turned him around to be pushed back the way he had come.

"They have claimed the jailer," said the terrified doctor_fruitbat, "a constable and clerk will not be taken too!"

Together they made it to the front of the barn, finding the rest of their group there and seeing those from the house running towards them.

The bellman grabbed the constable, who began striding to his horse. "What has happened?" tehmoogles noticed the blood on the constable's hands, "what blood has been spilt?"

doctor_fruitbat would not reply, so the clerk spoke up. "I found him running from the rear of the barn, he says the werewolves have killed the jailer!"

Sure enough everyone then realised that GazzyW was not present. The constable would not look at anyone and had not said a word, as everyone gathered around him.

"You were sure he had passed on," the herbalist knelt down by the man, who was now visibly shaking, "is there nothing we can do for him?"

The Post Rider shook his head "The werewolf is either in there still or amongst us now. Perhaps if the constable had not fled the jail man might have had a chance."

"Or perhaps it was the constable who killed him!" This came from the hunstman, who eyed doctor_fruitbat carefully. The other travellers returned his look, then waited for the parish constable to respond to the allegation.

"I did kill him. I doomed us all," He clutched his face and looked up at Turkey Sandwich, who still held his musket ready, "you were right, we should never have entered this place, and I should never have divided us. The werewolves prey on us from within and I but helped their plans! Without my lead the jailer would be alive now. What are we to do?"

"Calm yourself sir!" the soldier hoisted his weapon and leant down, "you did what you thought best, we now have supplies and we can leave now. All is not lost!"

The refugees murmured their agreement, and moved to saddle their new goods, but the constable refused to join them. Instead he stood up and walked towards the barn. "Make ready to ride, I will see the jailer has some dignity in death."

They watched him walk inside the building and close the large door. The physician looked concerned. "He is not himself, and should not bury the body on his own. I should go with him."

"Wait," woodchip50 held the doctor back, "he needs to settle this matter for himself. Let him make peace with the..."

A short gurgling scream from within the barn. Turkey Sandwich was soon at the door, kicking it open and running in to see the parish constable on the ground. The herbalist quickly came to his body and turned it over, to reveal a lifeless face and a bloody wound across the throat. The soldier closed the eye lids and stood argh up. "He has damned his soul to Hell. Let us leave now."

They walked out and met the looks of the party with cold stares. It had become apparent what had happened and so they quickly mounted their horses and continued their journey, nobody wanting to look back at the farm.

"We will prevail," said tehmoogles, "it is but days from the city, we will surely prove the constable wrong!"

"Let us hope so," replied the gamekeeper, "or that we may better endure the enemy than he."

Results:

Two votes cancelled each other out, so there was no lynching.
doctor_fruitbat was killed by the werewolves, and was a civilian!
friendly_spoon, glitch, tehmoogles, Turkey Sandwich and woodchip50 need to post this Day to stay in the game.
adrenaline and Nimblewright's roles are up for grabs. If they post now their roles will revert back to them as if nothing has happened. But I will advertise the roles as free for someone to take them, to ensure the roles are not wasted.

Day 6 has now started, and will end 22.00 GMT on 5/11/09. With what people have said we will have a break from the game during the period I mentioned above.

[Nimblewright]

Damn, sorry

[glitch]

Oops.

[JackCopsey]

Because I have to post something, I will simply not vote. There are no leads to go on unfortunately, unless someone spots something that we have all missed.

[Nimblewright]

Yeah, I'll also not vote

[tehmoogles]

Whoopsie-daisy!

[friendly spoon]

haha totally forgot.
post!!

[woodchip50]

yeah im watching just not posting as i have nothing to say really. XD

[Turkey Sandwich]

Oops, completely forgot. Again, not voting, since I think it's pretty obvious what happened and there's no one acting particularly suspiciously (at the moment).

[argh]

My computers been spazzing out, so I'll just go with not voting for now and reading through everything else later.

[Elbowman-iac]

Not voting seems like a wasted day...

But I don't want to get anyone who's innocent, so I'll follow the crowd.

[malcolio]

Day 6 is over

Elbowman-iac eyed the approaching party with suspicion. He stood up from his seat inside the small cabin and grabbed his flintlock musket to walk outside, nearly tripping over the local beggar as he did so.

"For my back being kicked I would welcome a shilling," said friendlyspoon, not moving from his seat by the doorway.

"Quiet dunderhead, or soon you'll be owed several pounds!" Elbowman-iac walked out on to the road, to watch the travellers approach his ferry. He could see now that the riders were a haphazard lot, some sharing their mounts and all looking worn and fatigued. He checked his weapon was ready to fire, and stood expectantly.

"Your ferry is earning so much that you wish to frighten men away? If so, a shilling is not much to ask for. If not, I would point your firearm elsewhere."

"At you, perhaps?" the ferryman did just that, and laughed at the beggar scrambling backwards, away from the gun barrel. "Tales of dark beasts roaming the land are not to be ignored, so I will guard my property. Perhaps if you had a home you would be wary too."

"Being wary makes me weary," friendlyspoon stretched himself out along the doorway, leaning his head against the frame, "I will worry about the devil when I see him."

Before Elbowman-iac could reply, the strangers were in front of him, apparently only just finishing an argument themselves. "Greetings, travellers. Passage across the river is a crown per man."

"A crown?" swarfegahead stared down at the ferryman. "For such money I would expect to see a bridge here, not a ferry."

"Hard times means hard prices. Rumours are abound of demons on the prowl, which if true means my ferry will need defences, and I will need coin to pay for them."

"A wise plan," as he spoke the bellman dismounted and handed Elbowman-iac enough money to pay for the party, "I wish it that such rumours were just that, but we travel to escape unearthly attacks on our town."

The heavy purse in his hands did not distract the ferryman from tehmoogle's words. "The tales are true? Dear Lord, what assails us? I have heard of witches conjuring trees to uproot and attack! Dogs, blacker than night with glowing red eyes, bringing death to all those who look at them! Men who turn to beasts and slay their own, imps attacking..."

"Enough," argh leaned from behind the physcian whose horse she was sharing, "some of what you say is true, but the rest is witless paranoia. We have paid what is due to you so you will take us across the river, now!"

"Alright miss, no need to fluster yourself," Elbowman-iac moped his brow, "I'll take you across soon enough, it's three horses and three riders at a time!"

The ferry was a simple wooden pontoon, with a cable connecting it to two trees at either bank. The going was slow as Elbowman-iac pulled hard on the cable to move the ferry, which was clearly not designed to carry so much at once. It took nearly half an hour for the ferry to reach the other side, so it was nearly two hours before more than half the party had crossed.

Those still left to cross watched the ferry move away, which was carrying the herbalist and physician on their horse, and the merchant on his pony. The beggar stood up and hobbled over to the small group.

"You've paid a crown to cross," said friendly-spoon, "I'm sure you fine gentleman could see fit to spare a shilling?"

"Do not be foolish," said woodchip50, "I am but a gamekeeper, with no game to keep. All of us are without homes nor means. If we do not reach the city soon we will be vagabonds like you!"

"You are heading for the city, yet I am the fool?" friendly-spoon grinned madly. "The city gates were closed weeks ago, nobody without signed papers may travel through the walls to prevent the spread of the devil!"

"God help us," cried adrenaline, "our trek is for nothing!"

A musket shot rang out from the other side of the bank, joined quickly by another. The beggar and those with him looked out across the river to see their allies flee in all directions, when a big splash of water signalled something diving in. Elbowman-iac had stopped the ferry, the cables going slack, with the horses on the pontoon stamping in fear and jolting their riders. Suddenly the ferry shook and argh and glitch were hurled off their startled horse and into the water, the shift in weight sending the ferryman over the other side. JackCopsey quickly dismounted and tried to calm the horses, whilst from one bank the onlookers just watched and from the other was a furry of movement and infrequent gun shots.

Those who fell overboard soon came to the surface of the deep river, Elbowman-iac holding on to argh with one hand as he made a rough backstroke to the ferry. JackCopsey pulled them on to the pontoon and so was the first to see the cuts and tears that both had suffered. Their talk was garbled as they tried to describe what had happened, but the fish merchant could only keep the horses calm as he looked out for signs of the physician. glitch could not be seen, so now that the violence had stopped on the bank he began pulling the cable.

It was a long time before all the refugees had reached the opposite bank, with Elbowman-iac and friendly-spoon travelling over the river with them. Turkey Sandwich repeated the story to the late comers, of being attacked by hidden beings in the woods surrounding the riverside, and of something entering the water.

"That's what you claim," said swarfegahead, "but thanks to your musket smoke there was nothing to aim at! I doubt even if we could see into these woods there would be anything seen!"

"Yet you let loose your bow many times, huntsman," Turkey Sandwich began to walk away from the bank and into the forest, "and something attacked those on the ferry and claimed the physician for the dead!"

"What did happen?" The bellman looked at both argh and Elbowman-iac. "We were too busy defending ourselves from a soldier's imagination to see."

"I fell into the river thanks to the horses being spooked, when underwater something clawed my front," the ferryman touched his bandaged chest, "I could not see anything though."

"I am the same," said argh, huddled under a blanket to dry herself, "The doctor lost control of the horse and we were both unsaddled, as I hit the water I felt nothing but cold, but something else was waiting underneath and..." she shivered, letting the end of her sentence hang in the air.

The clerk mounted his horse. "Well then, we have lost a doctor but we still have someone with medical knowledge to give us aid. Let us keep on the road whilst we still have light!"

"But our journey is for nought," said Shalashaska, but before he could continue a cry of discovery came, away from the river.

Turkey Sandwich appeared, dragging with him a poorly-dressed man. "Your eyes are put to shame, we were attacked," he pushed the body into the middle of the group, revealing that the stranger was dead, baring a bloody wound to the stomach, "my shot was true and with it ended a bandit's life!"

"Shame on me for not believing you, private," said the hunter, "we must search this area for more villains, then be on our way."

"Agreed," replied the gamekeeper, loading his blunderbuss, "and that will give me time to reveal the bad tales of the beggar. The city can no longer be our destination..."

Results:

No votes means no lynching.
glitch was killed by the werewolves, and was a civilian!
Shalashaska, slush puppy and swarfegahead need to post this Day to stay in the game.

Day 7 has begun, and will end on 7/11/09 at 22:00 GMT.

[swarfegahead]

We must act soon! Too many of us now have fallen at the hands of the evil that lives amongst us.

Alas, I have consumed far too much draught for now, and must gather my thoughts. Remind me of my current enthusiam in the morning!

[malcolio]

Just to say that Vercci has taken over adrenaline's role in this game. Thanks to all who were interested in the role, but he was very quick! :)

[tehmoogles]

Argh, I've been looking through the last day's posts and your reference to your computer 'spazzing out' seems to be remarkably like a reference to 'glitch'. Maybe just a coincidence, but still?

[Nimblewright]

That's too much like a gut feeling for me, I'll vote for no-one for now, but if I need to stop a majority, I'll do so

[JackCopsey]

Yes, I'll vote for argh as well, not simply for this, but also because she's acted suspiciously in the past. (as I've mentioned in previous posts)

[Elbowman-iac]

argh for me too. It seems to be the only lead we have.

[slush puppy]

My internet has been broken, PinkFish said she'd tell malcolio, not sure is she have, but I'm here if my roles not already been put up? And now to re-read the thread!

[malcolio]

My internet has been broken, PinkFish said she'd tell malcolio, not sure is she have, but I'm here if my roles not already been put up? And now to re-read the thread!She didn't, but I haven't put up your role for sale just yet. ;)

[slush puppy]

Elbowman-iac for now, I don't know if we have enough evidence, trying to stop a majority. I know from experience we start a bandagon on the most flimsy theries when we've lost this many people. As I said though, re-reading! =]

[Nimblewright]

I'll vote for JackCopsey just to try and stop a majority.

[argh]

Thanks Nimblewright, just got on (boyfriends computer) still acting up, think new stuff didn't install right.

[Shalashaska]

Thats a bit ambiguous.

Is there some code or am I just being a dickhead?

[swarfegahead]

i think i'm going to have to vote argh. i hate voting without any decent evidence to go on, but at this point you seem like the most suspicious. not that that's saying much. still, if we don't try make a move on these wolves soon then we won't last much longer!

[argh]

Fuck me, I didn't even think that saying thanks would look like a drop. swarfegahead for being above me.


Edit. Fuck me again, I still would need another people to go for me being innocent.

[slush puppy]

Hmm actually I might have changed my mind...that did seem like a name-drop. I'm not gonna change my vote, and leave it to fate, as I'm not gonna be on later to see what unfolds.

[argh]

I was drinking last night. Note to self, don't drink and wherewolf. It'll get ya killed.

[Turkey Sandwich]

Hm...Lynching people on such flimsy evidence is not usually a good idea. We have a much higher chance of lynching an innocent person at this stage, so what's the point? Therefore I'm going to vote slush puppy (being the next person above me) to stop a majority.

If anyone can come up with something a little more substantial though, I'm happy to change, as we certainly can't sit here forever.

[malcolio]

Day 7 is now over.

The news that that the travellers had suffered much hardship and the loss of good friends for nothing shook everyone. For a little while everyone was silent, a wave of pessimism having washed over everyone that made even speaking of their predicament seem like a waste of effort.

Finally Turkey Sandwich spoke. "We cannot stay here, when bandits are abroad and we still have werewolves amongst our ranks. But whether it is best to stay our course or return defeated...I do not know. Better then for us to search this area for other bandits, so that the little time we have is not wasted by just sitting still in thought."

A murmur of agreement was made in reply and the party began spreading out into the undergrowth, many able to remember a similar move that led to the discovery of the first victim on their journey. The sun was setting, creating long shadows in the open but casting a dreary shade in the undergrowth.

tehmoogles and woodchip50 paced slowly past various trees, the bellman feeling foolish carrying just a short sword, next to the gamekeeper's blunderbuss. A glint caught his eye and he turned to see an arrow embedded in the tree, with a piece of torn leather caught in between.

tehmoogles pulled the arrow out of the tree. "The hunter's aim was true, too. We have another thief to find."

They pressed on past the dense trees until a cry came out and the gamekeeper parried a sudden sword strike with the butt of his musket. He used his momentum to push forward with the rear of his blunderbuss, to hit squarely the attacker's chest, before bringing his weapon to aim at the man now sprawled on the ground.

"May God have mercy on you, for I do not." woodchip50 went to squeeze his trigger but the man put up his hands and cried for forgiveness.

tehmoogles pushed down the blunderbuss, but kept his sword pointed at the bandit. "Give us reason to spare you."

"I thought you were a black beast, I'm sorry," the man kept his hands shielding his face, "we attacked you out of need, not want. Please let me live!"

"Who do you speak of?"

"I am Vercci, with my allies malcolio and slush puppy. We had no luck entering the city and have gone days without food..."

"That is enough," woodchip50 slung his blunderbuss onto his shoulder and pulled the man up on to his feet, "one of your friends is dead, but we have yet to find
your female companion. You will come back with us and ensure she is no longer a threat."

With that Vercci was pushed forwards, back to the river, with tehmoogles prodding the thief's back with his sword. When they returned they found that slush puppy had been caught by Shalashaska and Nimblewright, whilst a hole had been dug for the burial of malcolio. The two robbers had their hands banded together and pushed on to the ground. argh produced some bandages and honey from her knapsack, spreading the honey onto the cloth and wrapping it around Vercci's wounded arm.

"We forgive your actions earlier," said Turkey Sandwich to the two captives, "and we regret having slain your friend, however we too are in need of supplies and shelter, but have not resorted to thievery to obtain them." As the soldier spoke friendly spoon quietly searched through malcolio's corpse unnoticed, but found nothing.

"We didn't know what else to do," said slush puppy, "the guards would not let us into the city and we had used up all our food just to get there. We had heard tales of the devil walking the earth, but it was only now when you appeared, and that creature attacked, that our fears were proven true."

"So the beggar is right. We have no hope of entering the city!" adrenaline slumped to the ground, forlorn.

"I have the needed papers," said Elbowman-iac, "it is where my family lives. If I journey with you I can enter the city, but with no other."

"Well then, we should press on," this small piece of news cheered Shalashaska, "the ferryman I'm sure can find help for us, perhaps hire another Werewolf Slayer to rid us off our foe!"

"It is a slim hope," said swarfegahead, "I am sure there are many men claiming to be destroyers of the devil now, but I see it as the only choice we have."

Turkey Sandwich mounted his horse and looked down at the two bandits, "we will head to the city and you two will ride with us. I have forgiven you, your friend's death seems punishment enough. Let us leave now so that we may find a place to camp before nightfall."

"You can ride to ruin, but I have faith elsewhere," the Post Rider climbed on to his own horse and headed for the ferry, "I will make for the coastal town, on my own I may travel without beasts hidden besides me." He threw a crown at the feet of the ferryman, and boarded the pontoon.

"So be it," the huntsman climbed on behind the soldier, "may your journey be swift, for alone you are without allies, as well as enemies."

Results

Four votes against argh out of eight means no lynching.
The werewolves for once didn't kill anyone either.
woodchip50, friendly spoon and Vercci need to post this Day to stay in the game.

Day 8 has now started, and will end at 22.00 GMT on 7/11/09.

[Nimblewright]

"We forgive your actions earlier," said Turkey Soldier to the two captives, "and we regret having slain your friend, however we too are in need of supplies and shelter, but have not resorted to thievery to obtain them." As the soldier spoke friendly spoon quietly searched through malcolio's corpse unnoticed, but found nothing.

Who's Turkey Soldier?

[malcolio]

Who's Turkey Soldier?Ah, you've passed my observation test, well done! smart arse...

[argh]

Woo saved, thank you people who voted for not me. I'm going to celebrate not being dead by fine tooth combing the narration. We are getting ass kicked by the wolves and Malcolio said he'd be putting hints in the narration, so I figure thats the best bet for trying to get someone now.

[friendly spoon]

im still here everyone

[slush puppy]

Well I'm a thief! =]
Can't really throw any theories around atm, I honestly don't know how they've managed to get a kill so many times!

[swarfegahead]

No vote from me as of yet, but looking through the narration closely isn't a bad idea at all.

[Vercci]

I am post.

[JackCopsey]

I'll go with not voting too.

[woodchip50]

*posting*

sorry AGAIN!
had no internet this weekend. was tooooooo busy being in the countryside. >_<

[Nimblewright]

Not voting today

[Turkey Sandwich]

Also not voting, for obvious reasons.

[Elbowman-iac]

Not voting today.

[tehmoogles]

'tehmoogles pulled the arrow out of the tree. "The hunter's aim was true, too. We have another thief to find."'

Possibly a reference to me being right? I'm voting Argh again, seeing as it's our only (albeit tenuous) lead.

[friendly spoon]

hmm im not sure so ill vote for vercci to stop the majority vote for now.

[malcolio]

Day 8 is now over

The journey from the river was a troubled one. The road wound up through a rocky hillock covered in shrubs and pockets of woodland. As they reached the summit the two would-be bandits told of what was taking place in the city: harsh measures against all outsiders, as the refugees were not the only ones to have been attacked by servants of Satan. Attacks on settlements had fallen so there was hope the closure of the gates might cease, but the government was cautious, and saw no point in putting down it's guard when only foreigners and peasants would suffer from it.

Vercci and slush puppy were in turn told of the party's mishaps: that there were at least one werewolf in their midsts who had slowly been slaying those who had survived the destruction of their town, whilst through it all witches and werewolf slayers had been found and lost. The beggar had accompanied the traveller's without their consent, but even news that evil beasts could be riding next to him did not seem to diminish friendly spoon's cheerful cynicism, or want for coin.

Soon they came across a relatively flat outcrop with a well. Unanimously the party decided to stop there for the night, argh testing the water from the well and finding it drinkable. Guards of two were arranged to cover the party in turn, woodchip50 and Elbowman-iac taking first watch.

"What do you make of our chances?" asked the gamekeeper, cleaning his blunderbuss with a cloth and oil.

The ferryman turned away from his watch of the shadows. "Not well. It has been several months since I have returned to the city, it costs me to have someone mind the ferry whilst I am gone, so I do not know what awaits us. It may be that it will be short work for me to enter the city, find help in removing the beasts from within or allowing you all to pass through the walls."

"Or you enter and are not allowed to leave," woodchip50 looked up from his dismantled weapon, "and we are left at the mercy of the devil."

"Or that," Elbowman-iac admitted, but movement from the corner of his eye made him turn speedily and raise his flintlock musket ready to fire at the intruder. It was but Vercci, looking as startled as the two guards were.

"I apologise," said the would-be bandit, "I did not mean to alarm you. My companion and I heard your talk," he sat down next to the gamekeeper and ferryman, "we know it will be hard for those left outside the city, but if you have coin there are plenty of traders who risk working outside the walls to feed off desperate people."

"That is something I am glad to hear at least," replied woodchip50, "but why then did you leave the city? Your clothes and that blade are not those of a poor man."

"They are not," Vercci looked down at his finely-weaved jacket and leggings, "but no merchant would deal with us. The county I came from was the latest attacked by werewolves, so news of what had occurred reached the city before I did. They feared I was but a beast, as was all those who came from my town. Silence on what caused you to come to the city will ensure you will have better luck than I."

The gamekeeper simply looked at Elbowman-iac, who understood the glare. "I will not speak of what has happened to you and your friends, I will try and find help without arousing suspicion. Guilt will not be a burden on me."

"It is what I bare now," said the bandit, "we should not have attacked you, it was a plan myself and malcolio were against, but slush puppy convinced us there was no other way of survival. She was wrong, and we paid for it with the loss of a dear friend. Let her and I guard now, and let you both rest."

"The offer is a kind one, but I do not feel others will be pleased to have former villains as lone watchmen," woodchip50 screwed the blunderbuss's pan back into the stock, his weapon cleaned and complete again, "tell your friend to sleep, I will fetch the bellman to guard with you. That man has been slacking in his duties."


"Bellman, wake up, it's your turn on watch!"

themoogles shoved the hands that shook him out of the way and sat up from his bed. "Blast it! You ruin the best sleep I have had since we started this trek." He stood up and watched the gamekeeper walk off into the darkness, thinking himself a fool for not having left the group as the post rider had done.

He carefully stepped his ways over sleeping bodies to where he could see Elbowman-iac standing guard. A shape loomed out of the darkness, from where it came from the bellman thought it was the other man he would share his guard duties with. He thought wrong.

The scream startled everyone, the piercing shriek being echoed off the rocky landscape around it so that even the deepest sleeper was awoken. Elbowman-iac leapt to his feet and ran to where the horrifying noise had come, to find tehmoogles rolling on the grass clutching his clawed face. Whilst the ferryman struggled to keep the man from moving the inn keeper and herbalist appeared. Nimblewright helped hold the tehmoogle's arms down whilst argh took a few dark green leaves out of her pouch and forced them into the disfigured man's mouth.

"What has happened?" asked slush puppy to her friend, both watching the bellman still shudder in pain as his wounds were cleaned and bandaged.

"The devil has struck again, we cannot stay here any longer."

Vercci's words were caught by all, as tehmoogles, with one final choked cry, breathed his last. The herbalist looked up, "the doctor's words were true, I could not save him. Better to die quickly than suffer any more."

The soldier stood up and looked at Vercci. "You are right as well, we must move from this place. Night is the beast's ally, not ours. We must continue our journey and sleep when we have the sun to guard us. This is a lesson that we have paid for already!"

No one could argue his words, and so after burying the bellman the party packed and resumed their trek once more.

Results:

2 votes to different players means no lynching.
The werewolves killed tehmoogles, who was a civilian!
Shalashaska needs to post this Day to stay in the game.

Day 9 has now started, and will end on 11/11/09 at 22.00 GMT.

[Shalashaska]

I here/

[slush puppy]

Well well well...

[JackCopsey]

Guess I'll not vote for now.

[argh]

I've got a few people I'm thinking are innocent from the narration, but I can't see anything that points to wolf. (No voting yet)

[Nimblewright]

no voting from me either

[Elbowman-iac]

argh, again. Mainly because of the lead from before, but partially a hunch.

[friendly spoon]

yeah we really need to lynch someone, the wolves have got someone pretty much everytime, we're not going to win if we play the waiting game for much longer.

[Vercci]

Any ideas?

[argh]

Changed mind, I am voting, for Elbowman-iac who really, really wants me dead.

[Elbowman-iac]

No I don't, I just think we should do something, and it's pretty much the only lead we have.

[JackCopsey]

I will happily bandwagon, as I am also suspicious of argh.

[Nimblewright]

I will not make myself guilty of a possible killing of an innocent, though I shall turn my back

[friendly spoon]

sorry forgot to actually say who i was voting for :/ argh

[malcolio]

Day 9 is over

The hasty escape from the camp was slow despite the efforts of the riders. Tired horses stumbled over the uneven path of loose rocks and potholes, carrying travellers too weary and distracted to guide them safely. The beggar strode out ahead of the others, having asked to be a generously paid scout, but friendly spoon's own private reason was to stay out of the dangerous arguing amongst the party.

"It is foolish to continue like this," said Nimblewright, "better to walk and spare the horses agony."

"We travel slow enough as it is," replied JackCopsey, "were we to travel by foot the city would not be reached until another night."

"We are fools whichever way we proceed," said an irritable swarfegahead, "we are journeying in the dark accompanied by killers from this world and the other, with strangers who have either tried to attack us or have lived with servants of the devil!"

Nimblewright steered his horse to come alongside the huntsman. "Curb your tongue! I did not know the yeoman and his wife were daemons, nor I'm sure did the post rider. No horses were stunned, my ales weren't soured, no milk was curdled. The folk tales of witches and werewolves were false, there were no signs for me to see!"

"What is the use of signs," swarfegahead asked quietly, "for those who know what they are looking at?"

Nimblewright bristled with rage. "You insult me, sir! You insult my wife, my family, my whole life before fire took it all," he turned his horse away from the hunter, "to speak such ill as this makes me think you are what you accuse me of: a creature most foul trying to confound us!"

swarfegahead turned and spoke at the retreating figure. "Your anger cheers me, were you our foe I feel you would not defend yourself with such emotion. I accuse you because that is the route we must go down: to question each other and find out if we are who we claim."

"Why strain us when we already close to breaking?" this came from woodchip50, "can your interrogations not wait until we have reached the city?"

"Yes, why try and discover our foe now when we have no means to dispatch them?" Vercci looked at those riding besides him. "Unless any of you have silver weapons secreted away?"

"Private, help me here," asked the huntsman, "I would have thought your view would mirror my own."

"I am too tired for thought," replied Turkey Sandwich, slouching slightly on his steed, "but time has been wasted enough. Fight now or fight later, makes no difference." He signalled his departure from the conversation by slowing his horse down, so that it fell to the back of the party.

"You speak alone huntsman," said Nimblewright, "so we shall keep to the road. I though will be walking it, for even the vagabond is moving with more speed than us on horseback."

The inn keeper dismounted and began leading his horse along the uneven path. Others soon followed suit, a brief pause letting everyone climb off their horses and refresh themselves with water or food. slush puppy was helped down from her horse by Vercci. She heard a muffled shout come from behind her and turned in time to spot a riderless horse rear up and bolt at her. She moved in time and shouted for help, Vercci grabbing hold of the reins as others ran to her aide. It was then that Turkey Sandwich was found shaking on the ground, his body convulsing as he struggled to speak.

Nimblewright found himself holding another man down in his death throes, as argh wiped the man's brow and opened his mouth. She plucked out several crushed tapering roots, some ending in short stems with purple flowers.

The herbalist touched one root to her lip and shuddered. "This man has been poisoned!"

"Our assassin strikes down another friend?" asked the gamekeeper, standing aside from the group surrounding Turkey Sandwich.

"Yes, though I think this man is not our friend," argh stood up and motioned others to step away, "he will soon pass away. He has been fed wolfsbane, a toxic plant to most, but especially to beasts such as this!"

As if on cue, Turkey Sandwich shook violently for a moment, his body morphing to that of a black wolf of immense size, swiping at those near with it's sharp claws and snarling face, before foam spilled out of it's mouth and it collapsed onto the ground, dead.

There was a pause. "The only one here who I thought I could trust..." swarfegahead trailed off.

"Seems our killer is on our side, at least," said the gamekeeper, "and knows as much of folklore as the herbalist!" He picked up the discarded roots, which were covered in blood. "God blind me, wolfbane is more toxic than I thought to draw wounds like this!" He quickly threw the plant down, but it was picked up again by the female bandit.

"Toxic to us or not, I've never known monkhood to draw blood," slush puppy looked at argh, who glared back, "let me see your hand."

The herbalist instead backed away. "It can create strong rashes on some, but you clearly know nothing of folk medicine if you call aconite monkhood!"

"Yes, aconite, from the latin aconitum," slush puppy grabbed argh's hand and clawed it open to reveal a gaping wound where she had once held the plant, "you are not the only one who is knowledgeable of herbs, nor so strongly affected by them, it seems."

argh changed in an instance, a horrendous wolf where the woman had stood before, lashing out at the bandit. She was ready for the attack though and fell to the ground, for her friend to jab forward with a small dagger at the beast. It was such a quick movement that what had once been argh could not dodge it, instead being pierced in the chest by the simple knife. It staggered but the bandit was relentless, withdrawing the dagger and stabbing again and again into the creature, before it howled with pain and collapsed next to it's brethren. The inn keeper helped slush puppy to her feet, and Vercci pulled out his blade from the dead werewolf.

"I confess, I do have a weapon made of silver," he wiped clean the blade on his leggings, "I was hoping not to use it, however."

Results:

Three votes out of four means argh was lynched, and was a werewolf!
The werewolves failed to kill anyone.
However the assassin did, killing Turkey Sandwich, who was also a werewolf!
swarfegahead and woodchip50 need to post this Day to stay in the game.

Day 10 has started, and will end on 13/11/09 at 22.00 GMT.

[Nimblewright]

Well, that's some good news

[Elbowman-iac]

Wow. Donkeys be praised?

[malcolio]

Also, I'd just like to say thanks to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum). :D

[Vercci]

Well that was.... interesting.

[slush puppy]

Well done assassin! Not voting for now.

[JackCopsey]

Ditto.

[friendly spoon]

yay

[malcolio]

Day 10 is over

A large hole was dug by the road, the two slain werewolves being unceremoniously dropped into it head-first, their bodies now those of humans. Vercci had cut their throats with his silver dagger to ensure they would not return, the blade again being wiped clean of their blood.

Elbowman-iac watched the bandit handle his knife. "What else have you kept hidden from us, to not reveal such a useful weapon before?"

"This and nothing else, ferryman," Vercci sheathed the dagger and returned it to a pocket inside his jerkin, "nor do I think any of us have anything to hide. We killed two daemons tonight, you tell of one being destroyed before I joined you. How likely is it that we still have a foe to face?"

"Not very," replied the gamekeeper, looking down at the dead werewolves, "these two could have murdered between them all those companions we have lost."

"Aye, the herbalist was in the barn when the jailer was slain," said the clerk, "and it may well have startled the horse they were sharing with the physician, when they were on the ferry."

"But there was a great splash in the water?" Elbowman-iac was looking doubtful, "I was sure something had leaped into the river to attack the pontoon!"

"It could have just been the soldier creating a distraction," replied Shalashaska, "same as his musket fire against the bandits, and on our first night when the tollman was slain."

"Well, then perhaps we are free from these beasts after all!" JackCopsey grinned a large smile, but it was not matched by the others.

"Perhaps, though we cannot rule it out," the huntsman began shovelling earth on to the corpses, "best we keep to our journey, and reach the city with as much speed as we can. With the ferryman's assistance we can confirm whether we are safe or not."

"You speak wisely," said the merchant, "though I wish the events of tonight would permit us to return to our homes."

The burial was finished and the party began walking down the rocky path once more, this time friendly spoon having a horse to lead, much to his delight. They descended the hill through a sparse forest, now on the other side of the range they could make sight of their destination. The sprawling city marked by a winding river running through it was clearly seen by the countless lights that shone from it. A low wall ran around it apart from the river entrance and break to the sea, otherwise there were few buildings on the outside that anyone without the necessary papers could reach.

The path down the hill became treacherous. Dawn was still far away, so the traveller's struggled to follow the winding path that ran over rocky and uneven ground, becoming steeper the further down they walked. The horses began panicking at the number of pitfalls and missteps they made, both mounts and handlers having had little sleep. friendly spoon was the first to loose control of his horse, not being used to looking after anything but himself. The steed fell out of his grasp and scrambled down the slope quickly, coming to a rest at the bottom of the hillock not far away. The beggar himself ran after his horse but tripped over a large stone and was soon falling down the slope, cursing as he went, to stop next to his ride.

The rest of the traveller's realised what had happened from the sounds that the beggar and his steed had made, but so too had the other horses. They neighed and stamped their hoofs in fear of what had happened, so that the whole party stopped where it was on the hill. Except for the ferryman, whose horse charged forwards with a loud cry from the steed, pushing others out of the way as Elbowman-iac struggled to regain control. The horse hit a small boulder and fell on it's side, tumbling down the hill with it's rider trapped around it. The gamekeeper and huntsman gave their horses reins for others to hold and darted after the ferryman, half running and half falling down the hillock after him. The rest of the party followed once they had control of their mounts, hurrying down to the bottom of the slope as quickly as they could.

There friendly spoon was sitting on the ground, holding on to his horse but rubbing his side, looking at swarfegahead and woodchip50 bending over Elbowman-iac.

"Dead," said the gamekeeper, "he couldn't have survived such a fall." He closed the ferryman's eyes.

"I warned you, we travel with danger enough without creating our own," the huntsman looked at Elbowman-iac's horse, it too having passed away from the drop, "we should not have followed that beast's advise and followed the road by moonlight!"

"Enough," said the inn keeper, "we heard what you said. It was a tragic accident, we must push on still or else his death will be meaningless."

"It is wasted already," said JackCopsey, "without him we cannot enter the city!"

"I'm afraid it seems his death was not one of ill fortune, either," slush puppy was knelt down beside the dead horse, "something has stabbed at the horses's rear, deep powerful cuts."

The others quickly came to the bandit's side and looked at the animal, the gamekeeper and hunter especially peering close at the wound.

"She is right, what's more this was no blade that did the deed," the gamekeeper sighed, "seems we have a being of Satan's amongst us still."

"I did not think I would be sad to see that old man go," said friendly spoon, still sitting on the ground with his head in his hands, "but his passing has made our lives troubled indeed! To return or press on..."

Results:

No votes means surprisingly there is no lynching.
The werewolves killed Elbowman-iac, who was a civilian!
Shalashaska needs to post in the next Day to stay in the game.
swarfegahead's and woodchip50's roles are now up for grabs.

Day 11 has now begun, and will end on 15/11/09 at 22:00 GMT.

EDIT: GazzyW has taken over woodchip50's role. He'll still be referred to as woodchip50 in the narration though!

EDIT 2: Elbowman-iac has taken over swarfegahead's role, again he'll still be referred as swarfegahead in the narration as my brain melts trying to justify a man being trampled to death by a falling horse suddenly being OK! This isn't Monty Python...

[GazzyW]

I LIVE AGAIN!

...donkeys.

[slush puppy]

I guess I'm still not voting.

[Nimblewright]

I shall be not voting, once again.

[Elbowman-iac]

It's....alive!! Maybe this time I won't get all killed.