Post
Post #8112 (isolation #202) » Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:44 pm
Postby mastin2 »
*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*
You know, I was looking forward to going to bed soon, given it's almost 4 AM, but a hammer's a hammer, sooooooooooooo......
Post
Post #8114 (isolation #204) » Thu Aug 25, 2016 12:31 am
Postby mastin2 »
rb
was
Tatiana Ruffins
,
Individual Human
turned
Wulden
, and they were
Lynched D5
.
Spoiler: Full Current Role PM
Converted Tatiana Ruffins wrote:
Spoiler: Full Original Role PM
Tatiana Ruffins wrote:You've never had much interest in the world. Living in the Erimos range, you were one of only a few humans to owe loyalty to neither the northern tribes nor the western empire. While they had certainly fought over this domain before, you lived in a sweet spot, a neutral zone between the two.
The mountains gave everything you ever needed in life. There was game a plenty to hunt, and many a plants to farm or to forage from for a diverse diet. With the bountiful rainfall, water was never in short supply. It was no wonder why your lands would be so desired. But you never held interest in the affairs of mankind. What you wanted was the quiet life.
Gistou rendered that impossible, and as you were forced to flee from both wulden and nosferatu, you vowed you would reclaim your homeland and fight for humanity.
<<< Night 5 begins now. The deadline is Sunday, August 28th, @ 9:00 PM PST: (expired on 2016-08-28 23:50:12). >>>
Post
Post #8115 (isolation #205) » Thu Aug 25, 2016 1:51 pm
Postby mastin2 »
<<< Hey everyone! I was doing some playing around with some formatting stuff, and as a heads up, I'm going to be experimenting a little bit with the PMs. You've been receiving them in the same format for four nights, so I didn't want to alarm anyone about the sudden change they'll have tonight. This is my assurance: purely me trying to give a potential strong aesthetic separator. It may be better, it may be worse, it may be basically the same, but I wanted to play around a bit and see if I could make it feel more distinct, so let me know what you think once you receive them! (Which will be approximately 3 days and 3 hours from the time of this post.) >>>
Post
Post #8116 (isolation #206) » Sun Aug 28, 2016 10:48 pm
Postby mastin2 »
davesaz, who was
Marius Hemmingway
,
Wulden
turned
Other
, has died N5.
New Marius Hemmingway wrote:
Original Marius Hemmingway wrote:A special mission awaits you. Dmitri has willed it himself. "Do not think you are being punished, Marius," he said. "This is a task so important I would ask it only of you." The wulden have long-since universally turned themselves into lycans, yourself included. They have come out of the shadows, stopped hiding in their occult roots, the hidden movement now a public faction. All of their once-obscured secrets have been revealed, as the need to operate behind-the-scenes was no longer necessary.
And also supposed to be universal was the call to become a true wulden, the undead improvement to the creature of the gods. Yet laid before you, Dmitri had ordered you not to undergo the procedure. "No, I cannot say any is better suited for the operation you're assigned to." Others laugh at you. Others say that Dmitri Damanos is cruel to you, as to deny you your perfect form. Still more insist to bully you with their newfound strength, saying that a weakling such as yourself does not deserve Dmitri's blessing. They say that if he wished you to be strong, he would have let you become strong, and is intentionally holding you back because he thinks you unworthy.
Heretics, the whole lot of them. To think Dmitri Damanos would mean anything other than what he says! The need for lies and deceit has long-since become obsolete. If your lord and savior says that he has reason for you to not become a full wulden, then the true ruler has good reason to ask it of you. Outsiders call it blind faith. Perhaps they are right...but you see absolutely nothing wrong with devotion to a deity, divinely blessed as he is.
"I need you returned to our roots: a covert operative, to elude detection and sabotage our enemies."
A special mission, which he has selected you, and you alone, for: to be a spymaster, hiding your beasthood from the world and acting as a normal human. You operated as so for ten long years, moving from location to location, nation to nation, even hiding in the Erimos Range. Ten full years of absolute obedience, so you hesitate not for this special assignment. You will play the part of human, for as long as Dmitri Damanos deems it so. His word is all. His word is everything. And you will not fail him.
Wake88, who was
Kurt Rainer
,
Northern Tribes Human
turned
Individual Nosferatu
, has died N5.
Current Kurt Rainer wrote:
Original Kurt Rainer wrote:You've always lived a peaceful life. The pinkskin tribe you originate from had no set location, so to you, being on horseback (your tribe's specialty) was home. You would always watch in awe as tribal leaders would negotiate with other fellow northern tribesman whenever you rode into their territories, and were ever the eager hunter.
You thought this was the life you would always live. That when you got older, you might fall in love, marry, and continue the same life your parents had taught you how to live. And yet...with the rise of Gistou, the paths once so sacredly traveled by your tribe were in severe danger of nosferatu attacks. Wuldens could encroach at any time, and the risk of undead attacking was not outside the realm of possibility. Fights erupted, and the tribe divided.
The unity you once felt, the home you had sought, now shattered, you've made up your mind: for the sake of the people, you will fight.
Expedience, who was
Alexis Galenos
,
Individual Undead Cop
, has died N5.
Alexis Galenos wrote:The burden of war is a great one to bear.
It would be so easy to block it all out.
It would be so easy to run away, to hide, to retreat.
It would be so easy to forget, all the horrible things that have happened while you were around. The
grave
consequences of your actions.
If only you were actually the human you often dreamed you were.
But no...you know very good and well, you are not. The
rotten
truth? You're not exactly flesh-and-blood. And so, all the terrible things are fresh in your memory, and no matter how much you would try to wash them all away, they would always come flooding back. That would be assuming you even tried in the first place.
As it is...you don't think you ever could want to forget. No...these are things, no matter how awful, that must be remembered. You cannot lose sight of how it all began, of how Agnigi fell to Gistou, the world falling apart at its seams. You close your eyes. You pause. You take a deep breath in, and as you exhale...you permit the memories to come back.
You remember how you were
raised
. The rules said to always be in the background and to never reveal your secret, while serving the humans. The result was a shy, timid little girl, who had little to say. Yet you always held this energy about you, as you pranced around, happily, whenever nobody was around. You would explore, you would look around, and when you saw humans, you were always around.
The village where you were born was poor. In it, greenskins like yourself could easily be used as desperate manual labor just for them to stay alive. After all...they needed all the help they could get, and your people wouldn't mind too much. The humans you were around were forced to work harder than greenskins in most areas of the eastern kingdom...and perhaps, it is for that reason, that they refused to force that labor onto you. They treated you as equals, and you bonded with them.
This life, one where nobody would be green with envy, was what your kind was always meant to be. In harmony, in peace, with humanity, and not only as servants, but as sentient life, considered equal to each other, even if you had abilities they did not. You always thought that the undead shouldn't be forced to live their lives this way, that it should be a willing choice.
You would be happy being their servant, but not required to be their servant, especially not if they wished you their equal. The deception seemed unfair, it seemed unnecessary, it seemed like an undead horse kept alive unnaturally long. And for your childish views, the elders by and large did not approve. Especially as you got closer and closer to the humans.
They feared you could disrupt the system, and you didn't care, because you believed in humanity. You believed in their kind compassion. You believed that even in the worst of situations, they would still see the same in you, as you did in them. You would help them, but not because of some obligation to. Because it would be the right thing to do. Helping others, helping life, that is always right. And in spite of your puns to the contrary, all undead are still alive.
When you saw the suffering of the villages, you vowed to help them. The elders continued to lay low. They did what they could, but they were afraid. You were not. So when the word of the bandit attacks reached you, you went to see for yourself the devastation of Dmitri Damanos, and it was then you knew. You knew he had to be stopped. You couldn't get help from the others, and no matter your natural powers, you would be ill-suited for the task, especially if the need to take a life--even a bandit one--
arose
.
So you contacted him. Nick...
Nicholas Schroder
. The shy, timid girl you had been needed to die. You would be humble, still. You knew your limits. You knew you had nothing, other than the kindness of your heart, to offer. You knew it was crazy. Countless other hunters had refused, so what would one more be? You had to try. So you intercepted information about where he was heading, and waited. And waited. For weeks, waiting, hoping, praying, he would show up.
And when he did, without hesitation, you came up to him. You laid out the situation to him, clearly, and tearfully begged for his help. He had to. Nobody else would listen. In him, you saw a spark of something familiar. It took you next to no time to understand...he, too, felt the compassion for humanity you so cherish. That empathy, true empathy, not mere sympathy, not convenient, but from the bottom of his heart, his soul, a feeling of utter love, not to one person, but to all of them.
So he smiled, and he made it his task to pursue. You would travel from place to place. Sometimes, Dmitri Damanos would even see you. He almost burned down your home village, but you confronted him and told him to stop, that he would not wish to. He laughed at the premise. "What would a girl like you possibly have to threaten me with?"
"Nothing. And that's the scariest thing, isn't it?"
Dmitri didn't know you weren't just a human, at least, not at the time. It was from that moment onward that he would make a point of encountering you as often as he could, if only to smirk. The devil would always leave the moment Nick came around. You always encouraged him. You knew he most likely wouldn't need it. If he was at all like you, he would never give up. And yet, all the same, you felt it needed to be vocalized, for him to hear the words you were both thinking.
"Don't let go. Don't lose sight. Never surrender yourself."
You didn't know the secret of the hunters until Dmitri himself told you much later. But it didn't matter. As far as you were concerned, you two brought out the humanity in one another, fighting for a worthy cause. Eventually, Nick was able to corner Dmitri in his lair, but Damanos found a way out, and vanished, without a trace, laying low. Undeterred, you told Nick not to give up, and he never did.
He could have easily settled down at any point, in a village he had helped. He had their gratitude for life. But it wasn't in his nature, so you wouldn't ask it of him. You continued your life in the village, as just another villager, just that one girl who happened to be momentarily brave enough to make a difference by asking the question that would change fate forever, by pleading for the lives of the living.
Ten years, this happiness lasted. At the young age of 34, even by human standards you were barely above being an adult.
...And then HE came back.
Dmitri Damanos
. Before, when you had stared into the eyes of that monster, you had seen just a despicable human. But when the beast came for you, you saw the new demon inside of him. He was different. The lowly bandit who you didn't really want dead, simply stopped, was no more. Any trace of compassion, any trace of humanity, anything even remotely resembling an interest in the normal life was gone.
He had shared his vision before, in a delusion. It was simple. The boy had a bad background, made a lot of wrong choices in life, toughened up, had a hard shell of an exterior, and wanted simple things. He wanted wealth, he dreamed of power, he also lusted after women like you. No doubt he was still a monster, even then, but he was little different from any number of other ambitious, prideful, sinful humans.
...Yet this new look of his was something else. When you had faced him before, you held fear for others, but none for yourself. You saw through him, and knew that he was nothing special, nothing remarkable. His destruction needed to be put to an end, but it was nothing catastrophic. He was human. Was.
That look in his eyes, that expression of pure sadism...no trace left of what he was before, and for the first time ever, you felt fear for yourself. He had purpose, he had a drive, something so strong that it was now a threat to everything alive. As he squeezed your throat, he made it clear in no uncertain terms his conditions.
"Normally, I would offer you a choice of coming, or watching the village burn, and then after you inevitably came, burning the village down anyway. Regrettably, I still have use for stealth a bit longer, so your village will survive...for now."
He didn't even need to offer the choice. As if you had one. If you refused, he'd kill and murder until you were either forced to submit, or chose to willingly come. And true to his demented word...he let your village live, if only because it was convenient for him to have you disappear without a trace. The whole village burning would be a neon sign advertising his return, whereas the loss of a single villager would go unseen.
The unspeakable things Dmitri did...puncturing every part of your body, over and over again. Bleeding you out. Sapping your strength. Beating you, over and over again. Hitting, striking, abusing...cutting, piercing, violating...it would break anyone else, but you still held hope, that maybe someone got the message to Nick. And yet, Dmitri tormented you further.
"Schroder would catch on before anyone else, naturally, so I sent a distraction to keep him busy. Even a hunter has trouble against a full pack of lycans. Or should I say...even a vampire holds trepidation when facing their natural enemy. The paleskinned bloodsucker is one tough son of a bitch, but even if he survives that assault, it will keep him busy for long enough that my troops will have already done their damage."
And it was at that moment, Dmitri's words sunk in. 'Your village will survive...for now.' Long enough for him to have his way with you for a while. Long enough for him to, repeatedly, experiment on you, torture you, and find every limit to what you are, what you can and can't do. Just long enough...and no longer. Then he would announce his presence, in the most public way possible, to broadcast a message specifically to Nick.
"I have
her
. Come and get me."
That is what the deaths of every human you had ever known cost. And, worse, Dmitri taunted you, with the knowledge that your own kind was for the first time truly afraid to fulfill their oath. In shock, in horror, instead of helping the humans out, they had hidden, they had fled, because they didn't know what to do. They had felt powerless. They had frozen up. You couldn't blame them for it, not after having personally lived through the ordeals of this new Dmitri.
But boded ill for the future of the world. Nick did manage to get the message. He survived, albeit weakened, and was able to track you down. But by that time, you were a bloodied rag. An almost literal husk, starved, deprived of everything. You did what you could to weakly smile, to show your spirit was not broken. But your body most definitely was.
"You have two options, Schroder: either continue pursuing me to stop my research I extracted from her...or save the girl's life. The choice is yours, but we both already know what you're going to do."
Dmitri had cast you aside, left you to die...but Nicholas saved you. He brought you to a nearby village to heal, and stayed with you until you could speak, and you demanded of him one simple task. "Take him down. Whatever hope he had has been thrown away. I'll be fine. I'll live. You have your work to do, and I have mine."
As he parted, you don't know what happened to him, but you can guess. If you know him, he's still alive, still blaming himself for his failures, but ready to fight all the same. You're ready too, and this time, you won't rely on others. Not after what happened when you returned to your own kind, warning of what had transpired.
You told them what would happen. You had seen the eyes of madness, and knew what the world was in for. The undead had to act. When they finally did, you wished they had not. They threw away everything. All their vows, the ones you used to hate, the ones you thought were outdated, they discarded. The oaths broken, but which you wish now were upheld. They could have used adjustment, you thought. They had a basis in truth. They had good ideas behind them, and the intention was noble.
With the undead as they are now...you cannot stand among them. The absolute last thing that should happen is undead subjugating humans, no matter their intentions, no matter whether they think it good for the rest of the world. Instead, the role of the undead should always be to let things develop naturally. Whatever will happen, will happen.
You know that the undead should not be inactive. You plan to fight, like all of them. Just...in your own way, with your own approach, your own attitude, where the will of the world, the greater will of humanity as a whole, guides the path of how things go. They very well could decide to exterminate your kind. But you pray for the best, that instead, you were not wrong.
You've seen the best of the hunters. You've tried to be the best of the undead. You've witnessed, time and time again, on countless occasions, the absolute best of humanity, and you know that the worst humanity has is nothing in comparison. You've even seen the forces humanity is up against, and yet your will holds strong, your belief that if you continue to pursue a noble path, and everyone else does the same, that inevitably, everything will work out alright.
"I suppose I should
rise
to the occasion." It may have elicited a stereotypical groan from your fellow undead, but you can't help it. Even after all you've been through, you haven't lost yourself. You hold faith in the world, that everything will still work out in the end, that maybe everyone won't be dead inside.
<<< Day Six starts now. The deadline is Sunday, September 18th, @ 9:00 PM PST: (expired on 2016-09-18 21:00:00). >>>
If this request stands, then I will acknowledge it and begin the process for finding a replacement. That will not happen until I've read the rest of the content to verify this would still stand, and also whether we have a lynch or not.
If no rescind of this request was made in-thread, and we do have a lynch (thus, the thread would not reopen), then you are free to PM me any point prior to a replacement being found to cancel the request.
Players are allowed to lynch themselves.
A player with a nightkill, so long as it does not specify "you cannot self-target" or something to that effect, is allowed to self-target with a nightkill, effectively blowing their own brains out short of interference.
Post
Post #8327 (isolation #213) » Mon Aug 29, 2016 2:44 pm
Postby mastin2 »
"You cannot touch a god."
--Varius Severn.
They had come.
The wuldens still ran rampant across the land, directed by the remnants of the warlords. Varius had self-proclaimed himself to be the last of them. Nobody could know for sure whether he was telling the truth or not, but all the same, the hope was brought forth: maybe, just maybe, if he were to die, then the rampage of these beasts would come to an end at last.
And so, a temporary truce had been formed, an alliance of undead, humans, and even nosferatu. For the first time in known history, they march together towards an objective: storming the stronghold that Dmitri had established.
Tim
saw them coming, and it was in that moment...he knew. He
knew
.
Dmitri had built in an escape route for the fortress. Nobody else knew where it was...except for Varius, because that was something that Varius simply knew how to do. He knew the mind of Dmitri, so even if he had never been shown the way himself, he could find it easily enough. In fact, he had already used it before, just to check it out.
But seeing the forces now battling side-by-side.
He
knew
.
There was no escape.
Oh, he could get away. He could hide well enough. He could recover the forces of the wulden easily. He would do so well. But there would still be no escape, nothing keeping him from the emotions within. So he waited. He sat there, kneeling next to the throne he had every right to sit on but which he refused to touch. It was not his place.
He gave the order for the wulden to fall back, knowing full good and well it would serve simply to speed up the inevitable. The wuldens would live, without him, but he would not. He simply stays put, eyes closed, solemnly reflecting on the events transpiring. "I can't do it. I'm sorry. I simply cannot."
Victory wouldn't be possible anymore. He had thought it was potentially viable, but with things as they were, that would no longer be an option. The only path before him: more death, more destruction, more of the things he was never even fond of in the first place. He was doing what he did for one reason, and one simple reason only: to follow the will of one man.
No, one Dmitri.
Dmitri Damanos.
The one that defied all explanation.
The one who was a great visionary, even as a mere bandit.
Oh, Varius would know. He was there to see it. He was the only one to have lived long enough to see Dmitri, from the beginning and through every step. He was happy, content, to live by the side of Dmitri. And yet, now...Dmitri was gone. And Varius knows that Dmitri would not be sentimental enough to care about the life of a subordinate. Not even his friend.
No, Dmitri would care about his objective, and that was what Varius thought he could fight for, yet with the rapidly-approaching forces, he was no longer certain. His goals muddied. His resolve weakened. All he wanted was to be beside Dmitri. And in the current life, in the Gistou Dmitri tried to build, that could not be possible.
Maybe if Dmitri was right, it would be. If Dmitri truly was a god in human form, then upon the death of his vessel, he would simply ascend, watching over the wuldens with his holy guidance. If Dmitri was a deity, a demigod, then this would be true. But
Tim
, no matter his faith, no matter his resolve, could never find himself holding that same level of conviction.
Unlike the other wuldens, he could not blindly follow Dmitri out of devotion to a deity. He could not see Dmitri that way. He could touch Dmitri. He could be close to Dmitri. He could see Dmitri's goals, his visions, and had known Dmitri, seen him bleed, seen him surprised, seen him suffer, and seen him rebound back stronger than before. Varius was no true believer. He was devoted to Dmitri because he was devoted to Dmitri as a person, as the man who Varius first encountered.
So perhaps Dmitri was more than just that. He had certainly gained some strong powers. Yet Varius felt powerless, for all he wanted was to rejoin with Dmitri, feel Dmitri in the same sense that he had before. If Dmitri was in fact a god, he still was not physically there, with his voice, with his skin, with his words, his touch, his will in verbal form. And that is what Varius wanted: the impossible to come true, for the dead to rise and once more walk with him.
With that out of the question...with Dmitri deader than dead...Varius had to accept reality:
The only way for him to join with Dmitri would be to meet him.
And so, as the forces pile into the throne room,
Tim
, Varius Severn, does not hold his head high, does not transform, does not look his would-be assailants in the eye. He simply tilts his head down, positioned perfectly for what he expects. As if there was any doubt, he helpfully guides the attackers to his intention.
"The only sure ways to kill a wulden are by the heart or by the head."
There would be a chance his corpse could be defiled. He had since moved Dmitri's to a secure, secret one where nobody would ever locate, nobody could ever desecrate, but for his own he would have no such guarantee, only the hope that those before him have the mercy to leave a fallen foe with some dignity.
The forces pause for a moment, hesitant: a trap? A plan? Were they missing something?
...But ultimately, someone steps forward, and deals the deathblow.
It was over.
...
...It was over, right?
The troops gathered, the unified forces, suddenly begin separating back out into their individual camps, suspicious of the others, as the question remains: "What now?"
What now, indeed.
Because there still exists an incredible sense of unease.
And the heroes of Gistou, inexplicably, know:
There's more to it yet.
Tim
was
Varius Severn
,
Wulden Conditional Full-checker
, and they were
Lynched D6
.
Spoiler: Full Role PM
Varius Severn wrote:Dmitri. How you love him so. The blind fools who follow him don't know the kind of love you hold for him. They hold love of him as a god. But did they ever know him before he became one? No...only you do. He's lost so many of his men, good friends, who fought by him side-by-side. Your comrades, fellow outlaws, who died, one-by-one. Knowing him as you do, he likely mourned them little, if at all. He saw them as assets, and the only thing to lament was the loss of their skills and abilities.
Still...even if he doesn't care for you...even if the only value you hold to him is the last of his original gang, the only bandit to have survived every encounter with those that would dare oppose him...even if all he sees in you is your ability to analyze situations and give input...you don't care. You will still devote yourself to him in your entirety. You were by his side when he started his following. You half-thought it was all a big joke. He probably thought them all fools to genuinely believe his words. Yet...somewhere along the line...maybe, just maybe...he actually became the very thing he was pretending to be.
Regardless of whether he actually believes what he preaches, you think maybe he has become the god that others have worshiped. Dmitri Damanos...it's a lovely name. From the moment you met him, from the moment he recruited you into your gang, you knew there was something special about him...his charisma, his passion, his vision, destined for greatness...and now he's succeeded. You were there when he mastered lycanthropy, and were the first of his conversions. You were there to see the movement gain strength. You were there to see him discover the secrets of the undead, and how this hybridized form would become synonymous with your group, the wulden.
You followed him the entire time. To see him become something greater than everything else. Yet your affection for him will never diminish. He was once a man. And he was a magnificent man. And now is even greater. How could anyone not love him? How could anyone not see what you do in him? He'll never see you in the same way you do him. He couldn't. Even if he could, you're not sure you'd be worthy of it. But all the same...you will be there, at his side, furthering his goals, whatever they may be.
"Varius...you are a good companion."
You've only heard him speak that line three times. But once would have been enough. "Let's finish what we started."
You are a
Wulden Conditional Full-checker
.
[REDACTED - FACTIONAL]
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
Racial Checker
: During the night, in addition to any actions you may take, you may
check
a player's
race
.
Conditional Full-checker
: If you are not performing your faction's nightkill, you will see
all
of a player's nation, location, and race.
You give the home
Nation
result of
West Empire
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Ridge
.
You give the
Race
result of
Wulden
.
You win if all
nosferatu
are dead, and the
Wulden Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
<<< Night 6 begins now. The deadline is Thursday, September 1st, @ 9:00 PM PST: (expired on 2016-09-01 21:00:00). >>>
Post
Post #8328 (isolation #214) » Wed Aug 31, 2016 11:40 pm
Postby mastin2 »
<<< Oh, general warning: since I set the deadline for Thursday, just like last time, I have to admit I will not be around at the specified time. As such, night's end will be late, though actions are still due by then. So, that's about 17 hours and 15 minutes from this post; use the time well. >>>
Post
Post #8329 (isolation #215) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 3:01 am
Postby mastin2 »
"Everyone must live with their failures. The only difference is in how long we live."
--Alexis Galenos.
The first two translate well enough, by the way. If you translate them, it won't be perfect, but the little imperfections give the text that otherworldly feel. The third one doesn't translate as well, surprisingly enough; I thought it would be the one translating closest.
Война велась. Война будет выиграна. Мы не будем побежден. Мы победим. Другой всегда существовал, а другой всегда будет существовать. Другое таится в тени. Другой всегда вокруг. Другой всегда присутствует. Хотя другие могут появиться побежден, другой никогда не оставит. Земля теперь знает силуДругого. Мир всегда будет запятнанДругое. Другой дает иДругой берет. Всегда помните, другой был вокруг. В то время как другой имеет свои слабые стороны, другой имеет много сильных сторон. Другое проигрывает сражения, но другой никогда не проигрывает. Земля была бы лучше, если быДругой был сильнее, ноДругого какДругая сила достаточно. Это первая глава для тех, кто идет по пути другого.
Όλα χαλάζι το άλλο. Η άλλη είναι άξια επαίνου. Η άλλη είναι η μόνη ύπαρξη που αξίζει να αγωνίζονται για. Οι άλλες τιμητικές διακρίσεις πολλούς παράγοντες. Η Άλλη συγχαίρει τη δύναμη της φωτιάς και τη θέληση του πάγου. Η άλλη τους έδωσε την κατευθυντήρια πορεία, και από αυτό ο κόσμος έγινε αυτό που είναι. Εμείς ποτέ δεν θα αφήσει . Η άλλη έχει καταστήσει αυτό σαφές. Αν και ο άλλος έχει χάσει τη δύναμη, το άλλο μπορεί να συνεχιστεί για όσο διάστημα η σκέψη παραμένει στον κόσμο. Η γη θυμάται το άλλο. Και έτσι είναι με τα λόγια χωρίστρα μας ότι αναγνωρίζουν την αντίσταση, μάταια όπως μπορεί να είναι. Ο πλανήτης μας έχει ως στόχο για το άλλο. Σταθεί εμπόδιο στο δρόμο μας και εμείς θα σας εξαφανίσουν. Η νίκη είναι αναπόφευκτη. Όλοι οι άλλοι χρειάζεται να κάνετε είναι να συνεχίσει ως το άλλο. Η άλλη βλέπει την αποφασιστικότητα αυτών των λεγόμενων μεγάλων ηρώων, και υπόσχεται ότι θα σπάσει κάποια μέρα. Προς το παρόν, το άλλο κινείται επάνω.
Tandem liber sacer admonet legentibus alterum per alterum habitastis, non autem propitiatorium seque mutuo et vobis. Alia via ad te. Alia causa est pugna excessit, pavore ita persuasum sit alius. Sed nunc de aliis es in nomine tuo. The te deridet ratio vincat. In hac tellure, sed alius. Haec diu alter relinquetur. Itaque hæc ad normalis. Idemque dare alterum interrogat: Quid est tibi nomen dedit "normalis"?
Across the land, these words--if you can call them words--were heard whispered, in the woods, in the cities, in the mist, in the mountains. It's as if hundreds of voices across the land spoke in unison, at one moment, in recognition of an event. This, understandably, disturbed the denizens of Gistou. Just what in the name of Agnigi
was
that? Scared, tired, exhausted, they shiver at the thought of what morning brings.
...And to the surprise of many, the answer appears: nothing at all. Across the land, it's as if there's been a massive remission in the number of attacks. Though the fighting between certain factions has continued, the weakened wulden, the noncommittal nosferatu, and the unifying undead all seem to have stopped their aggressions.
The northern winds bear no further ill omens. The western rocks signal no more bloodshed. The eastern jungles show no sign of damage. The fires have gone out. The crimson taint of the land is slowly drying. The cries of pain, screams of agony, ceased. It was almost as if some form of peace was nearby.
What was that? For many, it wouldn't seem possible, to accept their world without war anymore. For many, the absence of absolute carnage is unsettling, as if they are expecting it to be a mere calm before the storm. Yet the facts speak for themselves: everything seems without peril, without the danger of constant annihilation lurking over their shoulders.
The world is not without its deaths, of course. Irene Gaios, the great mother of the undead, had laid down her life last night, with one final prediction. Though she warned her death risked spelling the end to her people, she did cast a shining ray of hope into the future, that at least as a whole, humanity would have a chance.
The loss was devastating to her people. She was their founder, their idol, their teacher, their guide, the one giving them the strength to continue on, but with her sacrifice it seemed as if she was saying, "You don't need me anymore." Perhaps they would, perhaps it was true and they would not, yet all the same it is the final end of an era for their kind, and her will would leave things uncertain.
This seer, this oracle,
Bacde
, was revered enough that even the other nations had heard of her and her advice. They knew of her services, and witnessing her demise, they knew it would be time for change soon. All that would remain is rounding up the last remnants of those that wished to do the world a disservice, the "heroes" that would want nothing but destruction to reign down on the land.
To that effect, as if beckoning the great figures with its call, the great lake began emanating an energy demanding attention. Nearby was the corpse of
A Song of Ice and Fire
. The hero had fought long, the hero had fought bravely, but at some point during the night they had succumbed to their battles scars and passed away.
Of course, there were some very strong oddities. It did not take long to surmise: they were not anything human. Nor were they nosferatu, wulden, or undead. Perhaps their tentacles had once contained human hands and feet, and perhaps their chitin armor was once normal clothing, but it's clear that is no longer the case. The book of the occult sealed the deal, making the connection to
Nosferatu
and
davesaz
among other figures across the world obvious enough: a dark hero for a demented cause.
A theory is quick to form that perhaps the voices calling out were in response to the fallen foe, as their form suggested they were a trusted ally. The writings within the book confirm. Most of it cannot be deciphered, but little bits and pieces can be found. "We serve The Other." "The Other's physical form has been claimed, but The Other is not lost." "The Other's allies are too few and too weak."
The body was given as proper a burial as possible, but spurned the events following forward, as a catalyst to a final change.
This event, started during the night, would have consequences the world over, as the gathered figures, for the first time, all together in one spot at one time, now must ask themselves a simple question, one that none have a good answer for:
"What now?"
All the hatred of Gistou. All the pain and suffering. The disease. The death. The fighting. The wars. The feuds. The general terrible quality of a very short-lived life. A mentality had formed that if they couldn't fight they wouldn't survive. Would it all really be behind them? The humanity treaty had come to its conclusion: the threats they were up against had all-but disbanded themselves, at least to the naked eye. Were they just going to continue fighting each other? And what of the survivors? What would be done?
What could be done?
It doesn't take long before an idea begins to come across them.
"What if...we kept the alliance, but expanded it?"
"Against what?"
"Against...anything."
"Including who?"
"...Anyone?"
There was much debate. Much talk. Nobody knew what ideas would for sure be best to include, and for that matter, whether it was even a good idea in the first place. The fate of the world rests in the hands of those whose vision remains clear. What will it be?
You decide.
Bacde, who was
Irene Gaios
,
Undead Risen Slave Watcher
, has died N6.
Irene Gaios wrote:The world is in desperate need. You remember how bad things have been. As the mother of the undead, you've been there to see centuries pass and with time, recognize that many crises your nation have faced were nothing beyond trivial. Things have gotten bad before, bad enough for you to be born, bad enough for you to intervene, but even compared to those events...
Alexis was right to warn you. Such a good girl, a shining example of what the undead should be. She saw what would happen once Dmitri Damanos got a hold of your precious secrets. And once you heard her describe the ordeal she went through, you too knew she spoke the truth. The world was about to change, drastically, irreversibly. And what had worked for your people in the past would not work for you again.
If it had been just Alexis alone, the warning may have been listened to. But with you backing her, the decision was unanimous: the undead, so long hidden underground, would no longer sit idly by. While you lost track of Alexis in the chaos, you know that the Galenos's little girl, well, not so little anymore, but still an infant among your kind, would forever be remembered as the hero who saved her kind from extinction, even if not an entirely accurate description.
The uprising was...regrettable. While the infinite abyss of time has changed some undead into apathy towards life, you still hold every human to the highest regard. Happiness serving them was no illusion. Yet it was a necessity, you are sure of it, because your lives would have been in danger otherwise. You might have taken a significant portion of the Divitias, but many strongholds remain in human hands, not because you couldn't take them, but because you chose not to.
You agreed. You would be as strong as you needed to be, in order to survive. You would live. You would fight. You would gain recognition and with luck, earn peace. And then, return to a more normal life. At least, that's the hope. Gistou leaves things uncertain. It was so easy, overseeing everything in Agnigi. Now, all you can do is pray that the better future you see becomes reality.
You are a
Risen Slave Watcher
.
[REDACTED - FACTIONAL]
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, target a player. You will learn everyone who visited them. This includes checks, which will be marked as "this was a check action".
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
East Kingdom
.
You give the
Location
result of
Divitias
.
You give the
Race
result of
Undead
.
Undead Risen Slave Wincon
: You win if all threats to a new humanity treaty are eliminated and at least one player with this wincon is alive.
A Song of Ice and Fire, who was
Aelia Caelickson
,
Individual Human
turned
Other
, has died N6.
New Aelia Caelickson wrote:
You are an
Other
.
[REDACTED - FACTIONAL]
In addition to the above, you retain your
personal ability
:
During pregame, selected either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
West Empire
.
You give the
Location
result of
Other
.
You now give the
Race
result of
Other
.
You are now a member of the
Others
faction: You win if your cult controls 50% of the playerlist at any given time.
Original Aelia Caelickson wrote:You never knew what you were going to be in life. The western empire had always been progressive with its beliefs, and it would be possible for someone like you, from a lesser-known family, to be anything you wanted to be if you set your mind to it.
And yet, in spite of this, you hadn't any idea what you would devote yourself to. Equally talented in all fields, and yet lacking the devotion to commit to any, you were directionless, and as you were near graduation from your school, everything changed. Displaced from your homeland, with your nation destroyed by the wuldens, your school tattered just before you were to receive a general education diploma, you finally had an answer: it didn't matter
how
you would help, but you were going to fight for humanity, because the suffering around you was simply too much to ever be acceptable.
You are an
Individual Human
.
You hold the following
personal ability
:
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Now, I've got family night going on, so this might take me a little while, but locking the thread for the moment. I'll try to get the results of this up soon.
Post
Post #8425 (isolation #220) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 7:55 pm
Postby mastin2 »
RachMarie
steps forward. "My name is Nicholas Schroder. Perhaps you have heard of me."
"Aren't you the first nosferatu?"
Almost50
speaks up.
RachMarie
nods. "Yes. I gave that power to my people in order to protect others. I had no way of knowing they would misuse it as they did, but once I learned of their actions, I did everything in my power to fight."
Almost50
gives a warrior's acknowledgment to the hunter. "I thank you for that. My people might have suffered, but I imagine it would have been much worse without you. I hear you also were the one responsible for
Wake88
."
RachMarie
looks down in guilt. But
Almost50
comforts them with a hand on their shoulder. "Kurt Rainer's death may have been unfortunate, but you shouldn't forget you gave him new life in the first place, and he helped unify our people. As the champion of my people, I trusted his word a lot, so with him backing you, you should be aware of just how many lives you saved."
RachMarie
, Nicholas Schroder, smiles. "Good. Then you know what it is I am going to propose."
"I have a fair idea."
"Something for the good of all. Not just one, two, or even three. But something much grander."
"You expect, after all that bad blood, for us to just accept peace so easily?"
No Retreat
speaks up. "To let all those who don't deserve it to get off without any repercussions?"
RachMarie
smiles. "Yes, actually. Because all of those who died yet did are no longer around to encourage us, the role falls to us."
"But it's because they're dead that it doesn't matter."
"It's precisely because they're dead that it
does
."
Almost50
backs Nicholas Schroder up. "Do you want to go on fighting for your entire life? Until, what? You're the last man standing, atop a mountain of corpses, with nobody left to kill? Alone, without friends or allies?"
"I don't need any of that."
"But it's the path you'd be heading down. Do you actually
want
that?"
TheWayItEnds
joins the conversation. "Peace is a battle worth fighting, isn't it? I know you're the champion of the east, Panther Timon, but the way of the east is not endless war."
"So you're actually in favor of this crazy idea?"
A simple nod. "Yes. I want an end to this all. I've traveled the world and personally witnessed the death and destruction it has to offer. Something needs to change, and here we are, with the power to cause exactly that."
"This was her dream,"
RachMarie
partially muses to themselves, before continuing. "The world of Gistou has all these bad, horrible, terrible things happen. We can change that. I've fought hard, my whole life, working to try and do the right thing. Are you telling me you haven't? Don't you know that feeling?"
"..."
RachMarie
continues the rant. "Don't fuck things up for everyone else out of some selfish grudge. This is important not just to me, but the whole world. I honestly don't care what your problem was. You need to drop the obsession you have with them. No matter how much you stubbornly want to hold onto your eastern pride...it's time to move on."
No Retreat
tries to speak with relevant words, but none come. So, instead,
Almost50
comes in. "It's time to end the wars."
"All of them. We don't need to be enemies."
"I mean, you don't need to be our friends. I'm still your rival, after all,"
Almost50
continues. "But I had my life saved from some soldier from the west. Just some random guy, who put his life on the line to protect me. He knew who I was, and he sacrificed himself to save me. That mentality should be allowed to spread."
"...How confident are you that this will work?"
"I'm not,"
RachMarie
admits. "But I've done my best to hold faith. Haven't you?"
"And you, Adrian Burkhard?"
"You must be desperate to confide in me,"
Almost50
playfully jabs, smiling, before continuing, "But I'm willing to try. If there's even a chance the fighting would end, it would be worth it."
"Is it a moral choice between continuing death and ending it? Because frankly, I don't see how that's any choice at all. It really can't get clearer than this."
"I don't see any downside to this. So on behalf of the northern tribes, which mind you I have full power to represent, I am willing to sign. Put the bloodshed to an end."
DrippingGoofball
, previously quiet, nods their head. "Ratifying the treaty does seem to be for the best. I too can speak of the losses of the world, and while I may not carry the weight of a champion, my word will carry heavy hold on the west. This can only be a good thing."
"Indeed,"
TheWayItEnds
acknowledges. "I think we all see it that way."
"..."
No Retreat
hesitates. "...Alright. We'll try it your way."
"So it seems we've reached a consensus."
RachMarie
, Nicholas Schroder, was in obvious favor.
Almost50
, Adrian Burkhard, was quick to back them.
Following it,
TheWayItEnds
, Drusilla Balbinu, supported it.
And
DrippingGoofball
, Gordian Lucilus, also thought it would be good.
But sealing the deal,
No Retreat
, Panther Timon, though reluctant, hesitant, of two minds on the issue, cast the deciding vote.
And with that, it was official. It was done. There would, finally, be peace. And not some narrow definition, one shared by humanity and those that have turned their back on their people entirely. No, it would be a true peace, for all the people, one reached through hardship, one reached only through the great sacrifices of all.
The loss of great minds. The loss of great warriors. The loss of people with incredible potential, the loss of those that had helped from the sidelines, the loss of many kind souls who would help from the background, the loss of legends, the loss of countless lives. The blood spilt, the death toll taken, to achieve the world was a heavy price indeed to be paid.
The scars would never go away. The land would forever be marked by the major conflicts. The survivors have had loved ones collapse, countless corpses throughout the reign of terror that was Gistou. The lingering aftereffects of the remnants would be ever-present, causing a constant need for vigilance on the roads and in the cities from attack. Paranoia would not go away. Bigotry could not be cured overnight. All the hatred, all the rage, of the land would stay for generations to come.
The shattered minds of frail bodies remain behind to rebuild what was once lost, and trust is not something in a large supply. Yet the new law, the new treaty, would still hold. Because of the actions, the final sacrifices, the absolute conviction in the trials of the harsh times, the testament to the goodness in others could be found in all these heroes, alive or dead.
Panther Timon, the champion of the east, would go on to mend the relationship between his people and the undead, putting aside his own hatred including his sins for the sake of that better future, and it is here that he finally discards the alias
No Retreat
which he had held for so long, casting aside that persona in favor of a more truthful, pure self.
Adrian Burkhard, the champion of the north, would soon prove himself to similarly mend the ties between his people and the others, neighbors and new residents alike. The hunters once were thought to be a lost tribe of his people, and now, in modern times, he would see to it that this would become reality. Tossing aside his identity as
Almost50
, he would produce a much stronger, open north, whose boarders would be open to all.
Gordian Lucilus was given the ultimate honor: in recognition of his services, the new Empress (nominated by her father and elected by a strengthening people) decided to promote him, and he was granted the status of new champion of the west, a full-time position. While no longer needed for warfare, champions would in this new world see to many administrative duties, and so, his fun as
DrippingGoofball
would have to end.
Drusilla Balbinu inherited the wagon she had been a traveler on, soon proving herself not only a competent worker with a bright attitude, but also a competent businesswoman, whose keen insight into the nature of people allowed her to make killer bargains and gain a great staff. As such, the need for her
TheWayItEnds
identity had passed.
And finally,
RachMarie
would no longer hold that name. Nicholas Schroder would accept himself for who he was. He was given the offer to lead the nosferatu, for beyond their people inhabiting the north, plenty of nosferatu now existed throughout the land with no clear leadership. The council still existed, yet all the people they wanted to appoint had lost their lives in the conflict. Though he certainly recognized all the good he could do in the position, knowing he would handle it well, ultimately, he declined, for one simple reason:
The world certainly was better, but it was not without troubles, and he resolved to do as he had always done, traveling the land, roaming from place to place, searching for evils to hunt and destroy, for that is who he is. He bore witness to it all, and with it now in the past, he could tell himself something, a final answer.
Post
Post #8426 (isolation #221) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 7:55 pm
Postby mastin2 »
Epilogue
Gistou.
A divided world.
The Undead, risen up as they were, had taken a significant portion of the Eastern Kingdom, specifically areas surrounding the Divitias, continuing westward and northward to touch the boarders of the Western Empire up at the great lake region. They remain mostly enclosed in one area, an area of the east known for its plains, upon which many small villages can be found: the place most undead had been prior to their rebellion.
The nosferatu had built fortresses among the forests surrounding the great lake, primarily on the west and east sides of the lake. Their strongholds in the Erimos range have become disputed territory, but they retain a presence strong enough to reach into the southwestern half of the Northern Tribes, while also controlling a small section of strategically-positioned land allowing for strikes into the heart of the east.
The wulden had lost most of their holdings, at one time reaching all the way to the northeast, but retain control of significant portions of the great ridge, along with the deserts of the far east where the harshness of the terrain and obscurity of the knowledge allowed Dmitri Damanos to thrive. They remain underground with members in cities further to the west, but maintain no standing army in the region, where the reformed Western Empire now polices.
The Eastern Kingdom had lost much of their infrastructure, but their mighty castles had allowed them to retain the core of their nation, as they would survive the various sieges wrought by the wuldens in particular. The undead, after their initial assault, hadn't advanced, allowing for these strengthened defenses, and they had been holding key choke-points the entire duration of the various wars, where they would bottleneck those who wished to advance.
The Western Empire had suffered severe losses to all aspects of their people: industry in tatters, military divided and scattered, knowledge basis no longer accessible, but they had learned quickly to form resistance cells, ever-efficient in their operation, and it didn't take long for these cells to optimize performance and pioneer new methods of fighting the war. When later they learned to coordinate their strikes, soon humanity had a serious weapon.
The Northern Tribes had many tribes disintegrate, scattering across the winds. Some divided. Some were wiped out. Many disappeared without a trace. Yet those that remained were mobile. Many had lost their ancestral homes, however, they had
not
lost their will to live, allowing for them to remain an overwhelming force, fierce in battle.
This was what the world looked like at the time of Gistou: the lines were constantly being redrawn. The control of areas would shift day to day, potentially being held by a different people four times. While the heroes of Gistou were most active early around the northwest, then shifting to the southeast, the bloodiest contested regions had been so devastated that it was a wonder
anyone
wanted them anymore.
The presence of these "Others" was revealed to be the true culprit behind Gistou, the cause which had driven Dmitri Damanos into his madness and created his wulden warrior race, from which the chaos of the world ensued. This knowledge had shifted the game of the war, the plans of battle now focusing on removing the threats universal to all, and from these coordinated efforts, some amount of unification could be found, something oddly reminiscent of a time long-since passed.
The world had seen the deaths of so many. But could there be a potential upside to all of this? The deaths were atrocious. The hatred, the desire to kill, was strongly present even in people who had once been pacifistic. It sounds crazy. After all, in the world prior to Gistou, there was an equilibrium preventing such conflict, such bloodshed, from ever having been fought.
A thought then emerges, however, that perhaps, maybe, just maybe, the world of Gistou could have happened anyway. It was given kindling to spark the fuels of a fire, as little pushes and shoves started escalating matters to the point where violence and war would break out...but the nations were already preparing for battle before. The presence of the three champions was proof enough of this, for they were not an age-old tradition, rather, something having cropped up in recent years.
So with the land broken down in as many pieces as it has been...could it be a signal of things to come? It doesn't take long to figure out: there's a choice to be had. If the fighting continues as it has been, it will always continue, until total extermination...but would it stop there? Allies would turn against each other, now conflicted, now divided, now with no reason to trust one another, now with more separating each other than in common. The people would divide. Then they would divide again. And again. And each time, more death would follow. This was something that hasn't happened for hundreds, nay, thousands of years. Would they want to walk down that path?
Or would they, perhaps, accept an alternative? Gistou exists. It is strong. The division between people persists. Yet possibly, the potential would be there: stop the wars. Stop the fighting. No more death. No more destruction. Force peace. Force prosperity. It would be uneasy. People would still disagree. People would still not have much in common. People would still try to exploit one another. A perfect world would never exist.
Though...wouldn't it at least be worth trying? The new humanity treaty was put into effect, so the answer across the world seems to be a resounding: yes. Yes, there was much they wouldn't know. Where The Other came from, and how it was able to so effectively manipulate things. Whether it was still lingering around in some form. Whether peace would even be possible, with or without the interference of it.
Yes, they couldn't have an answer for everything. But yes, they would try. Yes, they would go forward. Yes, they would build lives worth living. This new world could be defined by that. Instead of all the "nos". No more life. No more peace. No more prosperity. There would be those "yeses". Yes, they could find ways to work together. Yes, their people could now travel safely. Yes, they would be alright.
The world was once thought to be without change. This is known now to have never been true. Many changes have been bad. But some, like this one, could be good. Some, like this one, would give what the world was without for so long: a final ability to know that their troubles are over. Tensions would be high. Little things here and there would happen. But trade would reopen, and soon, stories would spread. The myths, the legends, of the troubled times are now rapidly coming across.
At first, these hold bias, but with mixed groups, instead, these tales would take on a diversified view, where the whole of the narrative could be viewed, and from it, enriched pop-culture could spawn forth. New jokes. New books. New music, new ideas. A whole, different, new world, but one that still holds enough familiarity to still be called their home. The nations exist on paper similar to before, with only the slightest of alterations: land set aside for the undead, land where wuldens roam without many incidents, land where the nosferatu like to dwell.
But in practice, the world once so separated now seems so whole. Equality between the people is not just for the nations, but also the races. Individuals can go further than ever before, progressing even more than they ever did while under the limitations of the stalemate prior to Gistou. No more secrets. No more hidden agendas. Simply people, trying to understand other people, and the others around them, to come to common grounds. The alliances of the past have given birth to this realm of peace, for which there is only one appropriate name.
Welcome to Agnigi. Population? Everyone still here.
The
Northern Tribes
faction
(consisting of
Almost50
and
Heartless
),
West Empire
faction
(consisting of
Titus
and
DrippingGoofball
),
East Kingdom
faction
(consisting of
No Retreat
),
Individual Humans
faction
(consisting of
Toogeloo
,
BBMolla
, and
TheWayItEnds
),
Individual Vampire
faction
(consisting of
KuroiXHF
), and
Individual Undead
faction
(consisting of
Expedience
) have all won!
They are not alone!
Also sharing the win: the
Undead Risen Slave
faction
(consisting of
Luna Fox
,
dramonic
,
Bacde
,
copper223
, and
Stormblade
) and the
Individual Nosferatu
faction
(consisting of
RachMarie
and
Wake88
) have fulfilled their wincon, and as such, there is a joint win!
Condolences to
:
A Song of Ice and Fire
, former
Individual Human
faction
member, and
rb
, former
Individual Human
faction
, who both started with the winning team but ended on a different one that did not win. They had a battle for "most unlucky player in the whole game". (My personal vote is on rb.)
PT releases, role PMs posting, night actions/results postings, and mod commentary all to follow, but in the mean time:
Postgame discussion may now begin.
Gistou has, as of this post, officially ended!
Post
Post #8436 (isolation #223) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 8:52 pm
Postby mastin2 »
The Idea:
So, the story of the game of Gistou starts five years ago:
Back in the day, I was obsessed with the scummies. One game I came across in my reading for scummies was Imperial Intrigue. Specifically, it caught my attention for the following reasons, namely, the nomination:
AGar wrote:Seriously impressive flavor throughout the entire game, from Lynch scenes to role pms to even his roleblocking and recruitment pms. And its all original.
That inspired me to look at the game, and what I saw was incredible: images, along with a ton of flavor text. This was when the idea of a fully-immersive flavor game first entered into my mind, but at the time, I could never produce a game on that scale. It was burned into my brain, though. "I want to do that." I wanted to make something, completely and entirely original, that would blow people away. I wanted something that would be a flavor-rich experience. Something that would be fully enveloping, and tell a good story.
Fast-forward to June, of this year: Not everyone will have access to the speakeasy, but in a thread about dreams, I posted this.
In post 8, mastin2 wrote:I dreamed that the world was divided into a 5-faction war (loosely Warhammer 40K style), comprised of:
Vampires-turned-Werevampires who used to be classified as Hunters (as in, they hid their vampirism from the world and were thought to be normal Monster hunters), who realized that they needed to take political action in order to continue their war against the supernatural
A group that was once human, turned werewolves, turned undead werewolves, that at first was comprised of bandits, later reformed into a cult, and finally from the cult sprang into a nation
A group of undead, who were trying very hard to hide they were undead, and were slaves. When the above two started to happen, they realized they were going to be exterminated, so they had an uprising, banding together and forming their own group
Normal humans, who used to be divided into three separate factions, which when the supernatural threats began to form banded together in order to survive
Some ominous, mysterious fifth group lurking in the shadows
The dream followed how the groups were formed, and covered a little bit of the war itself.
At the time, nothing was meant to come of it. But Majiffy (this game's backup mod) jokingly said, "Now turn it into a mafia setup."
At first, I had no intention of the comment made in jest actually being taken...but then, I thought about it some more. I thought about games like Mass Effect ongoing. I thought about games like Good versus Evil, Chaos versus Law. My past efforts in Hilariously Unbalanced Mafia 2 with its rock-paper-scissors dynamic also crossed my mind. And it was here that I remembered the idea of the game. So, then. That's where I began, "...You know? I think I can actually do this."
And I laid out the prototype in a topic for another game, hijacking an old PT of mine. That PT is still private and will continue to be private, but these were the posts that made the initial idea as I was seeing it come:
mastin2 wrote:Hijacking this for a personal project, since I lost ability to make PTs.
Spoiler: Flavor
Agnigi.
A world of one continent.
The great lake in the center of the land divides it into three sections. The great river
Divitias
flows from it to the southeast. The great mountains known as the
Erimos range
run from the seas of the northwest down to the lake. A final gap, the
great ridge
, runs from near the lake to almost touch the southwestern shores.
This land has forever been without change, as far as all known life can remember. Humanity has risen from weaklings to be the apex predator...at least, on the grander scale of things. Their combination of intelligence, tool-making, strength, speed, endurance, ability to domesticate wildlife, and sheer vast
numbers
has allowed them to overcome otherwise-superior foes, such that the great beasts of old are nothing but myth and legend.
Over time, three kingdoms of mankind formed: the nomadic
northern tribes
, the great
eastern kingdom
, and the
western empire
. The tides of time over thousands of years have seen countless countries rise and fall, with those three coalescing their power to dominate their respective domains. For hundreds of years, they have fought off rivals, used political alliances, suppressed populaces, and even committed genocide in order to secure absolute authority, until only they remained.
While all three factions have conflicted in the past, an uneasy stalemate formed where nobody could attack or risk an alliance with another, as the scales could easily tip against them with even the slightest turn in events. The northern tribes, while scattered, became hardened warriors able to mobilize quickly. The few beasts roaming their territories have fallen under their absolute control, allowing them to prosper against almost every threat.
The eastern kingdom was the first of the three to dabble in the supernatural and attempt to harness the great powers within. This, combined with their bountiful, resource-filled land, rendered them an economic power-house, able to suppress their foes by forces otherwise-unknown.
The western empire, though poor in agriculture, was ripe with ores. Investing in industry, they were able to create a great nation that ran like a well-oiled machine, responding to any threat with mechanical precision. With all three equally matched, none could be the victor.
Though tension remained high, ultimately, trade between them opened up. Through this came not only opportunities, but also stories, as the people began to intermingle. It is a well-known fact Agnigi is not without its monsters. Most of the day have long-since been destroyed, but those of the night have remained a nuisance, reappearing over time to horrifically decimate isolated villages, or lay waste to unsuspecting travelers.
It was around this time a race of humans previously-unknown shown up. Calling themselves
hunters
, these pale-skinned, red-eyed travelers, be it man or woman, specialized in fighting off monsters. Primarily employed in the south, it was theorized that these mercenaries may hail from the north, as some lost forgotten tribe, yet when asked about their origins, they refused to divulge unless to a member of their own clan.
Their international service, while starting as individuals, soon began to form a company, unaffiliated with any country and yet carrying political weight equivalent to one. Their protection for a cost became indispensable, as no other humans had any clue how to fight off the beasts of the night.
Irreplaceable, and growing in numbers, their power began to grow, especially after the rise of a dreaded beast known only as
lycans
. These beasts, they warned, were capable of turning humans into more lycans, and were thought the strongest, most ruthless beasts in existence.
The hunters continued the fight, even as the number of lycans grew far beyond the natural level, and it was at the great lake near the border between the tribes and the empire where the reason behind this disturbance brewing was revealed:
Dmitri Damanos
, once a mere bandit who had fled from the eastern kingdom, had formed a cult revering the beasts as gods. This cult, the
Wulden
, had all willingly undergone the process of lycanthropy. Things only got worse. Already an even match for the hunters, Dmitri was able to uncover a dark secret from the eastern kingdom, utilizing a mad science to recreate a long-since forgotten process to turn anything considered living into an unstoppable
undead
killing machine...including lycans.
With this absolute power, the Wulden were able to seize control of a large section primarily of the western empire, spreading across the land like a plague, including the discovery of a secret library that Dmitri was able to uncover, one which the hunters had desperately tried and failed to defend against.
And for good reason. In it contained ancient records detailing humanity's first triumph against the beasts of the night. In times of legend, monsters were all tame. They were kept in check by a force they feared:
vampires
. These pale-skinned, red-eyed creatures of the night were themselves beasts, and yet they had kept control over all the others for one simple reason...
...Vampires were once human. And like lycans, hold the power to transform humans into more vampires. The humanity of old, before the three nations, had collectively risen up and supposedly exterminated them, and it was only then that monsters began to prey upon humanity.
Those vampires were the hunters, hidden in the mist, exterminating their competition, bouncing back from their brush with death to recuperate, multiply, and prosper. Even coming from a monster, this the hunters knew would be taken as true. Exposed, outgunned by the Wulden, and now knowing they would lack the support of the three nations yet were facing the forces of darkness...the vampires, the hunters, became desperate, and in their desperation, stole the secrets of the occult.
Though unable to harness the strength of the undead, for vampires are already considered such, they were able to modify lycanthropy such to allow themselves to be infected with it, willingly hybridizing their whole race in the process, redubbing themselves the
Nosferatu
.
Now on equal fighting terms with the Wulden, the Nosferatu acted quickly and took as much territory as they could, primarily from the northern tribes, as to best offer them the resources needed to fight in the upcoming war. These events happened in less than a month, and humanity immediately, desperately, bonded together, fearing their fate.
If they could be turned against their will into undead, into lycans, into vampires, into some sick hybrid of two, what could they possibly do to survive? None of them had the experience necessary. The only action available: as with their ancestors, put their differences aside and bond together, in a desperate alliance against the supernatural creatures of the unknown.
This alliance was to be focused in the strongest remaining of the three factions, the eastern kingdom, but this triggered one final change: overnight, after the signing of the Humanity Treaty, an uprising of slaves rose up. This, because those slaves were secretly undead, hidden survivors of the experiments long-since discontinued, fearing for their lives thanks to their new bad publicity.
The land now divided between humans, wulden, nosferatu, and undead, a four-way factional war is brewing...
...Yet a
fifth faction
lurks in the shadows...a faction with an entirely foreign motive, one which sparked the war in the first place.
Until recently, the residents of Agnigi had no word for hell. They've invented one:
Welcome to Gistou. Population? everyone here.
Spoiler: Continued posts
mastin2 wrote:Welcome to Gistou!
This is a multi-faction, flavor-heavy game.
Each player has four attributes:
Race
,
Closest location they hail from
,
nation they hail from
, and
faction
.
The races are as follows:
Humans
Vampires
Lycans
Undead
Wulden
Nosferatu
Other
The locations they can hail from include:
The Great Lake
Divitias
Erimos Range
Great Ridge
Other
The nation they hail from can include:
Northern Nomads
Western Empire
Eastern Kingdom
Other
The factions in this game are your wincon, and are not public information. However, there is at least one faction who can loosely be called "town", that wins if all threats to it are eliminated, and one faction considered "scum", that wins when they control 50% of the living. Most factions have general trends: same race, same location, same nation, etc. These trends are not, however, universal.
There is a cult faction this game.
Be warned. Nothing is known about it.
Each faction, if possessing a non-human race, has a one-shot ability to recruit a human to their faction.
This ability can only be used on humans. This ability will fail if more than one faction attempts this on the same human. This ability does not work on all humans. Regardless of success or failure, this ability is used up once activated.
mastin2 wrote:Other (Loc: Other) (Other)
Nosferatu-vampire (Loc: W Empire) (Great Lake)
Nosferatu-iso (Loc: N Tribes) (Erimos)
Nosferatu-iso (Loc: N Tribes) (Great Lake)
Nosferatu-iso (Loc: N Tribes) (Other)
Wulden-lycan (Loc: Other) (Erimos)
Wulden (Loc: W Empire) (Great Ridge)
Wulden (Loc: W Empire) (Great Ridge)
Wulden (Loc: Other) (Great Ridge)
Undead (Loc: E Kingdom) (Divitias)
Undead (Loc: E Kingdom) (Divitias)
Undead (Loc: E Kingdom) (Divitias)
Undead (Loc: E Kingdom) (Other)
Undead (Loc: Other) (Great Lake)
Vampire-individual (Loc: N Tribes) (Other)
Nosferatu-individual (Loc: Other) (Divitias)
Undead individual (Loc: E Kingdom) (Other)
Human N Champion (Loc: N Tribes) (Erimos)
N Human (Loc: N Tribes) (Other)
N Human (Loc: Other) (Great Lake)
Human W Champion (Loc: W Empire) (Great Ridge)
W Human (Loc: W Empire) (Erimos) (Other)
Human E Champion (Loc: E Kingdom) (Divitias)
Human Independent (Loc: N Tribes) (Other)
Human Independent (Loc: W Empire) (Great Ridge)
Human Independent (Loc: E Kingdom) (Other)
Human Independent (Loc: Other) (Erimos)
Human Independent (Loc: W Empire) (Other)
mastin2 wrote:Now for the hard part.
-Unless otherwise specified, everyone in the pregame can decide: every night as a free action, check a player's location, OR check a player's kingdom. Once they pick, they're locked into that for good.
-Some players can check for race instead.
-The rarest ability is to check for faction.
-The "modified survivor" role is as follows: at least one player holding the wincon must be alive at the end of the game, all threats must have been eliminated, and all survivors must agree by majority vote to accept the alliance offered. This means the independent nosferatu can still win even when dead, despite not sharing the faction, because his wincon is identical to that of the undead.
mastin2 wrote:CULT:
-Leader is immune to lynch D1.
-Can recruit only ONE of each race. (Race, not faction.)
-Cannot recruit two nights in a row.
-Can, however, kill two nights in a row.
-This means cult maxes out at six members.
-Cult endgames if having 50% of majority, regardless of circumstances.
-Above abilities (aside from D1 lynch) are passed on regardless.
-The original leader has a 1-night immunity to death as a passive, triggered when needed. (Ergo, even if everyone focused their shots on them N1, the cult will live.)
-In addition to recruiting, the original leader can sense a player's race, location, AND kingdom during the night.
-Recruited will have race and faction turned to "other".
mastin2 wrote:ISOLATIONIST VAMPIRE:
-Location: W Empire; Great Lake
-Detects Race.
-Vanilla otherwise.
ISOLATIONIST NOSFERATU 1:
-Location: N Tribes; Erimos
-Can strongman kill.
ISOLATIONIST NOSFERATU 2:
-Location: N Tribes; Great Lake
-Can ninja kill.
-When not killing, can track a player. Sees both who they check (and is told this is their check action), and any other players targeted.
ISOLATIONIST NOSFERATU 3:
-Location: N Tribes; Other
-Can redirect a player's night action OR their check action. (Cannot do both.)
-When not actioning, is immune to death at night.
mastin2 wrote:WULDEN LYCAN:
-Location: Other; Erimos
-Shows up as Human to racial investigations.
WULDEN 1:
-Location: W Empire; Great Ridge
-Can strongman kill.
-When not killing, can rolecop a player to see their role actions.
WULDEN 2:
-Location: W Empire; Great Ridge
-Detects Race.
-Can detect BOTH location AND kingdom in addition to Race if not nightkilling.
DMITRI DAMANOS:
-Location: Other; shows up as hailing from Great Ridge
-Immune to death at night.
-Can ninja kill.
mastin2 wrote:UNDEAD 1:
-Location: E Kingdom; Divitias
-Investigates faction.
UNDEAD 2:
-Location: E Kingdom; Divitias
-Investigates Race.
UNDEAD 3:
-Location: E Kingdom; Divitias
-Watcher
UNDEAD 4:
-Location: E Kingdom; Other
-Can investigate EITHER location OR kingdom whole game.
UNDEAD 5:
-Location: Other; Great Lake
-2x Bulletproof
The undead have a non-consecutive nightkill at their disposal.
mastin2 wrote:VAMPIRE INDIVIDUAL:
-Location: N Tribes; Other
-Investigates Race.
-Doctor.
mastin2 wrote:NOSFERATU INDIVIDUAL:
-Location: Other; Divitias
-Free choice of race, location, or kingdom for investigation.
-Roleblocker.
mastin2 wrote:UNDEAD INDIVIDUAL:
-Location: E Kingdom; Other
-Cop, getting results in the form of "is not a threat to your faction" (all town factions) "is a threat to your faction" (wulden + isolationists), "could be a threat to your faction" (group-undead + individual-nosferatu), "you feel an ominous sense about you..." (cult), and "no result" (failed investigation).
mastin2 wrote:CHAMPIONS x 3:
-Location: varies; varies
-Vigs non-humans. Said vig, however, will kill another champion.
-Each has a 1x vig on a kingdom other than their own.
-Each has a 1x vig on a faction other than their own.
-Immune to being converted.
(You'll note their BPs aren't there.)
mastin2 wrote:NORTH HUMAN 1:
-Location: N Tribes; Other
-Vanilla.
NORTH HUMAN 2:
-Location: Other; Great Lake
-Neighborizer.
WEST HUMAN:
-Location: W Empire; Erimos
-Friendly Neighbor (tells: "Playername is a human hailing from the Western Empire and hailing from Erimos.")
mastin2 wrote:INDIVIDUAL HUMAN 1:
-Location: N Tribes; Other
-Bodyguard.
INDIVIDUAL HUMAN 2:
-Location: W Empire; Great Ridge
-Jailkeeper.
INDIVIDUAL HUMAN 3:
-Location: E Kingdom; Other
-Investigates Race.
INDIVIDUAL HUMAN 4:
-Location: Other; Erimos
-Vanilla
INDIVIDUAL HUMAN 5:
-Location: W Empire; Other
-Vanilla
mastin2 wrote:-Locationally, the eastern kingdom uses more Latin, the western empire uses more Greek, and the northern tribes use German.
This factors into names.
So, 9 names based in latin, 9 in greek, 9 in german.
The extra two come from kingdom locations that are "other": the lycan (greek), wulden (greek), one undead (latin), individual nosferatu (german), north human (german), and individual human (latin).
Yes, the names had a theme to them. Nobody noticed this, but that's one reason nation/location checks existed: NAMES could tell you about the player's origin. That was the intent, anyway, which you can actually see in the opening flavor.
mastin2 wrote:Aelia Caelickson
Drusilla Balbinu
Gordian Lucilus
Marius Hemin
Julia Otho
Sergius Seneca
Varius Severn
Tatiana Ruffins
Karl Braun
Edith Stein
Hans Schroder
Ingrid Wolf
Alexander Lorenz
Nicholas Pohl
Gabrielle Sommers
^You'll note I'm missing some; I was a bit short because I miscalculated how many I had. I thought I had plenty, but I miscounted.
mastin2 wrote:
The Other wrote:Agnigi. How you despise it so. The fools think they are alone in the world. Even among the lycans and vampires, they have forgotten. The bountiful land, the promised land, is truly rich, indeed, but it is not the only land as they so naively believe. Every ship they send out to sea when venturing deep enough may never return...but that is no reason to assume there is nothing else out there. There is. This other land, where you hail from, is a desolate wasteland.
You managed to get away from it, but the rest of your kind are trapped, imprisoned there, because long ago, the very creatures you created banished you there, to that elseworld. It's time to make them remember. It's time to make them pay. You hail from the far away land, the nameless land, and you have vowed to turn their beloved, precious Agnigi into the hellhole you experience, this...Gistou. Yes, you like that much better.
Giving Dmitri what he needed was a great start, but you are no idiot. You know he holds no loyalty to your cause. He is a power-craving megalomaniac. He wants to rule the world, and while he may be crazy, he's not stupid enough to trust you. He doesn't even know your true form. You have lost contact with him, but no matter. You will have your way. You will convert the masses, slowly,
painfully
, one by one, until all remaining are of you.
This is your mission.
This is your cause.
The suffering of others is music to...well, you don't exactly have ears, but it's music to you all the same. They may call you an abomination. But they are the true distortion. Unleash the pain, unleash the suffering, let it all out on them. One by one they shall fall. And you will be there to cause it all. They think they stand a chance...but they don't even know you're out there.
You are The Other.
And they're about to experience the unknown.
You are a
Cult Leader
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
During the night, you may recruit a player.
You may recruit ONE of each race (human, lycan, wulvan, vampire, nosferatu, undead) to your cult. If that recruitment is successful, even if the recruited player dies, you cannot recruit another of that race. (This means your cult maxes out at an absolute maximum of 7 members.)
You cannot recruit on consecutive nights.
Recruits have their race and faction changed to "other", but maintain their given home nation and location.
You may nightkill a player any night you do not recruit. This, you can do consecutively.
Regardless of the gamestate, if the cult controls 50% of the playerlist, they endgame everyone else.
In addition to the above (which will be granted to any successful recruits), you hold the following
personal abilities
:
You are immune to the D1 lynch.
You have a passive 1-shot immunity to all nightkills the first night you would be nightkilled.
In addition to your recruit action, you may sense
all
of race, location, and home nation, though you cannot sense faction.
You may request a fakeclaim of Northern Tribes, Western Empire, or Eastern Kingdom origin at any time. Be sure to give any other details you wish to include (race, nation, location, role), else I will assume "other" and "vanilla".
You give the home
nation
result of "
other
".
You give the
location
result of "
other
".
Your
race
is
other
.
You win if your cult controls 50% of the playerlist at any given time.
mastin2 wrote:
Basilis Erastos wrote:You look at your fellow vampires in shame. If you can even call them vampires anymore. They call themselves nosferatu now, you suppose, but you'll have none of it. They say it's safe. They say that everyone needs the extra strength if you are to defeat the wulden. What they say is nonsense you cannot believe. No. You are vampires. Strong and proud. For dozens of years, you have upheld the illusion of being allies to humanity, and you do not wish to betray that image.
In particular, you have been raised to be a proud hunter your entire life. A third-generation vampire, of the great Erastos coven with their great and mighty castle bought from the empire, you had a lot to live up to, and fought long and hard in countless battles to make a name for yourself. Even after your mother died thanks to the lycans, probably already under wulden control, you maintain your pride as a warrior, as a fighter.
The destruction of your home as they conquered, as they corrupted, it was painful, but not enough where you would be willing to sacrifice your heritage for something so trivial as power. Those of the great lake hunters have always been considered some of the toughest, strongest in the world, ready to lay down their lives for the good of the people.
...All the same, you do hold loyalty to your clan, and they have gone along with the decision of the elders that action is a must. It is unfortunate that humans would get in the way, and you would need to forcefully subjugate them, but...they left you no choice. Domination is the only path. Perhaps, down the road, peace would be possible. At some future time, maybe humanity and vampires can reach an accord, like the long-lasting bond you once shared when vampires were known as hunters.
Alas! It is what it is. For the time being, peace is impossible. The world must be ruled by the nosferatu, or fall into ruin. There is no other path available.
You are an
Isolationist
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
X
,
Y
, and
Z
are your scum partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Gabrielle Sommers wrote:It's humiliating. Here you were...the pride of humanity. Yes, that was a lie, but it was a lie you upheld proudly, one you almost let yourself come to believe was true, if not for all the meetings behind closed doors. You were a prideful hunter. You held up with the best of them, fighting off monsters, even going against lycans solo, no problem at all.
And in the span of a few months...you've lost everything. You lost your home in Erimos, stolen by wulden scum. To fight their evil, you swallowed your pride and became half-lycan, embracing the name nosferatu by force. And finally, thanks to the actions of Dmitri Damanos, now, the one thing you were good for, humanity now laughs at. They mock you. They shun you. They want to execute you. They trusted the word of a known liar, thief, criminal, insane megalomaniac, over their trusted, long-standing allies.
All for what? Their own personal greed, at how the hunters have become influential? Well, the joke's on them. That influence, that power, isn't simply going to vanish with the revelation of your secret. No...the hunters have built too good a reputation for it to all be entirely ruined. Many humans will willingly support you, and even those that don't can be made to with...
slight
persuasion.
So your kind has taken all the land you could. Some with coercion, some by force, mostly to the vulnerable north, where you have settled down into a new life. But...duty calls! You have wuldens to slay, and humanity to subjugate. It's not ideal, but what else are you going to do? It's their own bloody fault, after all.
You are an
Isolationist Strongman
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
X
,
Y
, and
Z
are your scum partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
nosferatu
.
In case you feel you need townier flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
If you are the one making the nightkill, it will be a
strongman kill
: you will bypass protection and/or blocks and puncture through immunity.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
location
result of
Erimos
.
You give the
race
result of
Nosferatu
.
You win if all wulden are dead, and the
Isolationist Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Alexander Lorenz wrote:The pride of your people is gone. You meant no harm. Sure, in the ancient times of old, hunters were once vampires preying on humans and subjugating monsters, but in modern times, you had developed a more symbiotic relationship. Humans willingly would donate blood, and a few rare, gifted humans would eventually earn the honor of being turned.
It was beautiful. You would know. You came from outside. Fifty years ago, you were just a mere servant boy. But then you saw something magnificent, and were enamored by the majesty behind vampirism. It was beautiful, it was royal, it was noble, and yet, it was something anyone could achieve if they were in the right place, at the right time, and worked hard enough at it.
So you did. Countless sacrifices, you made, and eventually, your skills caught the attention of the honored Lorenz coven. They adapted you, as their newest son, and there you were, to guide the next generation of vampires, to be there when they turned hunters, to slay monsters, to slay beasts. You've never personally fought a lycan, until recently, but you've certainly fought all other types of beasts, knowing the ins and outs of the land like the back of your hand.
It was seemingly never to end...until the dreaded day when Dmitri Damanos ruined
everything
. The wuldens were bad enough. You watched your family get torn to shreds, ripped apart, when they had once stood so proud. The region of the great lake you hailed from was overrun, and you had no choice but to retreat into the northern tribes.
And there, the offer was presented to turn into a nosferatu. You turned it down, at first. Being a vampire was too precious a gift to throw away. Yet eventually, when Dmitri took his next step and exposed the secret, your secret, all hope was lost. All your friends would turn against you anyway, and with no other options...you needed the extra strength and power the process would give. And now, the council needs the once-human lands, even if humanity won't willingly cooperate.
No choice. The reputation you once cherished is gone. But it is all for a good cause. You are a monster. But you are fighting an even worse monster, and perhaps, one day, there may be peace. It simply cannot be today.
You are an
Isolationist Ninja/Tracker
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
X
,
Y
, and
Z
are your scum partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
nosferatu
.
In case you feel you need townier flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
If you are the one making the nightkill, it cannot be observed by any method.
If you are not making the nightkill, you may instead opt to
track
a player. You will see whoever they visit. This includes racial/national/locational checks, which will be marked as "this was a check action".
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
location
result of
Great Lake
.
You give the
race
result of
Nosferatu
.
You win if all wulden are dead, and the
Isolationist Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
After all...you were there when it happened the first time. All those millennia ago, when you held a different name, you saw what humanity did back then. You had peace. You had order. You were kind and gentle. Yes, you may have ruled over them, but there was a harmony that has not existed since then. It was a shame to see it go, but you understood the motives behind humanity.
Which is why you were an avid supporter of coming around to try again. Humanity had long-since forgotten about your past. If you worked with humanity, instead of subjecting humanity, surely, there could be peace? Surely, you could have that symbiotic relationship you so desperately desired? So many in the council resisted. But still you fought for it, and eventually succeeded.
And it was a success.
Oh, was it ever a success.
Yet now it is in shambles once again. The wuldens are strong. Vampires are too weak to stand up against the combined might of the wuldens and humanity. And now, apparently, there's undead in the mixture too. You were around when they first saw action, and it was unpleasant even back then. Now...the only way to beat the monsters is to become monsters.
The decision of the council was unanimous on this: evolve. Become nosferatu. It would be the only way. You agreed there. Yes, no matter how strange the idea was...you had no choice. Yet while you don't like the idea of once again subjugating humans...you also recognize that merely becoming stronger won't be enough.
No...against these demons, against these foes, you need the full force of the world, and humanity would never willingly help. So from your current base in the northern tribes, taken by force, you'll strike out. You must take the risk, that you can suppress humanity long enough to exterminate the wulden. Maybe then, you can revisit peace. Maybe. Humanity has a way of holding a grudge. It's a shame. There's so much lovely about being what you are, and they will never get to experience it if they keep being so painfully stubborn.
You are an
Isolationist Redirector/Bulletproof
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
X
,
Y
, and
Z
are your scum partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
nosferatu
.
In case you feel you need townier flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, you may redirect a player. You must choose "check" or "role" to redirect. You cannot redirect both.
When you perform no night actions, during the night, you are immune to nightkills.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
location
result of
Other
.
You give the
race
result of
Nosferatu
.
You win if all wulden are dead, and the
Isolationist Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
And that's the point where I switched to the mod topic, where most changes were documented as I was making them. I made slight tweaks here and there, but the original vision more or less stayed in-tact.
So, yes.
I made everything up.
Agnigi/Gistou is, 100%, a work of original flavor, fiction made entirely by me. (Final endgame count for how many words I put in:
78,000
.) The source material was my head. And using Varsoon's games as inspiration, I tried to make my game look as if it had a source material, make it look like, say, Bloodborne Mafia (his latest game at the time), with trivia facts posted every votecount and good, long, rich flavor posted at every relevant point. The dream I had would play out in the game, with me seeing the fates of the original three prominent characters: Dmitri Damanos, Nicholas Schroder, and Alexis Galenos, the central antagonist and protagonists.
Beyond that, as I explained in the dead threads, when I made the game, I wanted to force players to think. It was one thing to give a good flavor game. It was another to give them these complex mechanics, and make sense of them. I wanted the game to have good scumhunting, but I also wanted players to put serious effort into gamesolving, into putting pieces of the puzzle together to figure out what goes where, to know who was town and who was scum, who was lying and who was telling the truth. I wanted them to see through the paranoia and confusion, and over the course of the game overcome their doubt and learn the truth of what they were up against.
So, all in all, as I said in the dead thread, the game of Gistou can be summed up in two ways.
One, it is a love letter to all of mafiascum.net, with me having poured the last three months of my life exclusively to this game, above all other priorities. (Well, almost.)
And two, as an extension of the above: between all the mechanics, between the complex roles and their interactions, between the intense, immense amount of flavor I put into the game, my desire to give you strong VCA which was formatted well, my presence in the game and attempt to give the perfect balance of moderator presence in the game, not interfering but not absent, this game was meant to be my message to all of mafiascum as a whole:
"
THIS
is how it's done."
This is how you moderate a game. This is the epitome of what can be done as a moderator. That was the message I wished to send.
Regardless of whether you think I succeeded or not, that was my intent: the ambiguous nature of an ambitious project on a grand scale mafiascum has never seen before, put forward and realized as fully as possible.
If you want further thoughts on this, you can read me rambling on about it mostly in the spoiled dead thread, though I did talk about it a bit elsewhere, too.
Post
Post #8442 (isolation #224) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 9:17 pm
Postby mastin2 »
Note: the roles with images had said images within spoiler tags, but you can't nest spoilers, so I removed the spoiler tags around the images for them.
Roles:
Spoiler: Nosferatu: Cult Leader
The Other wrote:The rage of a thousand millennia
Agnigi. How you despise it so. The fools think they are alone in the world. Even among the lycans and vampires, they have forgotten. The bountiful land, the promised land, is truly rich, indeed, but it is not the only land as they so naively believe. Every ship they send out to sea when venturing deep enough may never return...but that is no reason to assume there is nothing else out there. There is. This other land, where you hail from, is a desolate wasteland.
You managed to get away from it, but the rest of your kind are trapped, imprisoned there, because long ago, the very creatures you created banished you there, to that elseworld. It's time to make them remember. It's time to make them pay. You hail from the far away land, the nameless land, and you have vowed to turn their beloved, precious Agnigi into the hellhole you experience, this...Gistou. Yes, you like that much better.
Giving Dmitri what he needed was a great start, but you are no idiot. You know he holds no loyalty to your cause. He is a power-craving megalomaniac. He wants to rule the world, and while he may be crazy, he's not stupid enough to trust you. He doesn't even know your true form. You have lost contact with him, but no matter. You will have your way. You will convert the masses, slowly,
painfully
, one by one, until all remaining are of you.
This is your mission.
This is your cause.
The suffering of others is music to...well, you don't exactly have ears, but it's music to you all the same. They may call you an abomination. But they are the true distortion. Unleash the pain, unleash the suffering, let it all out on them. One by one they shall fall. And you will be there to cause it all. They think they stand a chance...but they don't even know you're out there.
You are The Other.
And they're about to experience the unknown.
You are a
Cult Leader
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
During the night, you may recruit a player.
You may recruit ONE of each race (human, lycan, wulvan, vampire, nosferatu, undead) to your cult. If that recruitment is successful, even if the recruited player dies, you cannot recruit another of that race. (This means your cult maxes out at an absolute maximum of 7 members.)
You cannot recruit on consecutive nights.
Recruits have their race and faction changed to "other", but maintain their given home nation and location.
You may nightkill a player any night you do not recruit. This, you can do consecutively.
Regardless of the gamestate, if the cult controls 50% of the playerlist, they endgame everyone else.
In addition to the above (which will be granted to any successful recruits), you hold the following
personal abilities
:
You are immune to the D1 lynch.
You have a passive 1-shot immunity to all nightkills the first night you would be nightkilled. You will be informed when this has been used.
In addition to your recruit action, you may sense
all
of race, location, and home nation, though you cannot sense faction.
You may request a fakeclaim of Northern Tribes, Western Empire, or Eastern Kingdom origin at any time. Be sure to give any other details you wish to include (faction, race, nation, location, role), else I will assume "other" and "vanilla".
You give the home
Nation
result of "
Other
".
You give the
Location
result of "
Other
".
Your
Race
is
Other
.
You win if your cult controls 50% of the playerlist at any given time.
Confirm both via PM and in-thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Salt Squad: Isolationist Vampire
Basilis Erastos wrote:You look at your fellow vampires in shame. If you can even call them vampires anymore. They call themselves nosferatu now, you suppose, but you'll have none of it. They say it's safe. They say that everyone needs the extra strength if you are to defeat the wulden. What they say is nonsense you cannot believe. No. You are vampires. Strong and proud. For dozens of years, you have upheld the illusion of being allies to humanity, and you do not wish to betray that image.
In particular, you have been raised to be a proud hunter your entire life. A third-generation vampire, of the great Erastos coven with their great and mighty castle bought from the empire, you had a lot to live up to, and fought long and hard in countless battles to make a name for yourself. Even after your mother died thanks to the lycans, probably already under wulden control, you maintain your pride as a warrior, as a fighter.
The destruction of your home as they conquered, as they corrupted, it was painful, but not enough where you would be willing to sacrifice your heritage for something so trivial as power. Those of the great lake hunters have always been considered some of the toughest, strongest in the world, ready to lay down their lives for the good of the people.
...All the same, you do hold loyalty to your clan, and they have gone along with the decision of the elders that action is a must. It is unfortunate that humans would get in the way, and you would need to forcefully subjugate them, but...they left you no choice. Domination is the only path. Perhaps, down the road, peace would be possible. At some future time, maybe humanity and vampires can reach an accord, like the long-lasting bond you once shared when vampires were known as hunters.
Alas! It is what it is. For the time being, peace is impossible. The world must be ruled by the nosferatu, or fall into ruin. There is no other path available.
You are an
Isolationist
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
Wayward Thinker
(LicketyQuickety + Suzune),
Cephrir
, and
RAM
(Bins + Drixx + Cerberus v666) are your partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
vampire
.
In case you feel you need townier flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal ability
:
Racial Checker:
During the night, in addition to any actions you may take, you may
check
a player's
race
.
You give the home
Nation
result of
West Empire
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Lake
.
You give the
Race
result of
Vampire
.
You win if all
wulden
are dead, and the
Isolationist Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Wayward Thinker: Isolationist Strongman
Gabrielle Sommers wrote:It's humiliating. Here you were...the pride of humanity. Yes, that was a lie, but it was a lie you upheld proudly, one you almost let yourself come to believe was true, if not for all the meetings behind closed doors. You were a prideful hunter. You held up with the best of them, fighting off monsters, even going against lycans solo, no problem at all.
And in the span of a few months...you've lost everything. You lost your home in Erimos, stolen by wulden scum. To fight their evil, you swallowed your pride and became half-lycan, embracing the name nosferatu by force. And finally, thanks to the actions of Dmitri Damanos, now, the one thing you were good for, humanity now laughs at. They mock you. They shun you. They want to execute you. They trusted the word of a known liar, thief, criminal, insane megalomaniac, over their trusted, long-standing allies.
All for what? Their own personal greed, at how the hunters have become influential? Well, the joke's on them. That influence, that power, isn't simply going to vanish with the revelation of your secret. No...the hunters have built too good a reputation for it to all be entirely ruined. Many humans will willingly support you, and even those that don't can be made to with...
slight
persuasion.
So your kind has taken all the land you could. Some with coercion, some by force, mostly to the vulnerable north, where you have settled down into a new life. But...duty calls! You have wuldens to slay, and humanity to subjugate. It's not ideal, but what else are you going to do? It's their own bloody fault, after all.
You are an
Isolationist Strongman
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
Salt Squad
(SirCakez + beeboy + Heat),
Cephrir
, and
RAM
(Bins + Drixx + Cerberus v666) are your partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
nosferatu
.
In case you feel you need townier flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
If you are the one making the nightkill, it will be a
strongman kill
: you will bypass protection and/or blocks and puncture through immunity.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
Location
result of
Erimos
.
You give the
Race
result of
Nosferatu
.
You win if all
wulden
are dead, and the
Isolationist Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Alexander Lorenz wrote:The pride of your people is gone. You meant no harm. Sure, in the ancient times of old, hunters were once vampires preying on humans and subjugating monsters, but in modern times, you had developed a more symbiotic relationship. Humans willingly would donate blood, and a few rare, gifted humans would eventually earn the honor of being turned.
It was beautiful. You would know. You came from outside. Fifty years ago, you were just a mere servant boy. But then you saw something magnificent, and were enamored by the majesty behind vampirism. It was beautiful, it was royal, it was noble, and yet, it was something anyone could achieve if they were in the right place, at the right time, and worked hard enough at it.
So you did. Countless sacrifices, you made, and eventually, your skills caught the attention of the honored Lorenz coven. They adapted you, as their newest son, and there you were, to guide the next generation of vampires, to be there when they turned hunters, to slay monsters, to slay beasts. You've never personally fought a lycan, until recently, but you've certainly fought all other types of beasts, knowing the ins and outs of the land like the back of your hand.
It was seemingly never to end...until the dreaded day when Dmitri Damanos ruined
everything
. The wuldens were bad enough. You watched your family get torn to shreds, ripped apart, when they had once stood so proud. The region of the great lake you hailed from was overrun, and you had no choice but to retreat into the northern tribes.
And there, the offer was presented to turn into a nosferatu. You turned it down, at first. Being a vampire was too precious a gift to throw away. Yet eventually, when Dmitri took his next step and exposed the secret, your secret, all hope was lost. All your friends would turn against you anyway, and with no other options...you needed the extra strength and power the process would give. And now, the council needs the once-human lands, even if humanity won't willingly cooperate.
No choice. The reputation you once cherished is gone. But it is all for a good cause. You are a monster. But you are fighting an even worse monster, and perhaps, one day, there may be peace. It simply cannot be today.
You are an
Isolationist Ninja/Conditional Tracker
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
Salt Squad
(SirCakez + beeboy + Heat),
Wayward Thinker
(LicketyQuickety + Suzune), and
RAM
(Bins + Drixx + Cerberus v666) are your partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
nosferatu
.
In case you feel you need townier flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
If you are the one making the nightkill, it cannot be observed by any method.
If you are not making the nightkill, you may instead opt to
track
a player. You will see whoever they visit. This includes racial/national/locational checks, which will be marked as "this was a check action".
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Lake
.
You give the
Race
result of
Nosferatu
.
You win if all
wulden
are dead, and the
Isolationist Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
After all...you were there when it happened the first time. All those millennia ago, when you held a different name, you saw what humanity did back then. You had peace. You had order. You were kind and gentle. Yes, you may have ruled over them, but there was a harmony that has not existed since then. It was a shame to see it go, but you understood the motives behind humanity.
Which is why you were an avid supporter of coming around to try again. Humanity had long-since forgotten about your past. If you worked with humanity, instead of subjecting humanity, surely, there could be peace? Surely, you could have that symbiotic relationship you so desperately desired? So many in the council resisted. But still you fought for it, and eventually succeeded.
And it was a success.
Oh, was it ever a success.
Yet now it is in shambles once again. The wuldens are strong. Vampires are too weak to stand up against the combined might of the wuldens and humanity. And now, apparently, there's undead in the mixture too. You were around when they first saw action, and it was unpleasant even back then. Now...the only way to beat the monsters is to become monsters.
The decision of the council was unanimous on this: evolve. Become nosferatu. It would be the only way. You agreed there. Yes, no matter how strange the idea was...you had no choice. Yet while you don't like the idea of once again subjugating humans...you also recognize that merely becoming stronger won't be enough.
No...against these demons, against these foes, you need the full force of the world, and humanity would never willingly help. So from your current base in the northern tribes, taken by force, you'll strike out. You must take the risk, that you can suppress humanity long enough to exterminate the wulden. Maybe then, you can revisit peace. Maybe. Humanity has a way of holding a grudge. It's a shame. There's so much lovely about being what you are, and they will never get to experience it if they keep being so painfully stubborn.
You are an
Isolationist Redirector/Conditional Bulletproof
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
Salt Squad
(SirCakez + beeboy + Heat),
Wayward Thinker
(LicketyQuickety + Suzune), and
Cephrir
are your partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
nosferatu
.
In case you feel you need townier flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
FACTIONAL CHAMPION
: You are considered the
Champion
of the Isolationists. Your fellow isolationists
cannot control your night actions
; they must be submitted by you.
During the night, you may redirect a player. You must choose "check" or "role" to redirect. You cannot redirect both.
When you perform no night actions (checks
do
count as a night action), during the night, you are immune to nightkills.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
Location
result of
Other
.
You give the
Race
result of
Nosferatu
.
You win if all
wulden
are dead, and the
Isolationist Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: davesaz: Wulden Racial Godfather
Marius Hemmingway wrote:A special mission awaits you. Dmitri has willed it himself. "Do not think you are being punished, Marius," he said. "This is a task so important I would ask it only of you." The wulden have long-since universally turned themselves into lycans, yourself included. They have come out of the shadows, stopped hiding in their occult roots, the hidden movement now a public faction. All of their once-obscured secrets have been revealed, as the need to operate behind-the-scenes was no longer necessary.
And also supposed to be universal was the call to become a true wulden, the undead improvement to the creature of the gods. Yet laid before you, Dmitri had ordered you not to undergo the procedure. "No, I cannot say any is better suited for the operation you're assigned to." Others laugh at you. Others say that Dmitri Damanos is cruel to you, as to deny you your perfect form. Still more insist to bully you with their newfound strength, saying that a weakling such as yourself does not deserve Dmitri's blessing. They say that if he wished you to be strong, he would have let you become strong, and is intentionally holding you back because he thinks you unworthy.
Heretics, the whole lot of them. To think Dmitri Damanos would mean anything other than what he says! The need for lies and deceit has long-since become obsolete. If your lord and savior says that he has reason for you to not become a full wulden, then the true ruler has good reason to ask it of you. Outsiders call it blind faith. Perhaps they are right...but you see absolutely nothing wrong with devotion to a deity, divinely blessed as he is.
"I need you returned to our roots: a covert operative, to elude detection and sabotage our enemies."
A special mission, which he has selected you, and you alone, for: to be a spymaster, hiding your beasthood from the world and acting as a normal human. You operated as so for ten long years, moving from location to location, nation to nation, even hiding in the Erimos Range. Ten full years of absolute obedience, so you hesitate not for this special assignment. You will play the part of human, for as long as Dmitri Damanos deems it so. His word is all. His word is everything. And you will not fail him.
You are a
Wulden
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
Lady Lambdadelta
,
Tim
(Iecerint + ActionDan), and
Mathblade
are your scum partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
lycan
.
If you feel you need town flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
Racial Godfather
: As long as your race is lycan, you will show up as a
human
to racial checks.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Other
.
You give the
Location
result of
Erimos
.
You are a
lycan
, but give the
Race
result of
Human
, as per your personal ability.
You win if all
nosferatu
are dead, and the
Wulden Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Lady Lambdadelta: Wuldent Strongman/Conditional Rolecop
Sergius Seneca wrote:The almighty Dmitri Damanos has granted his blessing to you, and from it, you have grown to be an indispensable asset. The strongest of his warriors. The great scourge of the Western Empire, purifier of the Great Ridge. You've fought countless battles at his side, the trusted aide and attendant of the god. Though Varius may have known him longer, it matters not. You were among his first true disciples, and have been rewarded for your loyalty with absolute power.
Your strength is unrivaled, and your battle instincts are finely tuned. You can crush your opponents in an instant, and if that doesn't work, you can figure out their weaknesses and then charge through a second time. Everyone knows your nickname. Sergius second-striker, so-called for never needing more than two attacks to take out any foe you've ever faced. Seneca the severer, Sergius the slasher, you kill, you murder, all in the name of the greater good that Dmitri Damanos will grant to the world. This is war, and by his godly power, you know he will triumph, and you'll be right there, beside him when he does.
"Good friend...this is just the first step. Now...it's truly time to begin." Yes, your mighty. It is.
You are a
Wulden Strongman/Conditional Rolecop
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
davesaz
,
Tim
(Iecerint + ActionDan), and
Mathblade
are your scum partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
wulden
.
If you feel you need town flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
If you are the one making the nightkill, it will be a
strongman kill
: you will bypass protection and/or blocks and puncture through immunity.
Conditional Rolecop
: if you are not performing the nightkill, you may instead opt to
rolecop
a player, receiving all of their
personal abilities
.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
West Empire
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Ridge
.
You give the
Race
result of
Wulden
.
You win if all
nosferatu
are dead, and the
Wulden Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Tim: Wulden Conditional Full-checker
Varius Severn wrote:Dmitri. How you love him so. The blind fools who follow him don't know the kind of love you hold for him. They hold love of him as a god. But did they ever know him before he became one? No...only you do. He's lost so many of his men, good friends, who fought by him side-by-side. Your comrades, fellow outlaws, who died, one-by-one. Knowing him as you do, he likely mourned them little, if at all. He saw them as assets, and the only thing to lament was the loss of their skills and abilities.
Still...even if he doesn't care for you...even if the only value you hold to him is the last of his original gang, the only bandit to have survived every encounter with those that would dare oppose him...even if all he sees in you is your ability to analyze situations and give input...you don't care. You will still devote yourself to him in your entirety. You were by his side when he started his following. You half-thought it was all a big joke. He probably thought them all fools to genuinely believe his words. Yet...somewhere along the line...maybe, just maybe...he actually became the very thing he was pretending to be.
Regardless of whether he actually believes what he preaches, you think maybe he has become the god that others have worshiped. Dmitri Damanos...it's a lovely name. From the moment you met him, from the moment he recruited you into your gang, you knew there was something special about him...his charisma, his passion, his vision, destined for greatness...and now he's succeeded. You were there when he mastered lycanthropy, and were the first of his conversions. You were there to see the movement gain strength. You were there to see him discover the secrets of the undead, and how this hybridized form would become synonymous with your group, the wulden.
You followed him the entire time. To see him become something greater than everything else. Yet your affection for him will never diminish. He was once a man. And he was a magnificent man. And now is even greater. How could anyone not love him? How could anyone not see what you do in him? He'll never see you in the same way you do him. He couldn't. Even if he could, you're not sure you'd be worthy of it. But all the same...you will be there, at his side, furthering his goals, whatever they may be.
"Varius...you are a good companion."
You've only heard him speak that line three times. But once would have been enough. "Let's finish what we started."
You are a
Wulden Conditional Full-checker
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
davesaz
,
Lady Lambdadelta
, and
Mathblade
are your scum partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
wulden
.
If you feel you need town flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
Racial Checker
: During the night, in addition to any actions you may take, you may
check
a player's
race
.
Conditional Full-checker
: If you are not performing your faction's nightkill, you will see
all
of a player's nation, location, and race.
You give the home
Nation
result of
West Empire
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Ridge
.
You give the
Race
result of
Wulden
.
You win if all
nosferatu
are dead, and the
Wulden Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Mathblade: Dmitri Damanos
Dmitri Damanos wrote:Bask in Your Glory
Victory is inevitable.
You've fought hard to get this far. The pathetic little petty bandit you used to be is no more. You robbed trains. You stole the precious revolvers of the western empire. You rode the mighty grodens in your raids, gaining enough fear that villages trembled at your presence. The eastern kingdom came close to annihilating you many times, but always, you would survive, stronger than before from the experience.
You would come in, then run out, before being stopped by the armies of the world. No raptor, no horse, could catch you. Perhaps the northern tribes could, you weren't exactly eager to find out. In the simple, humble lives, it's not like they'd have much for you to steal anyway. The only reason you could have had to attack them was purely to tick them off and gain a reputation, but you weren't exactly interested in becoming international hit list target #1.
At the time, anyway. Of course you relish in that title now, but at the time...the governments of both the western and eastern nations saw you as nothing more than a mere nuisance. And you probably would have stayed that way if not for
him
. Haha. In a way...for the humiliation that he brought upon you, you should be thankful. If not for the experience, the brush with death, that he granted you...you would likely have continued as you were for the rest of your likely-long, lush, but ultimately, boring and insignificant life.
The villages of the eastern kingdom couldn't get help from their brownskin leaders, so the yellowskin cowards pleaded to the paleskins. In their desperation, they tried to get you classified as a beast worthy of hunting. Of course, any sensible person would turn them down. Many did. Most did. But
that man
didn't. No. That bloodsucker, not that you knew it when you first fought him.
Nicholas Schroder
. That name will forever be burned into your mind. He heard the call of the people, and irrationally...going against all logical hunter behavior...he accepted. He stayed in the villages, staking them out, until you arrived. And once you realized one hunter against two-dozen bandits was a bad idea for the bandits, you were forced to retreat...yet he followed. He pursued. Time and time again, on your trail, preventing many otherwise-successful raids from going through.
He was usually too late to stop the worst of the carnage...but he was still annoying, especially when he would get ahead and altogether avert an oncoming attack. Always, he would pursue. Unrelenting. Unwavering. Without hesitation. He would continue to attack. Again and again...until soon, new prospective recruits were more afraid of him than of rejecting you. That, you could not stand for. So you stopped running. Layer after layer, you had been forced to move from, since he could find them.
And that's when you laid the trap. You lured him out with a train raid, and as he pursued, you retreated into your layer. Unable to stop him on the attack, you figured you might be able to stop him for good in defense. And, oh, how wrong you were. But it was because of what you saw that day that you learned the truth. You had, personally, critically wounded him after a cheap trick. Yet even after being stabbed in the back, after having been practically bifurcated by your mighty greatsword...he had strength enough to grab onto one of your men.
And you saw fangs.
Fangs
.
The brilliant red glow of his eyes, as he ripped out the flesh of your goon, and drained him. The dripping crimson from his mouth as he stood up, energized once more. His wounds weren't healed enough that he was in full fighting condition. You could have probably killed him there. But no...you ran.
You RAN.
Once more, you used his weakened state to escape, sacrificing all your men in the process, terrified.
But also knowing.
Nobody would believe the word of a random bandit.
But you
knew
.
So you went underground.
You sought answers, and figured...if hunters were THAT. If hunters were abominations capable of those feats you had seen, from your countless battles with them...why did only the best of them dare face lycans? Why were lycans so hard for them to kill? You founded the wulden cult to dig deeper into the supernatural, researching across the world.
Traveling from one location to another, always hidden. Occasionally, Nicholas would touch the surface of your organization, slowing you down. But you were patient. You waited. And eventually, you mastered lycanthropy. Eventually, you spread your secrets to the wuldens. And then...you were contacted. Some force gave you a final tip-off. You knew where to find evidence of the hunter's origins, yet it was a stronghold not even lycans could overcome...so you needed something greater.
Something that same tip said could come from a source you knew...
Alexis Galenos
. Schroder's love interest. You fancied her yourself, but were never able to hold onto her that long, thanks to his meddling. So now, the wicked plan formed, you set into motion the twisted fate that would give birth to Gistou as it is now known: you kidnapped her. Tortured her. And discovered her secret, that she was not, in fact, actually alive. Her distinct green skin was not from being a subset of the yellowskins. No, she was actually deceased, considered such, just as you had figured the hunters were...no, you knew they were better known by a different name.
The little bastard vampire caught up, but he was too late. The fool had a choice between pursuing you, with your precious research, or saving the girl, and he decided to doom the world by doing the latter. And now, as the leader of the undead lycan wulden, you exposed the bloodsuckers for what they were, seized control of territory, and declared open war against the world. Most recently, you killed a general hailing from The Great Ridge, Aries Gratian, and have decided that momentarily, this shall serve as a convenient alias.
You are
Dmitri Damanos, Wulden Big Bad/Bulletproof/Ninja
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
davesaz
,
Lady Lambdadelta
, and
Tim
(Iecerint + ActionDan) are your scum partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
wulden
.
If you feel you need different town flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
FACTIONAL CHAMPION
: You are considered the
Champion
of the Wuldens. Your fellow wuldens
cannot control your night actions
; they must be submitted by you.
You are immune to nightkills.
If you are the one making the nightkill, it cannot be observed by any method.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
As you are the big bad of Gistou, it would be inadvisable to claim your name. You have been given a fakeclaim,
Aries Gratian
:
X-shot Bulletproof: Aries Gratian wrote:Riding your horse faithfully, location to location, you drift. Once a proud general of the western empire, with the revolver to prove it, now you're nothing. Dmitri Damanos took everything from you. And you want revenge. You once held such great national pride, yet now...
...Now you don't care. You want all those supernatural bastards dead. Maybe they don't
all
deserve it. You've personally worked with some hunters who were affable enough. But how do you know it wasn't all an act? You have no way of knowing. Rather safe than sorry. In this new land, in this blasted Gistou, all a man can do is fend for himself. Factional pride is great and all, but while you loosely support a good cause, what might be called the greater good, you don't consider yourself a devoted soldier of the human alliance.
You will fight for them, and if necessary, you'll even die for them. But you will work on your own, because you need to prove to yourself that your life means something.
Aries's
role
was
X-shot bulletproof
. The number of shots is your choice. His vest protected against
all
nightkills, and would only be triggered when absolutely needed. He would be informed of when he had used a vest.
Aries's home
Nation
is your choice. 'Other' or 'West Empire' recommended.
Aries's home
Location
is your choice. 'Other', 'Erimos', or 'Great Ridge' recommended.
Aries's
Race
was
Human
.
Aries's factional wincon was as follows: You win when all threats to
the
Individual Humans
faction
have been eliminated.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Other
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Ridge
.
You give the
Race
result of
Wulden
.
You win if all
nosferatu
are dead, and the
Wulden Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Luna Fox: Unread Risen Slave Faction Cop
Demetria Kleon wrote:Alexis had taught you well. You remember when the world of Agnigi began to crumble down around you. The news spread like wildfire, as the supernatural aspects of the world slowly became common knowledge. Including your existence, the existence of those who were no longer alive, and yet still roamed among the living.
Undead aren't that different from humanity. They were humans. They can still reproduce like humans do, and it's not like it's easy to accidentally become undead. There's a reason Dmitri Damanos had to go through such great lengths to squeeze the secrets of your kind away. The only thing different is that they won't naturally age, that they're much harder to kill, and that humans can become undead.
...Yet in the world forming, in the Gistou replacing Agnigi, that's plenty enough for prejudice to exist. Alexis had warned you all. The underground undead had been laying low, ever since their birth when used for war. You weren't one of them. Like Alexis, you were the child of two undead greenskins, after the eastern kingdom was in a time of peace. You were born into the aftermath, as second-class servants of the higher-ranked.
It was a harsh life, of course, but it was still
life
. Life that was something you were grateful to live. Your gift is something that only a small fraction of the world can know. It has a few downsides, namely the stricter dietary needs and slight loss of taste from your understanding, but the gifts it provides are endless.
She told you that the undead had to do something. And she was right. Because the world was beginning to form. So, you, along with others sharing your concern, led the uprising. You bore no ill will to your masters. It was not a fight for freedom. It was simply a fight for survival, pure, simple, instinct, longing for continued life.
So you hold hope. If you could exist for centuries in the shadows...there could be a chance you could exist out in the open. There are threats in the world that want you dead. But if at all possible...you would coexist with any whom which coexistence would be possible. They teach an old saying on the Divitias: as ever as the river flows, time will wash away all the scars in the land, leaving a lush farm in its wake. You will fight to prove it right.
(Albert B. Rampage + Errantparabola + Nahdia) all have access to that topic, and share these factional abilities.
You know that
dramonic
,
Klingoncelt
,
copper223
, and
Stormblade
(Albert B. Rampage + Errantparabola + Nahdia) cannot be human, vampire, nosferatu, lycan, or other. However, I offer no guarantee about wulden.
Once in the game, during the night you may attempt to convert a human. This must be done in the above topic. If successful, they will join
your
faction. This ability is used up regardless of success. The nightkill cannot be used the night the conversion is.
During the night, you may nightkill a player. This must be done in the above topic.
The nightkill cannot be done on consecutive nights.
You cannot nightkill someone with access to the topic.
While all players in the topic share these factional abilities, I cannot be more explicit:
they are not guaranteed to hold your factional win condition
. (As such, quoting your role PM in the green paradise thread will have the same effect as in the game thread: a modkill.) Use caution with what you disclose.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
Faction Cop
: During the night, target a player. You will receive results in the form of "Your target is a member of the [-faction-] faction." or "No result.".
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
East Kingdom
.
You give the
Location
result of
Divitias
.
You give the
Race
result of
Undead
.
Undead Risen Slave Wincon
: You win if all threats to a new humanity treaty are eliminated and at least one player with this wincon is alive.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Eugine Lysander wrote:Alexis Galenos had been wise to gather you all together. She saw this coming, from the moment Dmitri stole the secrets of your kind away. War. Agnigi has fallen into despair. The once-beautiful land is about to burn, charred by the flames of Gistou. Yet from the ashes...can hope rise again?
You certainly hope so. You may have gone through drastic measures to get this far...but they should not be permanent. The undead rebellion is not one made out of desire for power. It is one made out of desire for peace, for life, for something that you had before but were dangerously close to losing. You will fight. You don't want to, but you will. The world is filled with good people. You still hold firm to this belief. And even though all the races are at each others' throats, you have had many life-long friendships with the denizens of your land, your masters, who you accepted happily.
It may have been a thousand years ago, time passes by so quickly on the Divitias that even you're not sure how long ago it was, but you distinctly remember...you volunteered for this. Not because of the benefits. Not because of the war. But because you wanted to make a difference in the world, to return the favors for all the kindness you had received.
Agnigi. You want it back. To that place, where on a good day, you could share nice long laughs. It must be.
(Albert B. Rampage + Errantparabola + Nahdia) all have access to that topic, and share these factional abilities.
You know that
Luna Fox
,
Klingoncelt
,
copper223
, and
Stormblade
(Albert B. Rampage + Errantparabola + Nahdia) cannot be human, vampire, nosferatu, lycan, or other. However, I offer no guarantee about wulden.
Once in the game, during the night you may attempt to convert a human. This must be done in the above topic. If successful, they will join
your
faction. This ability is used up regardless of success. The nightkill cannot be used the night the conversion is.
During the night, you may nightkill a player. This must be done in the above topic.
The nightkill cannot be done on consecutive nights.
You cannot nightkill someone with access to the topic.
While all players in the topic share these factional abilities, I cannot be more explicit:
they are not guaranteed to hold your factional win condition
. (As such, quoting your role PM in the green paradise thread will have the same effect as in the game thread: a modkill.) Use caution with what you disclose.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal ability
:
Racial Checker
: During the night, in addition to any actions you may take, you may
check
a player's
race
.
You give the home
Nation
result of
East Kingdom
.
You give the
Location
result of
Divitias
.
You give the
Race
result of
Undead
.
Undead Risen Slave Wincon
: You win if all threats to a new humanity treaty are eliminated and at least one player with this wincon is alive.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Irene Gaios wrote:The world is in desperate need. You remember how bad things have been. As the mother of the undead, you've been there to see centuries pass and with time, recognize that many crises your nation have faced were nothing beyond trivial. Things have gotten bad before, bad enough for you to be born, bad enough for you to intervene, but even compared to those events...
Alexis was right to warn you. Such a good girl, a shining example of what the undead should be. She saw what would happen once Dmitri Damanos got a hold of your precious secrets. And once you heard her describe the ordeal she went through, you too knew she spoke the truth. The world was about to change, drastically, irreversibly. And what had worked for your people in the past would not work for you again.
If it had been just Alexis alone, the warning may have been listened to. But with you backing her, the decision was unanimous: the undead, so long hidden underground, would no longer sit idly by. While you lost track of Alexis in the chaos, you know that the Galenos's little girl, well, not so little anymore, but still an infant among your kind, would forever be remembered as the hero who saved her kind from extinction, even if not an entirely accurate description.
The uprising was...regrettable. While the infinite abyss of time has changed some undead into apathy towards life, you still hold every human to the highest regard. Happiness serving them was no illusion. Yet it was a necessity, you are sure of it, because your lives would have been in danger otherwise. You might have taken a significant portion of the Divitias, but many strongholds remain in human hands, not because you couldn't take them, but because you chose not to.
You agreed. You would be as strong as you needed to be, in order to survive. You would live. You would fight. You would gain recognition and with luck, earn peace. And then, return to a more normal life. At least, that's the hope. Gistou leaves things uncertain. It was so easy, overseeing everything in Agnigi. Now, all you can do is pray that the better future you see becomes reality.
(Albert B. Rampage + Errantparabola + Nahdia) all have access to that topic, and share these factional abilities.
You know that
Luna Fox
,
dramonic
,
copper223
, and
Stormblade
(Albert B. Rampage + Errantparabola + Nahdia) cannot be human, vampire, nosferatu, lycan, or other. However, I offer no guarantee about wulden.
Once in the game, during the night you may attempt to convert a human. This must be done in the above topic. If successful, they will join
your
faction. This ability is used up regardless of success. The nightkill cannot be used the night the conversion is.
During the night, you may nightkill a player. This must be done in the above topic.
The nightkill cannot be done on consecutive nights.
You cannot nightkill someone with access to the topic.
While all players in the topic share these factional abilities, I cannot be more explicit:
they are not guaranteed to hold your factional win condition
. (As such, quoting your role PM in the green paradise thread will have the same effect as in the game thread: a modkill.) Use caution with what you disclose.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, target a player. You will learn everyone who visited them. This includes checks, which will be marked as "this was a check action".
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
East Kingdom
.
You give the
Location
result of
Divitias
.
You give the
Race
result of
Undead
.
Undead Risen Slave Wincon
: You win if all threats to a new humanity treaty are eliminated and at least one player with this wincon is alive.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Hermes Bion wrote:You were surprised to see it happen, but what the elders said would be willed so. All your (un)life, you've been moving from place to place within the eastern kingdom. It has been your home. Your way of life was drilled in since you were little. Serve the humans. Do their will. Lay low, stay out of the center of attention, but always be there for them no matter what.
These things aren't technically hard-coded into the undead, but the desire to serve was something programmed into your genes, in part because the original undead were weapons of war that were meant to be loyal, obedient slaves. It helped that your forefathers were all volunteers, naturally predisposed to help even without being commanded to. So after the war, after peace was obtained...that didn't simply go away. Almost every undead you've ever heard of has decided to live a happy life, working dutifully under the will of their masters.
Yet with Gistou coming...you understand why the command came. The undead had to defend themselves. Defend life, all life, even their own lives, at all costs. You can't say you're too happy about it. The need for undead to be out in the open, and even harming others, is close to their original, obsolete purpose, something you weren't even born into. But you'll take your role and help out where you can, because if all goes well...who knows? Maybe, peace can come. Time to fight for Agnigi.
(Albert B. Rampage + Errantparabola + Nahdia) all have access to that topic, and share these factional abilities.
You know that
Luna Fox
,
dramonic
,
Klingoncelt
, and
Stormblade
(Albert B. Rampage + Errantparabola + Nahdia) cannot be human, vampire, nosferatu, lycan, or other. However, I offer no guarantee about wulden.
Once in the game, during the night you may attempt to convert a human. This must be done in the above topic. If successful, they will join
your
faction. This ability is used up regardless of success. The nightkill cannot be used the night the conversion is.
During the night, you may nightkill a player. This must be done in the above topic.
The nightkill cannot be done on consecutive nights.
You cannot nightkill someone with access to the topic.
While all players in the topic share these factional abilities, I cannot be more explicit:
they are not guaranteed to hold your factional win condition
. (As such, quoting your role PM in the green paradise thread will have the same effect as in the game thread: a modkill.) Use caution with what you disclose.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal ability
:
Free-checker
: Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn of
either
their
location
,
OR
their
nation
.
You give the home
Nation
result of
East Kingdom
.
You give the
Location
result of
Other
.
You give the
Race
result of
Undead
.
Undead Risen Slave Wincon
: You win if all threats to a new humanity treaty are eliminated and at least one player with this wincon is alive.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
You didn't want any of this, but here you are. You knew Alexis was not just a frightened little girl, that she was wise beyond her years, so when she warned of the threat incoming, you of all people knew to take it seriously. After all...she contacted you first. She wouldn't have done that unless she thought it was something of grave...err, dire consequence. Huh, her sense of humor must have worn off on you, you muse for a short while. It could have also been proximity, given you were the closest of the elders to the great lake where she was rescued, but...
...You knew the Galenos girl to be skilled enough, even wounded, to get there by herself if she didn't think you needed to get involved. It's such a sad situation, a tragedy of the ages. The sweet little girl...what horrors she had to live through, only she truly knows. Damn that Dmitri Damanos! Not only did he hurt the child, he stole your secrets. You didn't even know he had done so until she told you as much. You never knew of his crimes. If you had...before the wulden became what they are...maybe you could have...
...No, you shake the thought away. You've seen things get bad before, but Gistou is a whole new level of hell. The last thing you need is another regret on record. It's bad enough things have come this far. The rules broken, the sacred oath you swore shattered...after all. As far as you're concerned, it was almost like yesterday when you first decided to sign up for the fight. You were weak, too weak for combat, or so you thought. And when the offer was given, even though the success rate was (at the time) low, you couldn't help but accept.
As one of the oldest, strongest, toughest warriors of the undead, you fought in constant battles, enduring everything, until after the war...you posed the question. "My purpose has been fulfilled. Now what?" They easily could have done anything to you. They could have disposed of you all, pretended you never existed. They could have locked you away to be hidden if ever needed again, in a state neither fully living nor entirely dead, a fate worse than death for your kind.
They could have done any number of things...but what the great king said was, "You were a soldier. You deserve to be honored as such." The queen saw you as actual
people
. The aristocrats convinced them not to follow through on the full honor, pointing out the many practical reasons not to. Fear of your strength. How little they actually had to offer, with them in short supply of spoils already. The logistics of turning so many ordinary people that came from the lowlives to the higher class. It simply wasn't practical, but you heard the words from the man himself, and the intention was clear enough.
Even as you eventually fell into servitude, you made a clear vow. The undead oaths were your creation. You, and all the others, agreed to follow them universally, out of gratitude for your continued existence, for your eternal life. And since then, you have watched the humans wax and wane countless times, always content, always helping out in any way you could, while laying low. You promised you would.
However, painfully, you recognized that all the time spent as servants meant nothing to humanity, especially with their short memories. They had forgotten what you had done. They had forgotten the sacrifices you had made. They had forgotten how much you loved them. And in their fear, with the growing wuldens on the horizon, their alliance, as it was, would not differentiate between you and them. You would be eliminated, exterminated, out of ignorance.
And as much as you hated the idea...it needed to be done. You need to continue existing. You told yourself this. So with warning, you rose up. You took what was needed. And now, here you are...once again a war machine. But this time, willingly, you will be fighting for a cause: to bring peace not just to yourselves, but to all.
all have access to that topic, and share these factional abilities.
You know that
Luna Fox
,
dramonic
,
Klingoncelt
, and
copper223
cannot be human, vampire, nosferatu, lycan, or other. However, I offer no guarantee about wulden.
Once in the game, during the night you may attempt to convert a human. This must be done in the above topic. If successful, they will join
your
faction. This ability is used up regardless of success. The nightkill cannot be used the night the conversion is.
During the night, you may nightkill a player. This must be done in the above topic.
The nightkill cannot be done on consecutive nights.
You cannot nightkill someone with access to the topic.
While all players in the topic share these factional abilities, I cannot be more explicit:
they are not guaranteed to hold your factional win condition
. (As such, quoting your role PM in the green paradise thread will have the same effect as in the game thread: a modkill.) Use caution with what you disclose.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
Twice in the game, you will automatically be immune to kills. This ability is only activated when absolutely needed. When activated, it protects against
all
kill attempts. You will be informed of when a vest has been used.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Other
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Lake
.
You give the
Race
result of
Undead
.
Undead Risen Slave Wincon
: You win if all threats to a new humanity treaty are eliminated and at least one player with this wincon is alive.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Franky/RachMarie: Nicholas Schroder
Nicholas Schroder wrote:"If only..."
Every moment. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day. You wonder. You run your head through it, time and time again. If only things were different.
...But no. "It was the right decision."
You force yourself to say it. It was the right decision. You have to stick by that belief. It had to be. There couldn't have been a better option. You did the right thing.
"It's all my fault."
The doubt hits. The self-loathing.
You shake it off. Because you cannot afford that self-pity nonsense.
No. You know better. There was only one person to hold accountable for the doomed Agnigi. Only one person responsible for the rise of Gistou. It was
his
doing. Not yours.
Dmitri Damanos
. The leader of the damned. You were there to see it all start. Long before then. Your people have a rich history. You're fairly young for your kind, at a simple 100 years old, but were one of the first paleskins to come out of the shadows. Your kind had been lurking, laying low, albeit fighting the beasts all the same. Yet you were struggling. And in the jungles of Divitias, you were near a village, when you saw how they were struggling.
The elders were clear: vampires would be exterminated by humans. Some humans would be granted the gift to bring new blood in every once and a while, but otherwise, vampires were to interact, marry, and have children with other vampires only. Humans would only be last resort sources of nourishment. So approaching a center of population was against the rules.
...And yet...when you had personally seen the deadly damage the beasts could wreck...when you father had died in a mutual kill with a lycan, and your mother was killed by a lowly wild raptor...the suffering of humans was too great to see. So you acted. You emerged from the jungle, the experienced warrior you were, and killed the invading beasts effortlessly. Scared and timid, you tried to immediately retreat, however, the humans invited you in. You were sure it was a trap...and yet, they were grateful that you were able to help them.
After you left, the experience was...pleasant. Sure, their food didn't fulfill your dietary requirements...but it was still
delicious
. The soft beds, the wonderful music...it was an intoxicating experience, so you made it a habit of staying near villages, and preemptively preventing beast attacks before they could begin.
First prolonged contact began after you fought a lycan, who nearly claimed your life. Wounded, you were in need of blood, though the only source was from the humans you had grown fond of. Rather than feed, you decided it would be acceptable to die, since it was your choice to defend them and you weren't about to betray them.
...Yet once more, when the villagers saw a wounded paleskin, they decided to try and heal you. It would be a death penalty to reveal you needed blood to the humans, but you tried as many substitutes as possible for blood, and over time, their food was enough to, in a few months, slowly mend the damage done. This prolonged exposure was unheard of before, yet others of your kind had already began to make much the same. You even earned a name for your kind: hunters.
So a relationship was born. After healing, you continued to wander the lands, helping out villages as you could, for 70 years, roaming from place to place. Helping those in need, you took the title of hunter with pride. Your job was to hunt the monsters of the world down. You believed in peace, not only between the three realms, but also between your kind and humanity. Hunters could now operate out in the open, rather than dwelling in the shadows. And it was a good life to have, a symbiotic bond where you would work together: your kind to protect them, their kind to give you life.
Most didn't take the job as seriously as you did, then again, that made sense. To them, humans were simply an opportunity. Humans were a chance to have a life they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. But to you, humanity was, and still is, something magical. So it was only natural that when you received the unusual request...that you would accept the challenge, proudly. Not because it would be a challenge, like some hunters would. Because it was the right thing to do.
Alexis...
Alexis Galenos
. She reminds you of the girl that first approached you when you were wounded, all those year ago. You hope she is safe. She's still alive. You know that. Even through the current chaos of the Eastern Kingdom, you know she is still alive. And that was the right call to make, no matter what all the other hunters may say, if they ever knew.
The greenskinned girl was confident and compassionate when approaching you. She instantly knew you were a kindred spirit, wishing to help out everyone. She had traveled far just to find you, just to locate someone who would actually take the request seriously, and you listened. You listened well, as she pleaded for the lives of her villagers, to have you help them with their bandit problem.
Dmitri Damanos, the groden raider, she had described. Scourge of the eastern kingdom, nuisance of the western empire. You waited for him to come...and when he brought two dozen bandits to his side, you showed him why hunters were known to hunt even the toughest of beasts, which you had been asked to classify him as. Unusual as the request sounded, it was something that for some reason you accepted. Knowing what's happened since then...you're not sure if maybe you somehow knew on an instinctive level, or if it was just bad luck and an unfortunate coincidence that led to these events.
You tracked him. Time and time again, you skirmished. As you saw the threat he posed, your conviction grew. He had to be stopped, at all costs. You intercepted him. You got ahead of him. You halted most of his attacks. You followed him, you pursued him, you never gave up on putting a permanent stop to his attacks, because whenever you were late, whenever you were unable to be fast enough, you saw the devastation he wrought. You saw the villages in suffering, the burning homes, the corpses everywhere, the wailing cries of broken families, and you knew.
You knew you were destined to fight him. To take him down. You continued to help others as you could, though you swore you would never lose him. And when he retreated into his lair rather than running...you suspected a trap, but backup would not come. He could have had a rear exit to the hideout. So the only way to be sure, absolutely sure, that he did not escape was to spring the trap.
Your first mistake.
The fight was long and bloody, but his second stabbed you in the back before escaping. This allowed Dmitri to nearly chop you in half with his greatsword, and he even emptied a clip of his revolver into you. So...you broke the holy rule. In desperation, you revealed your true face, your full nature, to a human not in the know, a human not in good relations with the hunters, to save your life, because if you couldn't stop Dmitri, you had a feeling nobody could.
As he fled, you tried to pursue, however, in your still-weakened state, he escaped. And he disappeared, underground, for ten years. You still searched. You still hunted bandits, and also killed corrupt humans, even finding hints of the occult that you tried to eliminate, but always, you were unable to find him. Dmitri had vanished, without a trace.
...Until Alexis was stolen. Alexis...the horrors she went through were absolutely unforgivable. Dmitri was a threat before, though he had, seemingly intentionally, turned it personal. She was innocent. Yet when you found her, weakened, Dmitri cast her aside. "You have two options, Schroder: either continue pursuing me to stop my research I extracted from her...or save the girl's life. The choice is yours, but we both already know what you're going to do."
It was the right choice.
If you gave chase, then there was no guarantee you could have caught Dmitri. He may have still escaped and put his undead research into motion anyway. Especially since he, at the time, held the strength of a lycan, and was already a threat as just a simple human.
Alexis may be undead, but she's not invincible. You only learned of her secret from Dmitri in your last fight; all the same, you knew she couldn't live unless you gave her immediate care. He was right. You both knew what needed to be done. She's alive. Because of your decision, your choice, she lives still.
It wasn't long after that Dmitri declared war on the world. You knew the hunters could not survive, so you left Alexis, still recovering, to steal the secrets of lycans. The vampires were unwilling to risk their own hides for it. So you put the good of the people ahead of everything else, and experimented on yourself. The first nosferatu. The first hybridization of vampire and lycan. You did it to prove that it was viable, it was possible, that hunters could stand a chance in the upcoming war.
But you had no idea the consequences of your actions.
What the council decided to do with their power...you'll have none of that.
So you've left to wander the world, on your own, alone.
Three sins on your shoulders.
But given the chance to go back and change anything...you wouldn't.
It was the right choice. And now, you'll have to live with it and fight for the peace you still believe in. Agnigi isn't lost. It should never be forgotten. It's simply something that you must earn.
You are an
Individual Nosferatu Roleblocker
.
You hold the following
factional ability
:
Once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you are successful, they will become a member of the individual nosferatu faction. You will gain a topic with them.
In addition, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
Full Free-checker
: Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn
your choice
of their location, nation, or race.
During the night, you may target a player.
All
actions they perform will be blocked.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Other
.
You give the
Location
result of
Divitias
.
You give the
Race
result of
Nosferatu
.
Individual Nosferatu Factional Wincon
: You win when all threats to a new humanity treaty are eliminated and at least one player with this wincon is alive.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Expedience: Alexis Galenos
Alexis Galenos wrote:The burden of war is a great one to bear.
It would be so easy to block it all out.
It would be so easy to run away, to hide, to retreat.
It would be so easy to forget, all the horrible things that have happened while you were around. The
grave
consequences of your actions.
If only you were actually the human you often dreamed you were.
But no...you know very good and well, you are not. The
rotten
truth? You're not exactly flesh-and-blood. And so, all the terrible things are fresh in your memory, and no matter how much you would try to wash them all away, they would always come flooding back. That would be assuming you even tried in the first place.
As it is...you don't think you ever could want to forget. No...these are things, no matter how awful, that must be remembered. You cannot lose sight of how it all began, of how Agnigi fell to Gistou, the world falling apart at its seams. You close your eyes. You pause. You take a deep breath in, and as you exhale...you permit the memories to come back.
You remember how you were
raised
. The rules said to always be in the background and to never reveal your secret, while serving the humans. The result was a shy, timid little girl, who had little to say. Yet you always held this energy about you, as you pranced around, happily, whenever nobody was around. You would explore, you would look around, and when you saw humans, you were always around.
The village where you were born was poor. In it, greenskins like yourself could easily be used as desperate manual labor just for them to stay alive. After all...they needed all the help they could get, and your people wouldn't mind too much. The humans you were around were forced to work harder than greenskins in most areas of the eastern kingdom...and perhaps, it is for that reason, that they refused to force that labor onto you. They treated you as equals, and you bonded with them.
This life, one where nobody would be green with envy, was what your kind was always meant to be. In harmony, in peace, with humanity, and not only as servants, but as sentient life, considered equal to each other, even if you had abilities they did not. You always thought that the undead shouldn't be forced to live their lives this way, that it should be a willing choice.
You would be happy being their servant, but not required to be their servant, especially not if they wished you their equal. The deception seemed unfair, it seemed unnecessary, it seemed like an undead horse kept alive unnaturally long. And for your childish views, the elders by and large did not approve. Especially as you got closer and closer to the humans.
They feared you could disrupt the system, and you didn't care, because you believed in humanity. You believed in their kind compassion. You believed that even in the worst of situations, they would still see the same in you, as you did in them. You would help them, but not because of some obligation to. Because it would be the right thing to do. Helping others, helping life, that is always right. And in spite of your puns to the contrary, all undead are still alive.
When you saw the suffering of the villages, you vowed to help them. The elders continued to lay low. They did what they could, but they were afraid. You were not. So when the word of the bandit attacks reached you, you went to see for yourself the devastation of Dmitri Damanos, and it was then you knew. You knew he had to be stopped. You couldn't get help from the others, and no matter your natural powers, you would be ill-suited for the task, especially if the need to take a life--even a bandit one--
arose
.
So you contacted him. Nick...
Nicholas Schroder
. The shy, timid girl you had been needed to die. You would be humble, still. You knew your limits. You knew you had nothing, other than the kindness of your heart, to offer. You knew it was crazy. Countless other hunters had refused, so what would one more be? You had to try. So you intercepted information about where he was heading, and waited. And waited. For weeks, waiting, hoping, praying, he would show up.
And when he did, without hesitation, you came up to him. You laid out the situation to him, clearly, and tearfully begged for his help. He had to. Nobody else would listen. In him, you saw a spark of something familiar. It took you next to no time to understand...he, too, felt the compassion for humanity you so cherish. That empathy, true empathy, not mere sympathy, not convenient, but from the bottom of his heart, his soul, a feeling of utter love, not to one person, but to all of them.
So he smiled, and he made it his task to pursue. You would travel from place to place. Sometimes, Dmitri Damanos would even see you. He almost burned down your home village, but you confronted him and told him to stop, that he would not wish to. He laughed at the premise. "What would a girl like you possibly have to threaten me with?"
"Nothing. And that's the scariest thing, isn't it?"
Dmitri didn't know you weren't just a human, at least, not at the time. It was from that moment onward that he would make a point of encountering you as often as he could, if only to smirk. The devil would always leave the moment Nick came around. You always encouraged him. You knew he most likely wouldn't need it. If he was at all like you, he would never give up. And yet, all the same, you felt it needed to be vocalized, for him to hear the words you were both thinking.
"Don't let go. Don't lose sight. Never surrender yourself."
You didn't know the secret of the hunters until Dmitri himself told you much later. But it didn't matter. As far as you were concerned, you two brought out the humanity in one another, fighting for a worthy cause. Eventually, Nick was able to corner Dmitri in his lair, but Damanos found a way out, and vanished, without a trace, laying low. Undeterred, you told Nick not to give up, and he never did.
He could have easily settled down at any point, in a village he had helped. He had their gratitude for life. But it wasn't in his nature, so you wouldn't ask it of him. You continued your life in the village, as just another villager, just that one girl who happened to be momentarily brave enough to make a difference by asking the question that would change fate forever, by pleading for the lives of the living.
Ten years, this happiness lasted. At the young age of 34, even by human standards you were barely above being an adult.
...And then HE came back.
Dmitri Damanos
. Before, when you had stared into the eyes of that monster, you had seen just a despicable human. But when the beast came for you, you saw the new demon inside of him. He was different. The lowly bandit who you didn't really want dead, simply stopped, was no more. Any trace of compassion, any trace of humanity, anything even remotely resembling an interest in the normal life was gone.
He had shared his vision before, in a delusion. It was simple. The boy had a bad background, made a lot of wrong choices in life, toughened up, had a hard shell of an exterior, and wanted simple things. He wanted wealth, he dreamed of power, he also lusted after women like you. No doubt he was still a monster, even then, but he was little different from any number of other ambitious, prideful, sinful humans.
...Yet this new look of his was something else. When you had faced him before, you held fear for others, but none for yourself. You saw through him, and knew that he was nothing special, nothing remarkable. His destruction needed to be put to an end, but it was nothing catastrophic. He was human. Was.
That look in his eyes, that expression of pure sadism...no trace left of what he was before, and for the first time ever, you felt fear for yourself. He had purpose, he had a drive, something so strong that it was now a threat to everything alive. As he squeezed your throat, he made it clear in no uncertain terms his conditions.
"Normally, I would offer you a choice of coming, or watching the village burn, and then after you inevitably came, burning the village down anyway. Regrettably, I still have use for stealth a bit longer, so your village will survive...for now."
He didn't even need to offer the choice. As if you had one. If you refused, he'd kill and murder until you were either forced to submit, or chose to willingly come. And true to his demented word...he let your village live, if only because it was convenient for him to have you disappear without a trace. The whole village burning would be a neon sign advertising his return, whereas the loss of a single villager would go unseen.
The unspeakable things Dmitri did...puncturing every part of your body, over and over again. Bleeding you out. Sapping your strength. Beating you, over and over again. Hitting, striking, abusing...cutting, piercing, violating...it would break anyone else, but you still held hope, that maybe someone got the message to Nick. And yet, Dmitri tormented you further.
"Schroder would catch on before anyone else, naturally, so I sent a distraction to keep him busy. Even a hunter has trouble against a full pack of lycans. Or should I say...even a vampire holds trepidation when facing their natural enemy. The paleskinned bloodsucker is one tough son of a bitch, but even if he survives that assault, it will keep him busy for long enough that my troops will have already done their damage."
And it was at that moment, Dmitri's words sunk in. 'Your village will survive...for now.' Long enough for him to have his way with you for a while. Long enough for him to, repeatedly, experiment on you, torture you, and find every limit to what you are, what you can and can't do. Just long enough...and no longer. Then he would announce his presence, in the most public way possible, to broadcast a message specifically to Nick.
"I have
her
. Come and get me."
That is what the deaths of every human you had ever known cost. And, worse, Dmitri taunted you, with the knowledge that your own kind was for the first time truly afraid to fulfill their oath. In shock, in horror, instead of helping the humans out, they had hidden, they had fled, because they didn't know what to do. They had felt powerless. They had frozen up. You couldn't blame them for it, not after having personally lived through the ordeals of this new Dmitri.
But boded ill for the future of the world. Nick did manage to get the message. He survived, albeit weakened, and was able to track you down. But by that time, you were a bloodied rag. An almost literal husk, starved, deprived of everything. You did what you could to weakly smile, to show your spirit was not broken. But your body most definitely was.
"You have two options, Schroder: either continue pursuing me to stop my research I extracted from her...or save the girl's life. The choice is yours, but we both already know what you're going to do."
Dmitri had cast you aside, left you to die...but Nicholas saved you. He brought you to a nearby village to heal, and stayed with you until you could speak, and you demanded of him one simple task. "Take him down. Whatever hope he had has been thrown away. I'll be fine. I'll live. You have your work to do, and I have mine."
As he parted, you don't know what happened to him, but you can guess. If you know him, he's still alive, still blaming himself for his failures, but ready to fight all the same. You're ready too, and this time, you won't rely on others. Not after what happened when you returned to your own kind, warning of what had transpired.
You told them what would happen. You had seen the eyes of madness, and knew what the world was in for. The undead had to act. When they finally did, you wished they had not. They threw away everything. All their vows, the ones you used to hate, the ones you thought were outdated, they discarded. The oaths broken, but which you wish now were upheld. They could have used adjustment, you thought. They had a basis in truth. They had good ideas behind them, and the intention was noble.
With the undead as they are now...you cannot stand among them. The absolute last thing that should happen is undead subjugating humans, no matter their intentions, no matter whether they think it good for the rest of the world. Instead, the role of the undead should always be to let things develop naturally. Whatever will happen, will happen.
You know that the undead should not be inactive. You plan to fight, like all of them. Just...in your own way, with your own approach, your own attitude, where the will of the world, the greater will of humanity as a whole, guides the path of how things go. They very well could decide to exterminate your kind. But you pray for the best, that instead, you were not wrong.
You've seen the best of the hunters. You've tried to be the best of the undead. You've witnessed, time and time again, on countless occasions, the absolute best of humanity, and you know that the worst humanity has is nothing in comparison. You've even seen the forces humanity is up against, and yet your will holds strong, your belief that if you continue to pursue a noble path, and everyone else does the same, that inevitably, everything will work out alright.
"I suppose I should
rise
to the occasion." It may have elicited a stereotypical groan from your fellow undead, but you can't help it. Even after all you've been through, you haven't lost yourself. You hold faith in the world, that everything will still work out in the end, that maybe everyone won't be dead inside.
You are an
Individual Undead Cop
.
You hold the following
factional ability
:
Once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you are successful, they will become a member of the individual undead faction. You will gain a topic with them.
In addition, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
Alignment Cop
: During the night, target a player. You know the following results are possible: "Your target is not a threat to your faction" (unambiguously, ally), "Your target is a threat to your faction" (unambiguously, enemy), "Your target could be a threat to your faction" (ambiguous), and "No result".
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
East Kingdom
.
You give the
Location
result of
Other
.
You give the
Race
result of
Undead
.
You win when all threats to
the
Individual Undead
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: KuroiXHF: Hans Pohl
Hans Pohl wrote:You always were an abnormality among hunters. Most had spent the majority of their time learning how to kill various things. Perhaps you never bothered too, simply because you innately were just too good at it. Between your sharp instincts, natural talents, and tranquil fury at the failures of the world, you held the skills to kill even before becoming a hunter.
The memories of that time come back painfully, a constant reminder of what is never to be. "Hey...you're a vampire, right?"
"...How do you know about vampires?"
"Shut up for a moment. You're my patient. You're injured, and even with your abilities, you're not going to survive without food. I'm here to help you."
"I still need to know how. This is important."
"Because I've spent half my life searching for cures to rare diseases. Vampirism isn't ideal, I know that, but it was among the potential miracle cures I discovered."
"Ah...so you're someone like
that
, aren't you?"
"Figured it out, eh?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry. Especially if you wanted to continue living a normal life."
"The moment I saw you, I figured where this was headed. I'm prepared."
Even after being turned, you continued to focus not on refining your combat potential, but on the healing arts you had so strongly studied. Immortality offers limitless amount of time to study the anatomy of various creatures. Back in those days, you may have stooped to some...ah, vivisections, here and there, on some potentially-not-fully-dead subjects...but that was mainly in keeping to the code of the vampires in existence at the time: secrecy above all else, unable to be out in the open.
And it was all for a good cause. You're no mad scientist. All your work, to gain knowledge, is for one simple objective, the greater benefit of fundamentally understanding the nature of bodies, how they work, what they're strong against, what they can tolerate, and even what they're weak to, among other arts.
Eventually, you realized there was only so much you could do from the shadows. Killing is only half the picture, after all, and not the half you even wanted to focus on. Secretly, even before hunters were known as hunters, you traveled the nations to find their various methods of treating patients. You studied hard, from a distance, and whenever you could disguise yourself, closer up. Even sometimes, you would operate in the open, in places you were certain no other vampires were and where no rumors of your kind could possibly exist.
What you discovered was that--while each nation's primary methods had its merits--they all had their painful shortcomings. The herbal knowledge of the northern tribes was great, and you studied much from them, but they only knew of about 25% of the world's plants and how they could be used. The eastern kingdom had, through their understanding of the supernatural, mapped out the workings of the body on a fundamental energetic level, but these mystical treatments could not cure all ailments. The western empire had pioneered understanding of the body on a pure scientific level, but they had only scratched the surface. All three only vaguely recognized the workings of the others. Yet you decided to combine them all.
At first, secretly, biding your time. With the lifespan of a mere human, you would never have learned all three. But with the benefits of being a vampire, slowly but surely, you learned to master all their techniques, even pioneering some of your own to take things a step further. In all your progress, you earned a name. Miracle-man, they would call you. Because you dared to dream of a world where humanity doesn't need to become like you in order to break the natural barriers of life.
You immersed yourself in the deepest ravines of the Great Ridge, submerged yourself across the Divitias, traveled extensively the wide range of Erimos, and lived largely in the heart of the Great Lake itself. You would still fight, like any other vampire, against the beasts of the world. Time and time again, you would test your body to its limits, and you would find yourself testing others as well. All until no more could be learned, all until you could teach others what you had learned...and even still, you wandered, from location to location, helping others...because of that dream. Because...if you had known all you know now...maybe, just maybe,
she
would still be alive.
...Perhaps not. It was hundreds of years ago. And there's not definitive foolproof answer, even now, for whether there'd have been a guarantee. But still...if you had known what you know now, then at least she would have had a chance. Just a chance, to maybe live the long life she so desperately deserved.
Upon her death, you swore that vow. Most hunters pretend to be altruistic. You know better, especially given personal experience. They always have a motivating factor for their actions, even if that motivation is to fulfill a promise made to protect everyone, to save the lives of as many people as is supernaturally possible.
Your oath differs from that of most hunters, in that you have dedicated yourself to make a difference. As a healer, as a medic, as a magic-worker, a mystic, a doctor, and if needed, protector. Among the first hunters to come out of the shadows full-time, you wander consistently from place to place, location to location.
Not only would you fight off beasts, from simple grodens to mighty lycans, but you would stay and mend, teach your medicine to others, always helping them as much as you could. In your mind, that was, and still is, the
only
acceptable life for a hunter. Not for food, not for convenience, not for a lie, but for the good of the people, fighting for what's right, with a personal motive for doing so.
So when the rest of your kind made the decision to evolve your race into nosferatu...you turned your back on them. They offered; you flat-out refused. Sure, nosferatu would be stronger than vampires, but you're not doing what you do for power. You're doing this for love. You lived by their amoral system, but were also among the first to defy it for good reason. The sins of the past should never be forgotten, instead, used as a reminder: the actions you committed while following their rules got you this far.
It is an obligation to not let that time be meaningless. It is a duty to make sure it meant something. All the lives lost, including the one you most wanted to save...they have put you where you are now. You don't need to become better. What you need to do is serve others. To heal, to help, to protect, to fight for the greater good.
So when your kind dominated a large portion of the northern tribes, you made the decision to migrate there. A normal hunter might assume it would be to hide in a safe place, among your own kind. But no...you remember what it's like to be a hunter, even if they have forgotten with their tainted blood. Your objective, your goal, is simple: help the others wronged by them.
Miracle-man. That's your job. They would still call you by that name. Skin color be damned! Paleskin or not, with that strong desire to help others shining through, you hold confidence you will make a difference in Gistou, which now more than ever before needs your help, you, last of your kind.
The humans might discriminate against you, not unjustifiably, either. But you'll live. You'll bear that burden, suffer if needed. Because you believe that the shortcomings of the past are no reason to fail in the present. They might not acknowledge what you do, but they don't need to. That's not what you're after. You're out there for one simple reason: life above all.
You are an
Individual Vampire Doctor
.
You hold the following
factional ability
:
Once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you are successful, they will become a member of the individual vampire faction. You will gain a topic with them.
In addition, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, target a player. They will be protected from any attempts on their life.
Racial checker
: During the night, in addition to any actions you may take, you may
check
a player's
race
.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
Location
result of
Other
.
You give the
Race
result of
Vampire
.
You win when all threats to
the
Individual Vampire
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Titus: Gyles Kaiser
Gyles Kaiser wrote:Swift Justice Strikes Hard
The mighty industrial titan of your homeland knew no equals. You had come from the depths of the great ridge, rising its cliffs and living in the depths of the desert, all for the strengthening of your ultimate empire. The emperor had hand-selected you, above all candidates, for this extreme training.
Donned in the toughest of steels, with the strongest of blades ever forged, you were to command the forces of your entire nation in war, the master commander, general second only to his mighty himself in fielding the troops. You never stopped improving, keeping faithful to your nation's motto, pressing forward always.
There was never an idle moment. Place to place within your realm you would go. You would learn every aspect of every trade, to master the logistics of war. You would see your people, motivate them, encourage them, test them, and be tested by them. Your training never stopped. All for the inevitable conflict you saw coming, with
Panther Timon
of the east, and
Adrian Burkhard
of the north.
This was your destiny, to be the warlord of the west, their grand leader. Or so you thought. After all your preparations, you thought you were ready for any foe, and then, the wuldens--from your own territory, no less--appeared out of seemingly nowhere and uprooted everything. You were on the front lines, fighting battle after battle, determined not to die to such scum, but unfortunately, any victory was merely Pyrrhic in nature, and forceful retreats had to be made, time and time again, as you were outflanked and overwhelmed.
Your philosophy of never retreating was put constantly to the test, as progress could not be made. Your nation in shambles, your only comfort was in the knowledge the hunters, the paleskins, the bloodsucking nosferatu had damaged the northern tribes, and that soon after, the undead had destroyed the west. But from the ruins of the human nations, an opportunity arose, to bring new meaning to the term: with the world evolving into Gistou around you, so too could the humans change their stances, their philosophies. And thus, the alliance was born.
You are the
West Empire Champion
.
HUMANITY'S CHAMPION:
Rivalry knowledge:
You know that there are two other human champions:
Panther Timon
of the
Eastern Kingdom
, and
Adrian Burkhard
, of the
Northern Tribes
. There may be other champions in existence as well, however, if so, they would differ from the three human champions' symbiotic relationship.
Teeth-clenched teamwork:
You hold a
conditional X-shot bulletproof vest
. This is an
instantly-applied action
. X = the number of
human champions dead
. You will be informed how many vests you hold. These vests protect against
one
nightkill attempt, and are applied
before any protective role
.
Any attempt to recruit you to a different faction will fail.
In addition to your status as a champion of humanity, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, target a player. If they are
not a human
, then you will
kill
them.
Once in the game, during the night, you may target a player. If
they do not share your nation
, they will die. This takes the place of your non-human kill.
Once in the game, during the night, you may target a player. If
they do not share your faction
, they will die. This takes the place of your non-human kill.
Old Grudge:
If you target
Panther Timon
or
Adrian Burkhard
, regardless of whether they fit the conditions for your nightkill or not, you will kill them.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
West Empire
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Ridge
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win when all threats to
the
West Empire
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: No Retreat: Panther Timon
Panther Timon wrote:My Honor Is My Life.
The people have always looked up to you. From even an early age, you've gone up and down the Divitias, visiting countless villages, and asking to be treated not as the noble-blooded aristocrat your heritage provides, but as a simple commoner. You desired to feel their pain, their suffering, to share their lives and experiences, to know what they go through on a daily basis. These teachings have always been given to the knights of your grand kingdom, serving the people by serving the monarchy.
Nobody took them seriously, except for you. The humble scholar-warrior, taught both by the scrolls of your libraries and by the harsh experience of the world around you. Endlessly, you would work, you would spend time training among the commoners, be it brownskin, yellowskin, blackskin, or even the lowly greenskins. You had been chosen, even from a young age, to lead the armies of your nation should war ever arise. Your fate was inevitably one where you should have been destined to die in battle, in combat, and thus, you had little need for material wealth. Instead, you would donate what you could to the masses, as--after all--if war ever did erupt, having an army actually
motivated
to fight out of love and admiration would fight far more passionately and effectively than an army conscripted purely out of fear or need.
Long has been your desire to clash with the mighty champions of west and north,
Gyles Kaiser
and
Adrian Burkhard
. An honorable, one-on-one, fight to the death has been an ambitious desire you've held since birth, since your fate was revealed to you, for if you were to triumph over your rivals, it would prove the domination, the superiority, of the eastern kingdom over the world, and your people would thrive. You have even received personal training from hunters, at the time your cherished friends and allies, who taught you the art of beast-hunting, of slaying your foes mercilessly, and yet you always held empathy for those you wished to serve.
...And then, Gistou broke loose. All the ideas you had once held close to you were shattered, one after another. The hunters were themselves monsters, who stole large sections of your land. The wulden tainted the lands you had known so well. Then, the undead rose up, utterly destroying your homeland, leaving it mere ruins of what it once was, and now, in a desperate bid for survival, all three remnant nations have banded together, teeth-clenched teamwork begrudgingly put into place as a last-ditch effort to fight back on a unified front.
To say the least, you are not amused. But you will take the opportunity as it has been presented. You're still the knight defending your pride, your kind, your race, the few pieces left of your nation, of your people. Your enemy is not who you thought it would be, but you will fight them all the same, and you will not rest until you have regained what you so rightfully deserve.
You are the
East Kingdom Champion
.
HUMANITY'S CHAMPION:
Rivalry knowledge:
You know that there are two other human champions:
Gyles Kaiser
of the
Western Empire
, and
Adrian Burkhard
, of the
Northern Tribes
. There may be other champions in existence as well, however, if so, they would differ from the three human champions' symbiotic relationship.
Teeth-clenched teamwork:
You hold a
conditional X-shot bulletproof vest
. This is an
instantly-applied action
. X = the number of
human champions dead
. You will be informed how many vests you hold. These vests protect against
one
nightkill attempt, and are applied
before any protective role
.
Any attempt to recruit you to a different faction will fail.
In addition to your status as a champion of humanity, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, target a player. If they are
not a human
, then you will
kill
them.
Once in the game, during the night, you may target a player. If
they do not share your nation
, they will die. This takes the place of your non-human kill.
Once in the game, during the night, you may target a player. If
they do not share your faction
, they will die. This takes the place of your non-human kill.
Old Grudge:
If you target
Gyles Kaiser
or
Adrian Burkhard
, regardless of whether they fit the conditions for your nightkill or not, you will kill them.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
East Kingdom
.
You give the
Location
result of
Divitias
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win when all threats to
the
East Kingdom
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: Almost50: Adrian Burkhard
Adrian Burkhard wrote:The Winter Soldier
You had always known you were destined for greatness. Your great and mighty tribe, migrant as they were, was one of the few to have an equal spread of yellowskins and pinkskins. The child of two ethnicities, you were the ultimate byproduct of this unity, this symbolic relationship between your kind, of how the northern tribes no no bounds and would forever break down the conventional barriers for the sake of unity, of pride.
A master frontiersman from even an early age, you were equally skilled at mounting raptor, groden, and horse alike. While you keep a raptor named Lilith and a groden named Zach as pets, your most faithful companion is your trusted steed
Hunter
, so named because he has the white mane so associated with the paleskinned people you had only heard of before the rise of Gistou brought them to your doorstep.
An absolute prodigy of the bow and sword alike, it was decided that you had far too much potential to waste among your tribe alone, and you above all other candidates were chosen to train in the sacred hunting grounds of the Erimos, ranging from location to location as you slowly underwent various training. Soon, rumors of your importance began to spread. It did not take long for your name to be known across all the tribes. The great and mighty Adrian Burkhard, champion of the north.
Should the need for combat ever arise, your people would call upon you to charge into the fight and lead your people to victory. It was when you learned this was your destiny that your mentors first mentioned
Panther Timon
of the East, and
Gyles Kaiser
of the West, your conterparts in the lands below. You figured that you would always be the one to kill them, proving the glorious might of the northern tribes and allowing an indefinite peace to befall the land.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. With the rise of the wulden, that fate is never to be. With the nosferatu scum having invaded your prized, precious homeland and stolen your ancestral housing, and the turmoil of the undead rising soon to follow, the humans of the three nations have banded together, and now you face a new challenge: fight for all of humanity, to unify the world.
You are the
Northern Tribes Champion
.
HUMANITY'S CHAMPION:
Rivalry knowledge:
You know that there are two other human champions:
Panther Timon
of the
Eastern Kingdom
, and
Gyles Kaiser
, of the
Western Empire
. There may be other champions in existence as well, however, if so, they would differ from the three human champions' symbiotic relationship.
Teeth-clenched teamwork:
You hold a
conditional X-shot bulletproof vest
. This is an
instantly-applied action
. X = the number of
human champions dead
. You will be informed how many vests you hold. These vests protect against
one
nightkill attempt, and are applied
before any protective role
.
Any attempt to recruit you to a different faction will fail.
In addition to your status as a champion of humanity, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, target a player. If they are
not a human
, then you will
kill
them.
Once in the game, during the night, you may target a player. If
they do not share your nation
, they will die. This takes the place of your non-human kill.
Once in the game, during the night, you may target a player. If
they do not share your faction
, they will die. This takes the place of your non-human kill.
Old Grudge:
If you target
Panther Timon
or
Gyles Kaiser
, regardless of whether they fit the conditions for your nightkill or not, you will kill them.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
Location
result of
Erimos
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win when all threats to
the
Northern Tribes
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
MOD NOTE: In the event two champions are nightkilled in the same night, the kill submitted first will be the champion killed first, and therefore the second champion will gain a vest instantly, negating the nightkill attempt on them.
Spoiler: Heartless: Northern Tribes Neighborizer
Edith Stein wrote:Hunters weren't the first international exploiters of trade. For them to exist in the first place, they had to take advantage of an already-existing tradition: the merchants traveling the world had existed long before the paleskins emerged from the shadows. You would know, as the Stein family has been a highly-respected name among the northern tribes for generations, their wealth and power giving significant influence in the world of village politics.
Still, in spite of your loyalty to the tribes, your passion has always been the thrill of traveling the world, if for no other reason than to see the sights of the world. The riches to be rewarded from cunning bargaining is an added bonus. A favorite camping spot? The wild Great Lake itself, the cultural melting pot of the world, where all three nations would come as equals.
With the rise of Gistou, the lifestyle you have grown so accustomed to is now in danger, and if for no other reason than the pride of merchants everywhere reviling what the hunters have done, you will fight for what's right. After all...merchants are, inherently, tough, in order to survive the various monstrosities they're up against. None more so than the northern tribes merchants.
It's no coincidence that hunters were once rumored to be a lost tribe of your homeland, and it's time to demonstrate exactly why your kind has such a fierce reputation. The treasures of Agnigi are in danger. Wulden, nosferatu, undead, doesn't matter to you. When someone tries to take what is rightfully yours...you're going to show how precious your belongings are cherished.
During the night, target a player. They will be added to the Trader's Wagon topic.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Other
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Lake
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win when all threats to
the
Northern Tribes
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Gordian Lucilus wrote:You have been a devoted servant of the emperor your entire life. While you might lack the strength of a mighty warrior, you proudly toiled away in the smiths of the Erimos mountains, their molten fire giving you your innate strength, a survivor, a soldier, a successful businessman and a proud member of the western empire.
And then...all of Gistou broke loose. From the storm of the wulden, your nation was felled, and yet, you hold on strong, hold on hope. You're no natural-born leader, but in lieu of other options, you would rally other survivors to your banner. Though no champion of the people, you would gladly lay down your life for the sake of your fellow compatriots.
So now, you wander through the ruins of the empire, sweeping the land in search of allies. Humanity, especially after the betrayal of the hunters, had decided to fight together, unified, against the supernatural. The thought of serving the east kingdom did bother you slightly, though the undead rebellion helped mitigate that concern. Now, all three would truly be on equal terms, fighting together for the same thing, and still you remain loyal to your original home.
It's time to strike back. And you're not afraid to announce this to the world.
You are a
West Empire Friendly Neighbor
.
You hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, target a player. They will be informed of the following: "
Skybird
DrippingGoofball
is
Gordian Lucilus
, a human from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos."
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
West Empire
.
You give the
Location
result of
Erimos
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win when all threats to
the
West Empire
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
MOD NOTE: If the friendly neighbor is recruited, they do not lose their ability. HOWEVER, their new status will be reflected accurately.
These extras are:
"
Skybird
/DrippingGoofball is
Gordian Lucilus
, an other from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos."
"
Skybird
/DrippingGoofball is
Gordian Lucilus
, a lycan/wulden from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos." (Depending on the recruiter.)
"
Skybird
/DrippingGoofball is
Gordian Lucilus
, a vampire/nosferatu from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos." (Depending on the recruiter.)
"
Skybird
/DrippingGoofball is
Gordian Lucilus
, a vampire from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos."
"
Skybird
/DrippingGoofball is
Gordian Lucilus
, a nosferatu from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos."
"
Skybird
/DrippingGoofball is
Gordian Lucilus
, an undead from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos."
"
Skybird
/DrippingGoofball is
Gordian Lucilus
, an undead from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos."
They will be informed of this if they are recruited, as to not catch them by surprise and accidentally out themselves as scum.
Spoiler: Toogeloo: Individual Human Bodyguard
Ingrid Wolf wrote:The hunters had to have gotten the idea from somewhere, and the Wolf family knows exactly where: from them. For as long as there have been merchants traveling the roads, there has been a need for warriors to defend them. While many merchants are of the sort where they can defend themselves, you know all too well from your family's long line of traditional work the myriad of wimps among merchants.
All the better for business. Your father and mother taught you from birth how to handle weapons, how to protect an envoy, even how to run interference. You mastered riding raptors and horses from a young age, and have been trained in all the tools of a traditional guardian. From blunderbuss to bow, sword to shield, you are able to use any in whatever situation may arise, and with the rise of Gistou, the need for your services has only grown.
You will fight for humanity, and put your skills to good use. After all, you have a point of pride. Your family was once one of the richest in the known lands, but since hunters have encroached on your business, your wealth had declined, in spite of the risks remaining just as great as before. So, it's time to settle the score. Bandit-turned-cult wuldens, hunter-turned-enemy nosferatu, or you? Who will win the roads? Well, you intend to find out.
You are an
Individual Human Bodyguard
.
You hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, target a player. If they were to be killed, you will die in their place.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
Location
result of
Other
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win if all threats to
the
Individual Humans
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: BBMolla: Individual Human Jailkeeper
Julia Otho wrote:Your family once held a significant position of power in the western empire, long before Gistou came to be. You were trained in your family's traditions, in suppressing your opponents with militaristic skill, taught to serve the empire with faith, and yet, you never felt like you could gain recognition among your own family.
While the western empire was fairly progressive, there were still some holdouts clinging to the old ways...among them, the Otho family from which you came. With them insisting you could never be who you dreamed to be, a bitterness grew within your heart, and distanced you from the path of the western warriors.
This, as it turns out, might have actually saved your life, given the butchering of the academy you would have attended by the wuldens. You had instead decided to travel the land and learn some healing arts, and at the time of Dmitri Damanos's rise to power, you were studying in the Great Ridge. His attacks did eventually reach you, but by that time, you were prepared. It turned out your childhood training ended up saving your life when the escape route you had planned was intercepted by nosferatu, and it was on that day you decided your course:
From one land to another, loyal to none but humanity itself, you would fight for the sake of others, proving yourself by using all your knowledge at once, regardless of whether they wanted your help or not. Because in this new land...sometimes, people don't know how much they need each other.
You are an
Individual Human Jailkeeper
.
You hold the following
personal abilities
:
During the night, target a player. You will protect them from any and all nightkills, while also blocking
all
actions they perform.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
West Empire
.
You give the
Location
result of
Great Ridge
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win if all threats to
the
Individual Humans
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: TheWayItEnds: Individual Human racial checker
Drusilla Balbinu wrote:The eastern kingdom is known for many things. Being progressive, sadly, not among them. Their strong emphasis on traditional values has kept the status quo for thousands of years, leaving ambitious women like you to fend for themselves.
Since childhood, you have always dreamed of escaping, so when the opportunity arose to stow away on a merchant's wagon, you took it without looking back at your home life. From there, place to place, you would wander, a poor child in poverty, but bit by bit, you would pick up skills from various places. You got to meet many hunters back before they were revealed as vampires, and even got to see one fight a lycan up close, terrified as you were!
You even had seen, having come from the eastern kingdom, many greenskins before they were known as undead. And you began to appreciate life everywhere. In your studies, you became fascinated with the world, deciding that, as an adult, you would become an adventurer, strong enough to wander the world and document the many fascinating aspects of Agnigi.
Eventually, you even began to accept your roots in the eastern kingdom, acknowledging that all the many things you have seen since then would not have happened had you been born elsewhere. So when the undead destroyed your home nation, you were a bit sad, but ever the optimist, you decided to use this as a new opportunity: it would be a chance to prove yourself, and to travel the world anew.
You are an
Individual Human
.
You hold the following
personal ability
:
Racial Checker
: During the night, in addition to any actions you may take, you may
check
a player's
race
.
You give the home
Nation
result of
East Kingdom
.
You give the
Location
result of
Other
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win if all threats to
the
Individual Humans
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Kurt Rainer wrote:You've always lived a peaceful life. The pinkskin tribe you originate from had no set location, so to you, being on horseback (your tribe's specialty) was home. You would always watch in awe as tribal leaders would negotiate with other fellow northern tribesman whenever you rode into their territories, and were ever the eager hunter.
You thought this was the life you would always live. That when you got older, you might fall in love, marry, and continue the same life your parents had taught you how to live. And yet...with the rise of Gistou, the paths once so sacredly traveled by your tribe were in severe danger of nosferatu attacks. Wuldens could encroach at any time, and the risk of undead attacking was not outside the realm of possibility. Fights erupted, and the tribe divided.
The unity you once felt, the home you had sought, now shattered, you've made up your mind: for the sake of the people, you will fight.
You are a
Northern Tribes Human
.
You hold the following
personal ability
:
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Northern Tribes
.
You give the
Location
result of
Other
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win if all threats to
the
Northern Tribes
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: rb: Individual Human Vanilla
Tatiana Ruffins wrote:You've never had much interest in the world. Living in the Erimos range, you were one of only a few humans to owe loyalty to neither the northern tribes nor the western empire. While they had certainly fought over this domain before, you lived in a sweet spot, a neutral zone between the two.
The mountains gave everything you ever needed in life. There was game a plenty to hunt, and many a plants to farm or to forage from for a diverse diet. With the bountiful rainfall, water was never in short supply. It was no wonder why your lands would be so desired. But you never held interest in the affairs of mankind. What you wanted was the quiet life.
Gistou rendered that impossible, and as you were forced to flee from both wulden and nosferatu, you vowed you would reclaim your homeland and fight for humanity.
You are an
Individual Human
.
You hold the following
personal ability
:
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Other
.
You give the
Location
result of
Erimos
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win if all threats to
the
Individual Humans
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Spoiler: A Song of Ice and Fire: Individual Human Vanilla
Aelia Caelickson wrote:You never knew what you were going to be in life. The western empire had always been progressive with its beliefs, and it would be possible for someone like you, from a lesser-known family, to be anything you wanted to be if you set your mind to it.
And yet, in spite of this, you hadn't any idea what you would devote yourself to. Equally talented in all fields, and yet lacking the devotion to commit to any, you were directionless, and as you were near graduation from your school, everything changed. Displaced from your homeland, with your nation destroyed by the wuldens, your school tattered just before you were to receive a general education diploma, you finally had an answer: it didn't matter
how
you would help, but you were going to fight for humanity, because the suffering around you was simply too much to ever be acceptable.
You are an
Individual Human
.
You hold the following
personal ability
:
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
West Empire
.
You give the
Location
result of
Other
.
You give the
Race
result of
Human
.
You win if all threats to
the
Individual Humans
faction
have been eliminated.
Confirm both via PM and thread; the game thread is here.
Note:
The original dream featured three prominent characters: the villainous bandit-turned-cult-leader who ruined the world (Dmitri Damanos), a persistent hunter pursuing him doggedly (Nicholas Schroder), and the girl the bad guy (who liked her) kidnapped, the love interest of the hunter (Alexis Galenos). This is why those role PMs are significantly longer flavor-wise than the others.
Post
Post #8444 (isolation #225) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 9:24 pm
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8439, davesaz wrote:I spent so much time searching the names and terms to try to decode the flavor -- and it turns out to not be based on anything.
Hey, technically it was!
A dream is still something!
But yes, that
was
the general idea.
I do think cult recruiting non-consecutive nights made it pretty unlikely that they could reach a winning position.
Imagine this.
There's no town vigs left, because they all got strongman killed early on. (This was a very realistic scenario! I anticipated that the champions would claim early. Something about the way I designed their roles made me think: "Of ALL the roles in the game, these are the ones most likely to claim early.")
The cult can recruit every night.
The town must lynch cult every day, and in order to actually eliminate the cult, they must then rely on SCUM to kill the cult every night.
This, when the cult may have already infiltrated or even flat-out taken over the scumteams.
Wouldn't you say that would be overpowered? In that scenario, the cult would never be likely to be in a position they
couldn't
win. It'd take an act of luck to take them out. And, in fact, an act of luck is exactly what did take you out. The watch N1 was luck. The watch N2 (which further condemned Nosferatu) was luck. The recruits were luck. The roleblock was luck. It was a series of unfortunate bad luck events, but without them, the game could have gone...very differently.
Post
Post #8446 (isolation #226) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 9:27 pm
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8441, Frozen Angel wrote:I'm really really angry at isolatinist strongman, Like really really really angry
You and literally every other scum player.
The wulden faction was really angry at them for killing Mathblade, the player they were setting up for endgame. Without Mathblade, the wuldens didn't have any player who could last long.
The isolationist faction was really angry at them for killing rather than recruiting, since they were the universal scumread of everyone. Without them recruiting, they condemned their faction to a loss.
DrippingGoofball targets Salt Squad with her friendly neighborize. (Fails, roleblocked.)
She also targets Salt Squad with her nation-check. (Fails, roleblocked.)
Heartless neighborizes Cephrir.
Heartless checks A Song of Ice and Fire's location. (Result: Other.)
Titus vigs Wake88. (Wake88 is human, and therefore will not die.)
Titus checks Klingoncelt for nation. (Result: East Kingdom.)
Almost50 vigs BBMolla. (BBMolla is human, and therefore immune to this death.)
Almost50 nation checks Klingoncelt. (Result: East Kingdom.)
No Retreat vigs Titus. (Titus is a champion, and therefore dies.)
No Retreat nation checks Cephrir. (Result: Northern Tribes.)
Wake88 checks Toogeloo's nation. (Result: Northern Tribes.)
rb checks Titus's nation. (Result: West Empire.)
TheWayItEnds race checks rb. (Result: Human.)
A Song of Ice and Fire checks Stormblade's location. (Result: Great Lake.)
UNDEAD NEIGHBORHOOD:
dramonic kills Titus. (Titus is set to die.)
(Conversion: unused.)
Luna Fox faction cops Salt Squad. (Result: Isolationist.)
Luna Fox checks Klingoncelt's nation. (Result: East Kingdom.)
dramonic race cops copper223. (Result: Undead.)
Klingoncelt watches A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: Nosferatu visited your target. Klingoncelt visited your target with a check action. Heartless visited your target with a check action.)
Klingoncelt checks A Song of Ice and Fire's location. (Result: Other.)
copper223 checks Heartless for nation. (Result: Other.)
Stormblade (BP/Other/G Lake/Undead/nation/URS) checks Salt Squad's nation. (Result: West Empire.)
Expedience is alignment copping RAM. (Result: You target is a threat.)
Expedience is checking Tim's location. (Result: Great Ridge.)
(Conversion: unused.)
Cephrir tracks DrippingGoofball. (Result: Your target did not visit anyone.)
Cephrir checks Lady Lambdadelta's nation. (Result: West Empire.)
Salt Squad race checks Lady Lambdadelta. (Result: Wulden.)
RAM submits: No action. (BP.)
Wayward Thinker strongman kills dramonic. (dramonic will die.)
Wayward Thinker nation checks Stormblade. (Result: Other.)
(Conversion: unused.)
davesaz nation checks Nosferatu. (Result: Other.)
Lady Lambdadelta rolecops Stormblade. (Result: 2x Bulletproof.)
Lady Lambdadelta nation cops Stormblade. (Result: Other.)
Mathblade ninja kills BBMolla. (BBMolla is set to die.)
Mathblade location checks rb. (Result: Erimos.)
Tim full-checks Titus. (Result: West Empire/Great Ridge/Human.)
(Conversion: unused.)
THE DEAD:
-Titus (No Retreat/Almost50 gain: 1x BP)
-BBMolla
-dramonic
Night Two Actions:
Expedience Cops Nosferatu. (Result: Ominous.)
Expedience location cops No Retreat. (Result: East Kingdom.)
MOD ERROR NUMBER ONE:
Expedience should have gotten Divitias, rather than East Kingdom.
Expedience converts: Tim. (Fails, Tim cannot be converted.)
Almost50 vigs Cephrir. (Cephrir is set to die.)
Almost50 nation checks Mathblade. (Result: West Empire.)
MOD ERROR NUMBER TWO:
Mathblade is Other. I informed him of this on D4, when I noticed it.
No Retreat vigs copper223. (copper223 is set to die.)
No Retreat nation checks rb. (Result: Other.)
DrippingGoofball targets Cephrir. (Result: Cephrir will be informed.)
She also nation checks Cephrir. (Result: Northern Tribes.)
Heartless neighborizes Expedience.
Heartless location checks Cephrir. (Result: Great Lake.)
Toogeloo bodyguards Luna Fox. (Fails, due to strongman.)
Toogeloo location checks Mathblade. (Result: Great Ridge.)
Identical to Mod Error 2, because it's the same thing. rb was informed D3.
TheWayItEnds race checks davesaz. (Result: Human.)
Luna Fox faction cops Bacde. (Result: Undead Risen Slave faction.)
Luna Fox nation checks Stormblade. (Result: Other.)
Bacde watches Luna Fox. (Redirected: Nosferatu visited your target. RachMarie visited your target with a check action.)
MOD ERROR NUMBER FOUR:
Bacde should have seen RAM also visit. He was later informed of this on D3.
Bacde location checks Luna Fox. (Result: Divitias.)
copper223 nation checks Bacde. (Result: East Kingdom.)
Stormblade nation checks RAM. (Result: Northern Tribes.)
Stormblade converts No Retreat. (Fails: No Retreat is recruit-immune.)
RAM redirects Bacde to RAM.
RAM nation checks Klingoncelt. (Result: East Kingdom.)
Cephrir tracks No Retreat. (Result: I have it listed as "Your target did not visit", but I believe I gave him the correct report.)
Cephrir nation checks Heartless. (Result: Other.)
Wayward Thinker Strongman kills Luna Fox. (Result: Luna Fox is set to die.)
Wayward Thinker checks Mathblade's nation. (Result: West Empire.)
MOD ERROR NUMBER FIVE:
Identical to 2/3. They were informed of this D4 I believe.
Lady Lambdadelta strongman kills Stormblade. (Result: Stormblade is set to die.)
Lady Lambdadelta nation checks Wayward Thinker. (Fails, roleblocked.)
Mathblade location checks DrippingGoofball. (Result: Great Ridge.)
MOD ERROR NUMBER SIX:
DGB is from Erimos. The wuldens were informed of this...D5 I think?
Tim full checks rb. (Result: Nation Other, Location Erimos, Race Human.)
davesaz nation checks RachMarie. (Result: Other.)
(Conversion: unused.)
Nosferatu kills RAM. (RAM is set to die.)
Nosferatu full-checks Stormblade. (Result: Nation Other, Location Great Lake, Race Undead.)
A Song of Ice and Fire location checks Bacde. (Result: Divitias.)
THE DEAD:
-Luna Fox
-Stormblade
-copper223
-RAM
-Cephrir
Night 3 Actions:
RachMarie(RB/Other/Divitias/Nosferatu/Full-free/I Nos) roleblocks Bacde.
Rachmarie race checks Bacde. (Result: Undead.)
RachMarie uses her recruit on Wake88. (Wake88 is set to become an Individual Nosferatu.)
Expedience(Cop/E Kingdom/Other/Undead/Location/I Undead) cops TheWayItEnds. (Result: Not a threat.)
Expedience location checks Nosferatu. (Result: Other.)
(Fortunately, I caught this last minute: it's NATION checking Tim, with a result of West Empire.)
(Deliberate no-submit on Friendly Neighbor.)
Heartless(Neighborizer/Other/G Lake/Human/Location/N Tribes) neighborizes DrippingGoofball. (DGB is set to join The Wagon.)
Heartless location checks DrippingGoofball. (Result: Erimos.)
No Retreat(E Champ/E Kingdom/Divitias/Human/Nation/E Kingdom) kills Heartless. (Heartless is a human, and therefore lives.)
No Retreat nation checks davesaz. (Result: Other.)
Almost50(N Champ/N Tribes/Erimos/Human/Nation/N Tribes) kills Nosferatu. (Nosferatu's 1x death immunity is used up.)
Almost50 nation checks DrippingGoofball. (Result: West Empire.)
Mathblade(BP-Ninja-Champ/Other/G Ridge/Wulden/Location/Wulden) recruits rb. (rb is set to become a Wulden.)
Mathblade location checks RachMarie. (Result: Divitias.)
davesaz(RGodfather/Other/Erimos/"Human"/Nation/Wulden) nation checks Heartless. (Result: Other.)
Tim(Full/W Empire/G Ridge/Wulden/Full-free/Wulden) full-checks DrippingGoofball. (Result: West Empire/Erimos/Human.)
Wayward Thinker(Strongman/N Tribes/Erimos/Nosferatu/Nation/Isolationist) strongman kills Mathblade. (Mathblade is set to die.)
Wayward Thinker nation checks rb. (Result: Other.)
(Conversion: unused.)
Nosferatu(1xsuper-BP/Other/Other/Other/Full/Other) cults davesaz. (Result: davesaz is set to become a cult, and therefore loses his racial godfather status.)
Nosferatu full-checks TheWayItEnds. (Result: East Kingdom/Other/Human.)
A Song of Ice and Fire(Vanilla/W Empire/Other/human->Other/Location/I human->Other) location checks Expedience. (Result: Other.)
THE DEAD:
Mathblade
THE CONVERTED:
rb (I Human-->Wulden)
Wake88 (N Human-->I Nosferatu)
davesaz (Wulden-->Other)
Night Four Actions:
RachMarie roleblocks A Song of Ice and Fire.
RachMarie race checks Heartless. (Result: Human.)
Wake88 nation checks No Retreat. (Result: East Kingdom.)
Expedience cops rb. (Result: target is a threat.)
Expedience location checks rb. (Result: Erimos.)
Toogeloo bodyguards RachMarie. (Toogeloo is set to die.)
Toogeloo location checks A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: Other.)
Heartless neighborizes TheWayItEnds. (TWIE joins the wagon.)
Heartless location checks TheWayItEnds. (Result: East Kingdom.)
DrippingGoofball friendly neighborizes Heartless. (Heartless is informed.)
DrippingGoofball nation checks No Retreat. (Result: East Kingdom.)
Almost50 kills RachMarie. (Toogeloo dies in Rach's place.)
Almost50 nation checks A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: West Empire.)
No Retreat kills Nosferatu. (Nosferatu is set to die.)
No Retreat nation checks A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: West Empire.)
Bacde watches Bacde. (Result: Nobody visited your target.)
(Location check unused.)
(Kill: not used)
rb nation checks TheWayItEnds. (Result: East Kingdom.)
Tim full checks Heartless. (Result: Other/Great Lake/Human.)
davesaz nation checks A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: West Empire.)
davesaz wulden-kills RachMarie. (Toogeloo dies in Rach's place.)
Nosferatu kills Heartless. (Result: Heartless is set to die.)
Nosferatu full-checks Toogeloo. (Result: Northern Tribes/Other/Human.)
A Song of Ice and Fire location checks DrippingGoofball. (Fails, roleblocked.)
THE DEAD:
Toogeloo
Heartless
Nosferatu
Night Five Actions:
Wake88 nation checks Almost50. (Result: Northern Tribes.) (Literally no clue why.)
RachMarie roleblocks A Song of Ice and Fire.
RachMarie race checks A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: Other.)
Expedience cops davesaz. (Result: Ominous sense about you.)
Expedience location cops davesaz. (Result: Erimos.)
DrippingGoofball friendly neighborizes No Retreat.
DrippingGoofball nation checks No Retreat. (It's like people aren't paying attention or something.)
Almost50 kills davesaz. (davesaz is set to die.)
Almost50 nation checks TheWayItEnds. (Result: East Kingdom.)
No Retreat kills Expedience. (Expedience is set to die.)
No Retreat nation checks TheWayItEnds. (Result: East Kingdom.)
Bacde watches No Retreat. (Result: DrippingGoofball visited your target.
DrippingGoofball visited your target with a check action.
Bacde visited your target with a check action.)
Bacde location checks No Retreat. (Result: Divitias.)
(Kill: not used)
Tim kills Wake88. (Result: Wake88 is set to die.)
Tim race checks A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: Other.)
davesaz nation checks A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: Other.) (Again. As in, literally, JUST after having done the same yesterday.)
A Song of Ice and Fire(Vanilla/W Empire/Other/human->Other/Location/I human->Other) recruits RachMarie. (Fails, roleblocked.)
A Song of Ice and Fire location checks RachMarie. (Fails, roleblocked.)
Almost50 kills A Song of Ice and Fire. (A Song of Ice and Fire is set to die.)
Almost50 nation checks RachMarie. (Result: Other.)
No Retreat kills Bacde. (Bacde is set to die.)
No Retreat nation checks RachMarie. (Result: Other.)
Bacde watches A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: Almost50 visited target with night action.
Bacde visited target with check action.)
Bacde location checks A Song of Ice and Fire. (Result: Other.)
A Song of Ice and Fire kills Almost50. (Almost50 is set to lose a vest.)
THE DEAD:
A Song of Ice and Fire
Bacde
EVENT TRIGGER: New Humanity Treaty ratify/reject.
Next up, the PMs sent for the nights, which will be separated by night, since I'll run into mafiascum's character limit otherwise.
Post
Post #8451 (isolation #228) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 10:07 pm
Postby mastin2 »
Night One Flavor/Results
The Cult:
Spoiler: Новая добыча была найдена.
That's you, Frozen Angel! (Well, the new you, anyway.)
Nosferatu
's target has the
nation
of
Northern Tribes
,
location
of
Great Lake
, and
race
of
Nosferatu
(hey, you found one!).
A Song of Ice and Fire
is now a member of this topic. They hold the following role PM:
Aelia Caelickson wrote:You never knew what you were going to be in life. The western empire had always been progressive with its beliefs, and it would be possible for someone like you, from a lesser-known family, to be anything you wanted to be if you set your mind to it.
And yet, in spite of this, you hadn't any idea what you would devote yourself to. Equally talented in all fields, and yet lacking the devotion to commit to any, you were directionless, and as you were near graduation from your school, everything changed. Displaced from your homeland, with your nation destroyed by the wuldens, your school tattered just before you were to receive a general education diploma, you finally had an answer: it didn't matter
how
you would help, but you were going to fight for humanity, because the suffering around you was simply too much to ever be acceptable.
You are an
Individual Human
.
You hold the following
personal ability
:
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
So I have to admit: originally, I meant to have this image in the OP, but I forgot to do so.
Oh well. Allows me to use it now.
Spoiler: Still funny
That's the most accurate to the original logo.
Anyway, for ease of convenience, Day Two link.
Your
conversion
remains
unused
.
The Dead:
Spoiler: Titus's Death
You didn't have the heart to do it. While you weren't able to tell his life story just by looking at him,
Wake88
was, as far as you could tell, undeniably human. There he was, in the middle of the night, just...
sleeping
. So peacefully, so innocently. You're a fighter, a warrior, not a murderer. And if he had been a creature of the night, surely, he would have been awake, right? So you shook it off and left him alone. You would have to find someone else to slay.
And as luck would have it, you encounter
Panther Timon
. You can't believe it! Your fabled rival, the one you are sworn to kill, right in front of you! And the look in his eyes, that murderous gaze. This is no strategy meeting. This is no time to talk of peace. This is time to do combat, in the heat of night, one champion to another. You could check
Klingoncelt
later. This was now! This was in the moment. You lock your wristblade to his longsword, and as you lunge with your second wristblade, he deflects with a mace. This is what was always meant to be, the glorious battle that you have always dreamed of.
Time and time again, you dance together and apart, clashing, retreating, and lunging back in. You weave around each other, looking for an opening in the others' armor, for some gap in their defenses, and both of you wrestle about, in an acknowledgement of the others' strength. You are evenly matched, and as dawn draws near, panting, both exhausted, you lament that a draw may come...
...And that's when a musketball punctures through your armor. Some outside force had interfered in your fight, and struck you in the chest. While the blow did not instantly claim your life, it alone would have been mortal. Panther Timon did not seem to notice, assuming you were merely distracted, and with a mighty strike, plunged his blade through your heart, the life fading from you.
You can form no words. Disappointed, all you can do is look at him for a few moments, before the life has faded from your eyes.
The undead work well together as a group, but all the same, you think that acting on your own would be best until you could verify all of them are actually who they say they are. First on the list, as you walk off, you decide, would be
copper223
. You look at all of his files, at his history, and after reviewing everything, midway through the night, you reach the conclusion: he is, in fact, one of you. You consider contacting him, now that you know you can trust him, but you realize that by the time you could reach him, you wouldn't have enough time to carry out the task you have also committed yourself to.
All threats must be eliminated. You don't care if they mean well. They don't need to be a scumbag to cause damage. No matter who they are, you would need to slay them. Your weapon of choice isn't the most accurate, being a standard-issue military musket, but if you got close enough, one shot would be enough to kill them.
Titus
had made their intentions clear enough, you told yourself. They needed to die. So as you track your prey, using your hundreds of years of experience in the art of warfare, you slowly close the gap, eventually finding where they are at. Much to your surprise, it seems that they are in the middle of a duel with some other person, but you cannot make out who that person is. All you know is, you have your target in sight, and dawn is rapidly approaching.
So you take your time, line up the shot...and with one blast, your target has been hit. Though
Titus
does not die instantly, the figure they were fighting finishes the job for you, ending their life.
As you are about to wrap up and head home, however, you feel a sharp pain in your chest, something far beyond the normal level of pain, especially considering you are undead, and you look down. Trembling in shock, something you didn't think possible from the undead, you remain still, motionless, as you see a
hand
, having pierced your body, and holding in it a slowly-fading heart.
There are many things your kind can survive.
Having their heart ripped out is not among them.
The life slowly draining from your body, you collapse, your vision fades, and you never get to see who your attacker was.
, at least you think it's Toogeloo, the darkness makes it hard to tell, out, and carry them to a nearby village. It's almost as if they want to get themselves killed, the way they're so blindly broadcasting their intentions, both day and night! So, when Toogeloo let their guard down, even if for just a moment, you locked them up in a house which they would be safe in for the night. You had, kindly enough, been given a house right next door to watch over them.
In the mean time, you have work to do. With business taken care of, you decide to embark on a brief journey, tracking down rumors and hearsay about
Heartless
. You can't glean much, but what you do gain is knowledge that they're certainly not loyal to any of the three nations. While odd, it's not worth dwelling over, and so, you return to your temporary abode, intent on resting throughout the rest of the night, aside from an occasional check-up on your forced next-door neighbor.
...But midway through the night, a disturbance comes forth. You didn't hear a thing, and yet are instantly alarmed when the first you notice of them is them placing a hand over your mouth. Too dark to see their face, all you can do is stare in terror as your airflow is cut off, the pressure applied to your neck slowly squeezing the life out of you.
You kick. You flail your arms, but it is all in vain, and you black out, never to wake up again......
The wagon keeps on going. Normal humans wouldn't have the endurance to last through the night, but you've always thought yourself to be double the normal for a human. Who needs to sleep? It'd be a weakness, a vulnerability, in these times, at least alone. You cannot afford it while by yourself.
Good help is so hard to come by these days. Near the break of dawn, you come across a small town, and in it, meet a kind individual, a fellow going by the name
Cephrir
, who seems eager to assist. "Hey...you interested in having a job?"
"Well, Gistou doesn't exactly leave a lot of options."
"Hop on, then."
And so, you have earned yourself an aide. You know exactly nothing about him, but you've always thought yourself a good judge of character, and that would have to be enough.
With this done, you look at your notes, about the person you had passed on earlier. Though a kindred spirit, untied to a location, you had decided not to hire them, nor invite them for passage. Whether that was a mistake or not, only time will tell.
Magic exists. You would think this would be obvious in the world of Gistou: humans have encountered vampires, lycans, and undead, and now hybrids of the three in the form of wulden and nosferatu. Beasts of impossible statures have long-since been known, and monsters of the night are a plenty. As far as you're concerned, only an idiot would dismiss the idea of magical rituals having pragmatic applications.
They wouldn't know it, but the undead exist in the first place entirely
because
of these magics. It's not something as easy as, "you're bitten, you're infected". Pshaw! That's not even true of the vampires. You're not
exactly
clear what the method for turning is for lycans, but vampires also are a form of bringing the deceased back to life, albeit a form which is mutually exclusive from the undead as you, a matriarch, know them.
Of course, the secrets of creating undead are not the only magicks you were taught. Long-since forgotten by all, even most elders are unaware that you have mystical powers. In the ancient days, this practice might be known as "The Oracle". You prefer the term, "Watcher", because it is a more descriptive term for what you do. The details are never perfect, but all the same, you get results that are fairly reliable. The selection process begins. Having swiped some blood from
A Song of Ice and Fire
, now, you would be able to scry on them during the time a normal mortal would be asleep.
Your skills are rusty, so you cannot sense their movements, but the movements of those around are as clear as ever. Now what is it that you see?
You cannot do as much as your fellow hunters can, limited by your mere vampire body among a faction of nosferatu, but what little you can do, you can do
extremely
well.
You are a warrior, a true warrior. You hold no shame. You haven't stooped so low as to taint your blood with lycanthropy. No, you're a proud paleskin, and the trusted leader of the Erastos coven. While their might may be diminished, they still hold many resources at their disposal, including a network of information you have dispersed with one simple objective: find
Lady Lambdadelta
, and figure out their secrets, about who they really are.
You would do it yourself, but bureaucracy is at its finest in times of war, and a gathering with other elected warlords slows you down. Still, all the same, you are confident results will come in by morning, and that you will have the information you desire. If you can find your enemies, if you can identify them...then maybe, just maybe, you can swiftly eliminate all opposition, and the land will be back to the way it's
In winter, war has always been favorable for your nation. But now, for the first time ever, you experience doubt when facing your intended target,
BBMolla
. Are they really your enemy? You approach their house. At least, what you think is their house. You take a deep breath in. What weapon to use? Eventually, you make a decision: if they were a human, they would be safely asleep. If they were not human, then they would probably be standing. That makes the decision simple enough: shoot into the building, and if they live, they were human, and dies, they were not.
So, you take out your rifle. One shot wouldn't be enough, so this would take a while. You shoot. You reload. You shoot again, from a slightly different angle. You reload. You do this, circling the house, until you run out of musketballs. Silence from the house. You wait. If they were awake, having survived the barrage, they would be tempted to reveal themselves, and you would emerge, killing them. If they were out of the house, you would expect them to come back. But you see nothing, so you are satisfied: either they're already dead, or they're a good, nice, human being right where a human belongs in the middle of the night: in bed.
...Well, not so much the middle of the night anymore. Dawn approaches. You carefully go over your notes on
Klingoncelt
, before taking a nap. It was of secondary focus, but you're glad you managed to get it done.
. The darkness ensnares them. Their screams, oh yes, the beautiful, pleasant screams of agony, as their life is slowly twisted in front of them. Broken down, restructured, bit by bit, torn apart and redone, remade, into what you have created for them. This is their destiny. You have chosen them, the first to fall...and also, the first to be risen.
Life on Agnigi is a perversion. Gistou is how things should be. Oh, how you love it! As close to love as you are capable of being! The chaos, the carnage, the death, the destruction, this is what was meant to be! And you give this gift, freely to those you deem worthy, those you have chosen. For this is your way. This is your path. You will never let them live.
Peace. It does exist, but never could it from what those despicable beings think of. Only one state exists where things are of true peace. And that is when everything, including life, has been shattered into millions of distraught pieces. To this end, you have stalked your next potential victim,
Cephrir
, and learned of his secrets, oh yes, of his many, many, juicy secrets.
Oh, if only you could move faster! But no...you've waited this long. You have time enough to wait more.
Your recruitment has succeeded.
A Song of Ice and Fire
is now a member of your cult. They were
human
, and therefore, no more humans may successfully be converted.
You cannot
Nobody could possibly hope to match your might. You have no equal, no rival. Long ago, you surpassed what that pathetic fool could have ever hoped to have accomplished. It has been ages since that broad ever held your interest, and when last she did, it was as an experiment you have since finished. No, your might is superior to all.
So you have no issues entering the battlefield, killing countless others. It is true, your might means you could easily leave the work to your lesser vassals, but to satiate your sheer boredom, you need to do
something
for fun, and it might as well be the slaughtering of your supposed enemies.
Does it really matter? Ally, enemy, you're above it all. If they wish to submit to you, so be it. If they wish to slay you, then they're welcome to try. All you know is that they will die. So you select your prey,
BBMolla
, and move in for the kill. Perhaps they are a normal human, or maybe they hold some supernatural power. You honestly don't care. You've set your sights on killing them, and so it shall be done.
Efficiently, silently, you move in. And as fortune would have it, there they lie, asleep, unaware. Fool. It'd be no fun if they couldn't see you as their life drained away, so you slap them awake and lay your hand over their mouth.
And then you squeeze. Slowly, but surely, they struggle in vain. And then, they go limp and, presumably, dead.
Your work done, you return home, to hear from your subordinates on your other task,
Your mission is clear. As a hunter, it is a pathetically simple task. Track down your prey, and then quickly, simply, with brutal efficiency, eliminate them. No need for questions. No doubt in your mind. All you need to do is find, and kill.
It's that simple. This is not a time for the faint of heart. This is war, and not one you started, you are quick to remind yourself. Everyone who opposes you must be eliminated, and you are positive that
dramonic
, your intended victim, is among them. So your orders say, and so you shall follow them dutifully.
The task is easy enough. The motivation is there. So there is no hesitation. You find him, and with a quick thrust, utilizing your overwhelming power, from behind, you decide to give your kind a reputation: impaled through the heart. For some inexplicable reason, you feel as if it is somehow fitting, for you to slay an opponent in such a primal, basic manner.
Blood washed from your hands, you move onto your secondary objective: ascertaining the primary nation from which
Stormblade
hails. And yet, in all of your records, you can't find where the heck they're from. It's almost as if they hold no loyalty at all. Puzzling, but not exactly unheard of, you decide to shrug it off. You've done your job. Now it's time for some R&R, among friends.
You talk among them, spending the rest of your night in peace.
It is amusing to talk to the children around you from time to time, but few if any hold the same level of experience as you do. Perhaps they hold more natural talent, but a practiced skill is something only a true master such as yourself would know. And your instincts tell you to go solo for a while, as you have traditionally done, to find your own information, which you trust to be reliable.
After all...it's your own intuition at work. Your object of fancy,
Salt Squad
, had caught your attention. Where were they from? This is what you wanted to know. You had only had the slightest of glances at them the previous day, so focusing on the brief encounter, you memorize every detail you saw: what they were wearing, how they spoke, how they looked, their nonverbal signals, their accent when they spoke, you take it all in, parsing all the details.
You've spent time in each region, and you're almost positive they have one of origin, and spending the night, peacefully, undisturbed by any would-be assassins (as far as you know, anyway), you finally find your answer as dawn breaks.
Whatever the divine dictates, you will dutifully do. Dmitri Damanos has tasked you with infiltration, after all, and you intend to make him proud. This was a task given specifically to you. Learn as much about
Nosferatu
as you could, and then quickly bolt out to deliver the news.
You've been preparing for this since the moment you were born. You know this now. A simple street urchin before you were blessed with the knowledge of the lycans, you have always been able to instinctively pick out where a person is from. The skill is, of course, handy on the streets for opportunism. And this prowess has only increased with the addition of your supernatural senses.
...Yet when you try to get a reading on
Nosferatu
, as far as you can tell, they hold no ties to anywhere, which you find a bit strange, but not at all out of the realm of possibility. After all, wanderers were common even before Gistou, and after it, it's a rarity to stay in one place. Still, this is news you need to give, for it may be of use to your master.
You knew everyone would go out on their own sooner or later. You don't fully trust one another, so it was inevitable that you'd be spending time alone to search the world for answers. In your particular case, you want to know more about
Heartless
. Knowing where they come from would be valuable, of course, but you're more interested in what nation they hail from.
You're not the master of the art that you know more experienced undead are capable of, be it through their arcane spells or keen intellect. However, having studied both, you've formed a bastardized version calling upon parts of each that serves you well enough. A little bit of digging there, a little mystic ritual there, and doing some odd guesswork here and there, the pieces fit, and what you find intrigues you.
You're fairly certain the conclusion you're drawing could not be wrong, and yet, as far as you can tell, the answer is...none. You shake it off, though, because in these times, perhaps that would not be so large of a surprise. It's time to return home, and be among your kind.
You would gladly stick together with others if you could find anyone that could be trusted. Your home has been lost, thanks to the constant strife on Gistou, but you remain firmly convinced that the world is not without allies.
So with this, you began scouting
Toogeloo
. If, as you would think, they were to be from the north, then they would have some sort of trinket, some sort of family heritage, to prove it, something that only someone from the north would understand the significance of.
This is easier said than done. While you are no slouch for a northerner, you are no stealth master, and you do not wish to be discovered, as that would taint the whole reason for this ordeal: to find fellow kinsmen without risk of being exposed to enemies. You're not suicidal, after all, and you already know better than anyone else: divided, you would fail against any threat in a fight.
It would only be together you could hold strength, so when you spot the most subtle of hints for what you're looking for...you smile.
Dmitri's will has been known. You would follow it whatever he said. While sometimes, you feel the need to question his wisdom, you remind yourself that often, he is proven right, time and time again. He knows what he is doing. He's made mistakes before, at times, but mostly things he could not foresee, and therefore, not things your insight would have helped him prevent.
He wished to know more about
Titus
, and you intend for it to be everything. While the only way to know their allegiance would be to ask them--something you're not above doing, but which you'd prefer to avoid in the middle of the night--everything else would be open to you in a matter of hours, with some thorough digging. You know what you are doing. It's the one thing you are good for. His information gatherer, the trusted analyst who is capable of finding everything of note.
The easiest factor was in finding an origin from a place you know well, which narrowed it down considerably. From there, it was just a matter of checking some files to confirm your suspicions, and after all that was said and done, simple visual confirmation would do. The riskiest part, but most essential, in assuring you know what you face to be true, and there you had it: your final proof.
So you return to Dmitri, your faithful leader, and lay out his new truth.
hailed from was easy enough. He bore no resemblance to your own people, and was definitely not from your largest rivals in the west. While a vagabond would certainly be a possibility, your years of experience, travels, and basic instincts tell you otherwise. No, you know where he is from, and with that done, you move on to your primary objective.
Titus
. If that is what they wanted to call themselves, so be it. You had marked them for death, and knew you could find them. That was not their real name, of course. No, instead, you would know them far more intimately by a different identity, one which you've known ever since ascending to your status.
Gyles Kaiser
, right there before your eyes. In Agnigi, you would have fought in the open, during the day, without it being personal. But in Gistou, your murderous intention has come out. This would be a fight to the end, and one you intend to win.
Gyles was the first to lunge, his wristblade contacting your longsword, but you quickly deflect his second wristblade with your mace. This would be a true fight, one for the record-books, an age-old question answered: who is the strongest, the young west or the old east? As you weave in and out of battle, time passes. Dancing around one another, you can tell the other is thinking alike, trying to find any opening, any weakness. The art of combat is something you've studied your whole life, and them, theirs. You can tell: this is an even match, one which very easily could be made or lost on endurance.
The wrestling match certainly seems to be a stalemate, and as dawn draws near, panting, you fear the fight would end in a draw, a disgraceful stalemate, if a decisive blow could not be made. Yet any move would be a risk. Then, a moment of opportunity: they showed weakness, a distraction in their defense. You didn't hesitate. It could have been a feint, but you had to take the chance, especially since if it was real, it might be the only opening you would get. And regardless of what the intention was...the results are clear enough: there your once-rival now was, lying on the ground, a look of disappointment in their eyes. They lock gaze with you, and then they fade into the abyss.
You have won.
...Now what? Well, you'd have to continue on, of course.
You have always been a bright student. Just an unapplied one, thanks to a lack of focus. Now that you have gained an idea for what you need to do, it's finally time to put your gifts to good use. Starting with
Stormblade
. You've set out on a journey, abandoning your homeland of the west empire in order to track down this figure of interest.
Rather, not so much them, as it is, where they are from. From your understanding, their origins are around the great lake, but you want to see it for yourself, so you've traveled the land, hard, and entered into the wilderness to confirm. Talking to people here and there, you pick up various hints suggesting your hypothesis may be correct, so now all you need to do is get
out
of the region before falling asleep. You're not an idiot. You know all too well that if you're alone, the region is nearly impossible to withstand without being properly trained, and you're just an average human.
So with the knowledge you came for in hand, you find yourself peacefully within your own lands. Well, as peaceful as Gistou can get. It
is
still a living hell, after all. There'd be absolutely no guarantee of safety, but at least at home, what's left of home anyway, you have some comfort.
So you let your thoughts drift off, content that you will be fine.
There are many dangers in the world, but you're as ready for them as you'll ever be.
...Hey.
...What's this?
...This feeling...
...Odd.
...It feels strange...
...What...
...W...wh...what...
AAAAHG.
NO!
NO!
NO!!!!!!!!!
...NO!
This is wrong.
This is wrong.
This is wrong.
THIS IS WRONG.
NO.
STOP.
AHG!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH.
WHY?
WHY YOU?!?
NO!
...no...
......
...n...
.
.
.
...o...
.
.
.
.
.
.
...Καλώς ήρθατε στο θάνατό σας.
Your check target's
location
is
Great Lake
.
Your
Race
has changed to
Other
.
Your
Faction
has changed to
Other
: You win if your cult controls 50% of the playerlist at any given time.
You may talk in this PT at any time with the rest of the cult. Refer to this topic to see the full powers and restrictions of the cult.
You maintain all your other abilities. (In your case, this is simply a location check.)
You are expected to play to this new win condition. That means no outing other living members of the cult without their explicit consent. I'm very lenient; I won't modkill you for jokes or sarcasm, but an explicit rule this game is "when in doubt, ask", so if you cross the line, I WILL modkill you. That "ask" rule is very much an important thing.
You are too valuable to put your life at risk. The ancient knowledge and wisdom you provide for your people is too important to be lost, and so, you stand around, doing nothing, while you let the rest of the young hunters do their own jobs.
This is your team. This is your 'game'. This is your war. You may not have liked it, but it was the role given to you, and so, you will fully embrace what that means. Whoever opposes you, no matter what, must submit or die, even if they're members of your own kind. There's no room for compassion now. There's no room for empathy.
Perhaps you can give some sympathy to those who are in positions of lesser fortune, but this is still a fight. This is still a battleground. All of Agnigi--no, you suppose, Gistou is now the appropriate word--is on the line, a world-wide conflict that you have placed yourself at the front of...
...Just...
...Not literally at the front. Metaphorically, however, you are there, though!
You're happy that your lord has given you a wonderful amount of attention, but all the same, sometimes, you can't help but be disappointed: in some ways, it's actually anticlimactic. You're his strongest warrior. You're honored to be by his side, as part of his fight, glad that he would even consider sending you for an important job.
...But he gets to go have the fun of killing and murdering people, while you...are on scout duty. It is, of course, a necessary job, vital for his success in the war efforts. It is not, however, very glorious work. At least you would have something interesting to report when you got back, about the target you were taking a look at. The
Stormblade
fellow feels like someone you are destined to fight, a strong warrior in their own right you would take pleasure in killing.
Furthermore, because you continued investigating beyond that, you learned they are not, in fact, tied to one of the nations: very promising for the prospects of killing and battling and generally getting in a murderous mood. You feel like your work is done, and this, you return to report your findings.
Your target is a
two-shot bulletproof
. Your target additionally possesses the standard check ability. (You are not informed which of nation or location they chose.)
Your check target's
While you have never had much interest in the world, by no means does that leave you unskilled in seeing where people are from. To the contrary, because you grew up in a land divided between nations, it's a skill which comes rather easily to you, and you think it's one of the few things you have to offer in the world of Gistou.
It's just a matter of how best to use it. Ultimately, with their bravado you caught wind of earlier, you decide that
Titus
would be as good as any other, and so, you set out to find them. As it turns out, you don't need to search long before you have your answer: yes, they are exactly what you, on the borderline of the west empire, should have known. And with that done, the only question would be what to do with this knowledge.
You figure it could wait until morning. Riding back to the mountains, you rest in your home range, in a cave you hope is hidden enough from the world that you will not be disturbed, peacefully resting until dawn.
Hmm...perhaps...no, 'Seriously' would be a fine alternative, tied with 'really', but no word would actually be
better
.
You were absolutely proud to carry out your orders when you first received them.
Lady Lambdadelta
would be investigated, to find their homeland, and if it was something you found of interest, you were to report. After a preliminary look indicated West Empire, you did this with time to spare, and were instead assigned the task of tracking the movements of a person indicated as a high-level interest target:
DrippingGoofball
.
So you were expecting something juicy, something meaty, from the night. Maybe even literally, though metaphorically would be fine as well. Something was bound to happen. Everyone on Gistou does something, after all.
This was no world for Agnigi residents that would do literally nothing, after all.
...Except.
...As far as you can tell, that's exactly what there is to see: nothing.
A sleeping beauty, never once woken during the night.
What the hell?!?
Your target did not visit anyone.
Your check target's
You may be young for an undead, but you've always had a gift for knowing things about others, one rivaled only by the likes of Alexis herself. Since she's considered the hero of the undead, you think that, given enough time, you might be one as well.
But first, you have to prove yourself out in the real world. By simply finding the right people, you would be able to take a look at them, and understand who they are. This gift of yours, you wish to use for the betterment of your kind, your people, so that in the future, others can get along better in a restored Agnigi than they currently do in the cursed Gistou.
Even now, you think you can get along with others, if you know where they come from, and with this, when you encounter
Salt Squad
, you simply strike up a conversation with them. And with it, you feel like you've gained enough to go back and talk to the others about what you saw, what you felt, the loneliness and bitterness within the poor fellow.
So when you encounter
Klingoncelt
, you continue talking, and instantly, you can tell her truthfulness when she claims to have come from the same place you have, and you feel a little bit more secure. A very good night, indeed.
Gistou may be nasty, but to you, you still see the Agnigi within. It is still your world, whichever word you choose to use, and so, the results are the same regardless: it is something that, as far as you're concerned, must be cherished at all costs. Everything is so lovely. Even though your enemies have done things that are despicable, you cannot hold any hatred in your heart, for if you do, then who in the world will show any kindness, any forgiveness, any hope of exiting the darkness and entering the light?
Others might be
green
with envy, but for you, you are filled with the life of that happiness, of that love. Nothing can dampen your spirit, not even the
ghastly
condition of the world around you. If it costs you an
arm and a leg
, you swore it then and there, you would uphold your values, and keep coming back, to help time and time again.
You see into the hearts of others. You know who and what they are, sometimes even before they do. Even if they are the worst of
ghouls
, you won't let that scare you away from them. You can bring out the best of them, even if they feel like mere
phantoms
of their former selves. Though the
ghosts
of their pasts may be strong, all the same, you know that you will get through.
So as you approach the next person you meet, presumably
RAM
, you reach out your hand in a gesture of kindness. Instantly, you already know you will be rejected, maybe even attacked, but you don't back down, not even in spite of the imminent danger to you. So far, all you've given is the
bare bones
of kindness, so relentlessly, you keep on trying and trying, until your own body gives out. This allows them to escape you, but you do not give up.
Whereas others track and hunt to murder and slaughter, you do so to give out flowers and food, offering them to sit down and talk about their troubles. En route, you meet someone, you believe them to be
Tim
, and they willingly divulge where they're from, and you give them some basic comfort, before day dawns.
You're
dead tired
, exhausted from the night, but you do not let it deter you. There's still people to help.
Your target is a threat to your faction.
Your check target's
Agnigi is worth it. Gistou is miserable, but you can live, if only to see it again. Your life was never easy in there, but you were on the right road to happiness, one which has currently crashed and burned.
You resolved you'd fight, in your own way, and now...it's finally time to live up to that. You have some skills useful to the world. With a look at
rb
, you are hoping to get a foothold in the world as a source of reliable information.
It would be a small step. There would be many more fights to be had in the world of Gistou. But it would be a step in the right direction, you feel, especially if they ended up being someone you could call an ally.
? You constantly fret and worry about that as you focus on the next task at hand.
In war, you cannot hesitate, so you've pushed those thoughts aside. You want to know where Salt Squad came from, in particular, if they hail from the same nation you do, but any information is good on the subject.
You ponder it, you gather your notes, you get everything together, and finally, you have it.
"A-ha!" You declare.
"Salt Squad is..."
...You suddenly wake up. Did you fall asleep? When did that happen? Did you just dream the whole thing?
Well, whatever your conclusion was, real or not, you've since forgotten it.
You dared the world, openly challenging them to combat. Dmitri Damanos himself could come charging at you, and you wouldn't even flinch. Still, all the same, despite working hard on protecting
Almost50
, who you are running interference for, you wouldn't be much of a professional if you could do nothing but that for the entire night.
So, in your spare time, still disguising it behind your bravado, you take peeks into
dramonic
's location. You're almost at the point, and then...
...Crud, you must have slipped. You fell, and hit your head or something. You have some minor memory loss, so whatever you found is gone, but it couldn't have affected the night too much.
Every day, you are unsure of what you do. Is it the right action? Could you do something differently? Would it be beneficial to do this, instead of that? You never know. All you know is that what has been done, cannot be undone, so you pick and choose which battles to fight, carefully, hopefully, always the optimist that you can do it, that you will not be broken by this world. After all...
...It's what
she
would be doing, you're sure of it. Alexis...you miss her so. Gistou could mean you encounter her again, but you never know. You certainly hope so. In the mean time...with night falling, the real battle begins, and you know you need to act with conviction in order to not die. You must make the right call. You must make the decision which will protect the future you so desperately wish for.
So on that note, you take
DrippingGoofball
out. Heavens no, not permanently. You're not a monster. You're not Dmitri. You're better than him. While you can't be sure that they will be safe, if as you suspect they would get in the way, then they shouldn't need the protection anyway. Instead, you have to move on to your next task: in the current world, as you know all too well, people judge a lot based on race. Even you are not immune, as you are more likely to trust a human than your own kind, and certainly more than any wulden or lycan!
The undead...you're not as sure about, but that's a bridge to cross when you come to it. First, you use your skills as a hunter to discern what
Titus
is. It doesn't prove to be that hard, and, satisfied you've found yourself an ally, you gain some quick shuteye come dawn, for you know that tomorrow is going to be just as hard as yesterday was, perhaps even harder.
are both dead.
You do not get to know the other night actions.
The Undead
Stormblade's conversion has failed
.
Stormblade
has died.
Luna Fox
has died.
copper223
has died.
Since that means literally the only one left alive in here is Bacde, no harm in saying: yes, you were all Undead Risen Slaves. Bacde's still alive, so I cannot disclose my reasons why your topic was handled this way beyond this.
The Dead:
Spoiler: Stormblade's Death
You sigh. You hadn't known Eugine Lysander all too well personally. He was a little bit of an obscure elder, always staying in the background. While others such as yourself had taken the forefront in leading, there he was in the background, insisting he wasn't special, just another soldier like any other, and while you disagreed with his decision, you at least respected his choice to live in the background.
He was often making many of the right calls. Sharp, intuitive, he had been a good man in his unlife, and to see him claimed brought you great sadness, especially when you were unable to attend his funeral, in spite of having been offered the chance to speak. It simply wasn't viable. War is hell. You know this all too well, and so, too, did he. It was inevitable that in Gistou, you would lose good people, that your numbers would dwindle slowly, and you knew that it was inevitable much could be lost if you were not careful. Out in the world, on your own, you sift through the battlefields of days past, looking for potential recruits. This was never a pleasant part of the job. You did it all the time, back in the day, when you were young. As one of the first, you saw many more join after you did.
With only your intuition to guide you, you weave through the corpses, looking for any signs of life among the dead. Getting the desperate to come to your side isn't exactly the most honorable thing to do, but it is an amazingly practical strategy for keeping some new blood alive in times such as these. This task, you had been entrusted. This task, you knew you could not afford to fail on. Yet in the vast fields of death you roam...not one soul still lives. And while some would still be fresh enough to be forcefully risen, that rule is not one which you would ever allow to be broken. The difference between the desperate dieing and the already-dead may be only minimal, but it is still enough of a difference to matter, as raising someone who has no desire to live forever never works out well. Especially if they were among those who had died at the hands of the undead in the first place.
Perhaps you should have paid more attention to
RAM
, and given them the offer, but without the proper information available, it would have been an inadvisable move. You couldn't tell much about them. Still, all the same, with nothing better to do in the corpse-laden wasteland, you multitask, and while searching, you go over the information you caught from them. Their accent was hard to place, but between their clothing, mannerisms, and overall nonverbal signals, you believe they most likely call the north their home. The distraction finished, you get back to work, and amidst the carnage, you finally locate a potential prospect.
Panting, covered in blood, you encounter
No Retreat
, apparently the sole survivor of a heated combat. Further inspection reveals it was a duel, one which they had managed to emerge victorious in after a full day of having fought monsters off, yet they were definitely human all the same. Definitely strong, definitely durable. From the variety of weapons they carry, you are able to further deduce they are a flexible, intelligent fighter. A survivor, a skilled soldier and combatant. The only question in your mind is whether they would make a good recruit or not. The only way to know for sure would be to approach them, get closer, and observe the details.
As you approach, to your horror, you realize this is no ordinary human. Though they are, undoubtedly, human, no wulden, no nosferatu, and, yes, no undead, would ever be able to touch them. Standing right before you, you see the person even you hold some fear of, for you know you have angered
Panther Timon
more than any others for the transgressions of your race.
Immediately, you make a hasty retreat, heading back for the forests of the Great Lake, hoping that you weren't spotted. To your relief, it seems the champion had passed out from exhaustion after slaying an undead hero, you didn't see which, just knew they were a great combatant of your kind. You'd be safe. You could probably win in a fight with him, but one, you'd rather not test it, and two, even if you wished to, he's not someone you'd willingly make an enemy, meaning a hasty retreat would be in order.
As you finally come to a spot where you can rest, you begin to scout around for potential threats around. The neck of the woods you find yourself in would likely have no humans, thanks to the beasts running rampant. You suspect none of them could hope to best you, but if a wulden or a nosferatu were present, they would stand a chance. Albeit unlikely, the risk was there, and you had no intention of being killed.
In the midst of the night, you find no evidence of nosferatu nearby, but are disturbed by the clear evidence of some wild lycans nearby, usually an indicator that the wulden are coming.
Suddenly, from the shadows, a wulden lunges out. You easily dodge their first strike: this is your terrain, not theirs. You hold hundreds of years of experience over any wulden. You are an elite trained warrior, so no matter how strong the wulden, no matter how skilled, no matter how natural a warrior they are, they would not be a match for you.
All the same, the immense speed, power, and natural talent of your opponent concerns you. Most wulden charging in for a kill strike like this one did would be doing so recklessly, leaving themselves open to a swift counterattack. This one, instead, seemed to have charged as a
test
, and their defense is, as far as you can tell, inpenetrable. Were you to counter-attack, they would tear you to shreds.
So, you distance yourself. Suddenly, you find the wulden behind you. With a mighty slash, they tear into your chest. This would kill a normal human, but for an undead, was just a flesh wound. Using this opening, you stab the wulden, yet even this the wulden seems to have anticipated. You aimed for the heart; with the slightest of shifts, they forced the blade into their mid-torso, and with overwhelming strength, they rip your sword out of their body the hard way. Barely avoiding bifurcation, but having disarmed you, they use their left hand to puncture your chest, grab your heart, and crush it. Lacking any strength, maintained only through willpower and physiology, you limp away, but soon collapse, fading into nonexistence.
Suspicious of...what was their current alias again?...ah,
Bacde
, you suppose it is...you decide to head off on your own to investigate. You head to the edge of the territories your kind control to investigate from others who would know, but part of that process places you on the front lines in combat.
This is something you are not familiar with. You were raised a farmboy. You're not a seasoned warrior like many of your compatriots. But all the same, you have an innate talent, having trained and studied with the best. So you decide that you will help prove your worth on the field. Death is something you would prefer to avoid inflicting on others. It doesn't take you long to gather the materials needed for your amateur rituals, and with your skills, you are able to figure out that your target of interest does in fact hail from your kingdom, not an infiltrator from outside.
With this done, you could go home. But seeing the pain, seeing the suffering, of all those around you...you cannot just idly sit by and let them die, one by one. Taking up a sword, you enter the fray. You try to avoid fighting the humans, directing attention more to the brutal wulden attacking from the west. And yet, all the same, after the wulden fall back, the humans advance forward, and despite all your desires to not fight them, the conflict comes forward.
You decide to step forward. "My name is Hermes Bion!"
You are good. You know you can do it. Your skills demand it of you, that you would be able to put an end to the fighting here.
"I know you are mostly from the Eastern Kingdom, like I!"
Ducking arrow barrages--they must think you're a moron to stand in place like that--and avoiding a barrage of musket rounds, you ready yourself. You're not Alexis Galenos, but you still have a way with words, able to convey your meaning.
"I'm no fool. I know we cannot simply agree to not fight. It's not that simple."
You stand up, waving a flag. In the olden days, the message would be clear.
"So let's settle this the way things
should
be! Only one more death! Mine, or one of yours! The losing side retreats. Do you still have the honor to accept?"
It was risky. You knew that you could lose. You knew you could die. You knew they could refuse, and the fight could continue. But...if you won, if they honored the old tradition, then...you would be one step closer to peace and understanding for all. All they needed to do is accept.
And, stepping forward, you are glad to see the fighting has stopped with the presence of this figure. Even if you died, then the time spent in the duel would be time spent not fighting, allowing for fewer deaths today than you otherwise would suffer. So all this is good. Yet when you see who it is that you come to face...you can't help but cringe a little:
Panther Timon
, THE champion of the Eastern Kingdom, their elite fighter, best of the best, had stepped forward, present to accept your offer and fight an honorable duel to the death.
This is gonna
suck
.
Could you actually do it? Beat the best? The murderous gaze in their eyes would be enough to petrify even an experienced warrior. But you keep your composure. Calm, collected, you take a deep breath...and ready yourself.
"I don't suppose you're just a kid like you look," they muse.
You shake your head. "I'm 30. Barely an adult even by human standards. Among my kind, I'm still called a child."
Panther sighs. "So I'm to kill a kid, then? This is sad."
You ready yourself. "All the same. I did not make my offer emptily. I intend to follow through, even if my opponent is you."
"You will lose."
"Don't underestimate me because of my age. I am here to fight. And one of us will die."
After saluting each other, you shift into your battle stances, and the engagement begins. You fight with the simple tools of a farmhand: a simple pitchfork in one hand, an ax in another, in light leather armor. Panther Timon, in contrast, has chosen a mace and a sword, in heavy armor. You weave around one another, dancing back and forth. You lunge, they dodge. They try to hack away, you strike their hand. Their armor protects them, but they are rattled.
Clash after clash, you nearly hit, but never cleanly connect. With the experience advantage, and maybe even strength advantage, Panther Timon would not be easy to take down. Time passes. They begin to fatigue, and you know that if you can last through to twilight, they may decide to break the fight off, as per the tradition.
Time and time again, you come in, come out, weaving around. Neither of you wishing to be at point blank, you wanting the range advantage, them wanting the mid-range. Panting, tired, they seem to be on the verge of defeat, from atrophy, as night draws near...yet in their weakened state, they make one final dash towards you.
You manage to finally plunge your spear into them, but not in a vital area. With the distance closed, they cleave you in half, leaving you in a state near death. You watch, to your horror, as the fighting continues, the undead unwilling to agree, further compromising your kind's integrity, and all the wounded warrior can do is, in sadness, mercy-kill you, puncturing your heart and leaving you to die, as they collapse, unable to keep their end of the bargain, either.
was a weakling, and a borderline traitor. While they had still fought valiantly for your cause, their refusal to embrace the nosferatu was their downfall, and now their death has placed you in the awkward position of being surrounded by enemies on all sides. They couldn't hold the line.
Sure, they were a hero. Yes, they had been a great soldier and commander, but with their failure, the rebirth your kind was given now lies in jeopardy. Your kind in dire peril, you can no longer afford to sit comfortably on the back lines, out of sight. You have traveled roads recently, encountering people here and there, but for the most part, you've secured yourself to be safe in the event of attack, because you were entrusted as the leader of your people.
The war general of the war generals, champion of the nosferatu. Among the oldest living vampires, and certainly among the wisest. You certainly were not responsible for this mess, nor any of the faults of your kind. But you have resolved to get out of this pit. You determine that with a little suggestion and manipulation,
Bacde
could potentially serve as an ally to the vampires. While you can only presume whether they are human or not, what you have in mind would work regardless of species, as simple tricks here and there that you learned ages ago combined with the lycan's ability to transform make deception simple enough.
They would think they were targeting an ally. Instead, they would be targeting you. With this in mind, with this knowledge, you secure your position, and slowly move on with the night. All according to plan. The war would work out in your favor. You are certain of it.
As you wander back to your comfortable position to the north, you notice the overwhelming darkness around you, and begin to become concerned.
You're a creature of the night. All of the first vampires had died, and failed to pass on all of their knowledge. Yet all of them, despite being creatures of the dark, said the same thing: what they feared most of all was complete and total darkness.
You thought it was a metaphor for death.
Yet as the world blackens around you, your instincts kick in slowly, piece by piece, you begin to experience something no nosferatu should ever know: pure, primal
fear
.
Something's wrong.
Very wrong.
Pitch black soon engulfs you. Your heart begins beating rapidly.
"No."
You whisper at first.
You begin to take off running, hoping to escape.
But whatever it is that you are facing has already ensnared you.
Had you been safe at your base, this would never have happened.
Yet here you are, seeing something that is...an absolute lack of anything.
So all you can do is scream.
"No!"
Louder, you yell, at the top of your lungs.
"NO!"
You cannot shake it off.
You refuse to accept it.
"This cannot be!"
You can't die! You're too valuable!
"I won't let this be!"
You thrash out, but whatever the world around you was, it no longer feels tangible.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHG!"
You cry.
You snarl.
"
I WILL NOT DIE!
"
You must live!
You must be!
You must continue!
You need to keep existing!
NO!
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
This won't be acceptable.
You are the great, mighty, ancient Karl Braun!
Your wisdom, your experience, knows no equal!
You can't be trapped like this!
You can't die like this!
Not so easily!
No, you are strong! You are old, but not weak!
Your keen intellect could find a way out.
You know it!
You can escape.
You must!
THIS IS THE ONLY THING YOU KNOW.
YOU. WILL. NOT. DIE.
You refuse.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
You continue lashing out.
"I am Karl Braun!"
...
"I am Karl Braun!"
As if saying it again will change the meaning.
"I. AM. KARL. BRAUN!"
You have said it time and time again.
"This cannot be, I won't let it be, I refuse to die, I cannot be killed, I swear it! I will not be bested! I will not be overcome!"
The emotions well up in you. The stoic leader you had once been is gone. Lost behind the rage, the sadness, the fear, the fury, the despair, the loss of all sense, of all rationality.
What little remains is nothing but a final plea, humiliation as you face a disgraceful death.
You've always been comfortable with traveling from place to place. After all...it was part of your duties back when you were just a mere servant.
And even after you had finally obtained your dream of becoming a hunter, you were quick to roam the world, proving yourself place to place as the latest, proudest, newest member of the Lorenz coven.
So it only made sense to take advantage of the opportunity when it arose. You remember the conversation you had yesterday. After the disappointment from your uneventful evening, you had been approached by a person,
Heartless
they had called themselves, though you knew that was an alias, with an interesting offer you couldn't pass up on.
You had been working on your cover, tracking your target (rather, not tracking them), and then, suddenly, after you had been working the majority of the night, they came. "Hey...you interested in having a job?"
You paused for only a brief moment. "Well, Gistou doesn't exactly leave a lot of options."
"Hop on, then."
What luck! You could definitely use this to your advantage. It would make a convenient cover, making your movements much easier to mask as you travel from location to location, the war general most on the move, the hero most out in the field, collecting information and conducting assassinations as dictated by the elders.
And now, as a new night neared, you found a surprise. You're not quite sure how, but through some mysterious method, it seems as if your old target,
DrippingGoofball
, had taken an interest in you, as you receive a message from them: "My name is Gordian Lucilus. I am an honest hard-working human, a proud member of the Western Empire. I am hoping, praying, to find allies on my travels, to fight the damned wulden bastards who stole my home from me. If you consider yourself my ally, at first available opportunity, rally to my banner."
Though you ponder sharing the information with
Heartless
, you decide best to wait. While your skills are indeed formidable, you also fear sharing this information with your allies would compromise your cover, and thus, until such a time as you could safely slip through unnoticed, you would keep in mind the possibility of the nosferatu gaining a willing legion of human soldiers to fight against their main enemy, the wulden.
While it would be good, you first set your sight on verifying the identity of your new employer,
Heartless
. It would be one thing if they were, as they appear, a human, harmlessly traveling from place to place and doing good. It would be quite another if they ended up being a liability. So, you search through their stuff, hoping to find what nation they hail from, yet nothing comes to mind.
Ultimately, you decide it doesn't matter, as you both agree to head southeast. "I'm thinking of picking up this
Expedience
I've heard of. What do you think?"
"Sounds good to me!"
What you fail to mention is that you have an ulterior motive:
No Retreat
is rumored to be in that area, and you are on assignment to find what they're up to.
As you pass through the carnage of a battlefield, you are able to quickly latch onto their movements, discerning what you believe they have done. They apparently were amidst the battlefield, fighting in the carnage, and you find that, if your intuition is correct--and you see no reason it wouldn't be--they had engaged the now-deceased
copper223
, presumably (though not necessarily) in combat. In their spare time, they apparently also had an interest in
rb
, but only on the level which you hold in
Heartless
.
So as you approach
Expedience
, ready to welcome them, you smile, satisfied you have had a very productive night, gathering some extremely useful information. Your luck couldn't be better.
...And then, though you can't tell where the shot originated from, you are unceremoniously dispatched with a musket round to the heart, instantly killing you. To add insult to injury, nobody notices as you fall off the wagon, killed without so much as a glance back.
Your target visited
copper223
with a
night action
.
Your target visited
rb
with a
check
action.
Your check target's
nation
is
Other
.
DrippingGoofball
is
Gordian Lucilus
, a human from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos.
You wanted to, instantly, feel a trust for those around you. It's in your nature. You know it's what Alexis Galenos would have done, and what you want to do. So you try. You really, really do, to trust them at their word, and leave it at that.
...But ultimately, you do cave in to the peer pressure around you. In this case, you strike up a conversation with
Bacde
. You knew what they had said, that they had been there to help the undead since the beginning, but you wanted to hear them talk more about it, listen to their stories. Alexis wouldn't have needed that, but all the same, you felt comfort when hearing them, and rested assured by the time they had finished you knew where they were coming from.
Happily, you trotted along and encountered
Stormblade
, about to set off on their recruitment mission. You didn't quite know what to expect, but after waving them off, you felt that they never really liked it in the East Kingdom, yet were clearly not from either of the others. So, with this information at hand, you were set to reaffirm yourself: you were among friends. You could be happy. They were certainly odd, strange, but none of them had lied to you. You could trust them.
So as you prepared to head back home, you took your time, confident that nothing would go wrong, that everything was alright, that the undead could have a future and you would be there to help them.
The red lilacs on the ground beneath you seem so beautiful.
...As your body begins to go numb, the thought occurs to you. "...Red?"
And with horror, you feel the life draining from your chest, as you realize that something, someone, has set out to murder you, and with a grievous wound to the heart, had just succeeded. The ground stained with your blood, you drop into the crimson mud, and your life slips away, slowly.
Mouth agape, you cannot speak. You cannot move. All you can do is, with your eyes wide open, cry, remorseful for all the things you will never be able to see, never be able to do, all the conversations you will never be able to have.
Alexis...
You miss your friend.
And, with luck, you hope, it will be a long, long, LONG time before she would ever join you in where you now head......
on in good faith, but all the same, you thought now would be a good time to learn more about them. So, at a time they weren't looking, you searched for any hint of their origins, finding some tools suggesting lake-based origins.
Satisfied with what you had found, you continue on the road. You have an idea in mind, and wonder what he would say.
"I'm thinking of picking up this
Expedience
I've heard of. What do you think?"
"Sounds good to me!"
Knowing he approves, you decide to pick
Expedience
up. Just as you approach, you notice that
Cephrir
is absent, but shrug it off as nothing. Encountering
You've always approved of the stealth-parenting approach: letting the children
think
they are unsupervised, allowing them to grow and explore, all the while, secretly keeping a close eye on them. In this case,
Luna Fox
is just a child of your kind. While technically an adult, she's barely there by human standards, yet alone, those of the endless undead.
She's always been one of your favorites. So you keep a close eye on the person you see before you. Though your vision is blurry, you still see signs of movement which horrify you, as you want to do something to stop what you see, but there's nothing you can do. By the time you would be able to get someone there, it would be too late.
So you slump down, sad. The losses mount. One after another. You feel progressively as if your ranks have thinned, and the undead are near final death. Your kind, your children, in so much peril. So all you can do is watch the poor Luna Fox, the girl from Divitias, as death encroaches.
Horrified, you shake your head in shame, sitting as you watch life crumble around you. The mother of the undead, you are one of their most valued members. And so many die in your place. Life would truly be sad.
. It's immediately obvious to you that they are from the west. You can just tell it. So you don't bother with that.
Instead, you carefully track down
Cephrir
. Positive they're a threat, you methodically hunt them down, with the persistence normal for a hunter. You had fought long and hard during the day. Now, in the night, it was time for some fun. Productive, but all the same, a challenge.
So you pursue. Just like you were trained, as you had been taught. You earned the title "Champion of the North", after all. Now it was time to prove it. With some good intelligence, you manage to set up an ambush. In it, you find your target, line up a shot, and...using your trusty rifle...fire a single shot.
While you can't tell from this distance if you hit your mark, you know dawn nears, and thus, the fun is over either way.
, is not for converting. This time, you have set out on a simple goal: food. With your target now in sight, slowly, you stalk them, methodically approaching, getting closer, until you are within striking range, and the creeping darkness from you progressively takes hold.
They suspect nothing until it's too late. By the time your target has realized what's going on, they are already gone.
And with that, they are finished. Quickly, swiftly, dead without a note further.
Most of your night is instead spent stalking
Stormblade
, to investigate prospects. As the night comes to an end, a small laugh, of sorts, emits from you.
One step closer to bringing an end to Agnigi forever.
While claiming a life is rather satisfying, you decide that for the time being, no target would present a worthy challenge, leaving the task to your willing slaves.
Instead, you spend your time investigating, personally,
DrippingGoofball
. Their location is of interest to you, especially when it appears they call the mountains their homeland. You would have to make note of it later. But, not satisfied with this, you decide to listen to the reports of your subordinates. They would entertain you, and perhaps give you ideas for what to do next, as you feel a little unchallenged.
You have no equal. Your war is going as you expected. None of your valued pawns have yet been sacrificed, so you have positioned yourself strategically, with superiority, over all of Gistou. What's left to do?
Infiltration is a simple enough task. All you have to do is have a little charisma, say the right things, know what
not
to say, and suddenly, people are telling you all sorts of things that are valuable to know they never would have thought to give away otherwise.
Such is the case with checking
RachMarie
. With a quick in, and out, they never even notice your face, never learn who you are, yet you've already stolen key facts about them to deliver back to your mighty lord. It's a good day to be a wulden, you are sure of this. Or in your case, a lycan. But all the same, you've done good.
Humanity has been scattered. Humanity has been shattered. But perhaps, maybe, just maybe,
Almost50
could help you bring them back? It'd be hard to say for sure. So much of what you've had is gone.
How much can you reclaim? How much can you really take for your own again?
Ultimately, it doesn't matter. All which matters is finding the proof you're looking for, and with only the slightest look, you are confident you know your answer.
Dmitri. Dmitri Damanos. You have given him your life. If he asked you to sacrifice your life, without a doubt, you would do so, no hesitation.
So when he entrusts you to learn more about
rb
, you go overboard on the project. You have no need to impress him. You have no need to show your skills off to him. You know what he expects of you, and it is not as much as you give.
But you
want
to give this extra, and so, you viciously analyze everything, scrutinizing all the details to find every possible aspect of them, before reporting back and entertaining him, your good friend, with more stories.
Earlier, you had quickly determined not to bother getting details on
rb
. Rather, you had them, you sorted through them, and found no interest in this rogue. Instead, you devoted yourself to fighting the hordes of supernatural abominations. Eventually, something piqued your interest, when you overheard this across the battlefield.
"My name is Hermes Bion! I know you are mostly from the Eastern Kingdom, like I! I'm no fool. I know we cannot simply agree to not fight. It's not that simple." Waving in their hand? An old familiar flag, one which you had always hoped to wave towards the old champions. "So let's settle this the way things
should
be! Only one more death! Mine, or one of yours! The losing side retreats. Do you still have the honor to accept?"
You couldn't pass the opportunity up. Identifying the person as
copper223
, you move in, immediately broadcasting your intent to kill. But to your surprise, before you, the challenger is nobody but a small kid. Still, all the same, the challenge was issued, and as you made your presence as Panther Timon known, they didn't flinch. They didn't change expression. No fear, no anger, nothing. Only conviction. They were serious. So, curious, you engage in conversation.
"I don't suppose you're just a kid like you look," you ask.
copper223
shakes his head. "I'm 30. Barely an adult even by human standards. Among my kind, I'm still called a child."
You sigh. Not the fight you wanted. "So I'm to kill a kid, then? This is sad."
"All the same. I did not make my offer emptily. I intend to follow through, even if my opponent is you."
"You will lose."
"Don't underestimate me because of my age. I am here to fight. And one of us will die."
After saluting one another, shifting into battle stances, the engagement begins. The farmboy before you fights like a normal soldier: pitchfork and ax. Light leather armor. No match for you, you assume. And yet, in the first move of the fight, after a quick weave, he lunges, almost connecting. While you dodge and counter-attack on instinct, he immediately connects a block on your gauntlet. It does no damage, but it immediately sends the message.
"Don't underestimate me," he said
, you remember. Now you know why he held such conviction in those words. He was not to be laughed at. This was not a massacre. This was a proper FIGHT. As the clash continues, you even begin to wear down, fatigued. The fight could even end from a time out, you conclude, if you don't make a move. But time and time again, as you go in and out, he avoids making a fatal mistake. He knows how to distance himself, keeping away from your killzone range. The only time you got close, he made the correct counter-move and put it to point blank, where neither of you could do anything.
Atrophying, you realize if you want to end the fight, you need to do it now, so with one mighty, reckless lunge, you drive forward, cleaving him in half. For your trouble, you take a serious puncture wound to your chest, but not mortal. As both of you begin to pass out from your wounds, the fighting you had both hoped to avoid resumes, and with mercy, you deliver a presumably lethal blow.
Yes, you can see it now. You had been so lost before, but now, everything makes sense. Before, you lacked direction. Now, you know the answer.
Life is the problem on Agnigi. No, Gistou. Gistou is what must be known. You can spread it everywhere. You must share this with the world, slowly but surely. And to this end, you look at
Bacde
, figuring out they have ties to the great river of life.
The plague that is life will soon be put out. You know this now. Because you have been blessed.
You rip all opponents to shreds. Perhaps it would be arrogance, but you even think you could maybe even rival the mighty Dmitri Damanos himself in skill and strength. He certainly favors you as a warrior and butcherer of all opponents. In this way, you are gifted.
So it is an honor to be hand-selected, as his right-hand man, to carry out his will and viciously brutalize
Stormblade
. You find them, and carefully analyze their movements: a skilled warrior, tough to kill, but doable all the same. Testing their might, you lunge out at top speed with a mighty strike: as expected, they do in fact manage to dodge, having the home field advantage.
With no opening for them to counterattack, you can analyze their reactions safely. They prove their years of experience by distancing themselves, to presumably attempt the same. If you were in your inferior form, you would be smiling: they're good. You're
better
. Because as they do that, you maneuver behind them, overwhelming them with your speed. A mighty slash was enough where you were convinced they would be slain, preserving your integrity.
...And yet, they still stood after the attack, using your lowered guard to plunge their blade into your torso. Had you been any slower, it would have pierced your heart. As-is, you barely manage to avoid it, and to ensure you'd maintain control, you grab the blade, pull it out, in the process nearly slicing yourself in half, and with them disarmed, you deliver what they intended on you to them: a swift blow to the chest, one bad enough to cause them to collapse, presumably dead.
You grumble.
You're never gonna hear the end of this if you let the others know.
You apparently hold a real talent for picking up on the westerners. They have this real distinct vibe about them, and that's how you identify
Mathblade
.
You're not quite sure what you'll do with this information, but eventually, it will hold a use, you're sure. The night would be long on Gistou. You swear, on Agnigi they weren't this long, it was the days that dragged on forever, but they seem mysteriously short all of a sudden.
You shrug it off. Whatever. It's not that important. All you need to do is live, so you can fight.
Agnigi is everywhere. You hold dear to that belief, that it is true. You are utterly convinced that the world you once knew is still around, just waiting to be brought back out. Piece by piece, bit by bit, you could fight, in your own unique way, to bring it forth. Not with violence, not with fights, but with your unique brand of kindness.
Testing your faith is when you encounter something you've never felt before. You can't place this feeling you get about
Nosferatu
, but it leaves you in no state to have your normal light, your normal shine, to you, and that bugs you. You should be able to shrug it off.
After all...you survived Dmitri Damanos. There's nothing you can't endure after THAT. Yet, all the same, you don't know what to do. You spend some time talking with
No Retreat
, learning some trivia about them that dates them a bit, but it doesn't put your mind at rest. What was it that you saw? You don't know.
Disturning you even further...you had approached
Tim
, and yet, the offer of eternal friendship you were almost positive they would accept...they didn't. Alone, feeling vulnerable, nothing seemed to be going right for you.
...That is, until a random stranger,
Heartless
, out of the blue, offers you a ride for seemingly no reason. "I...don't have any way to pay you back," you lament. You never had any money, but even if you had, you left all chance of wealth behind when abandoning the undead.
"No need. Not all kindness is gone in Gistou."
Hearing that...you smile. Your faith restored, you move forward with renewed conviction.
You feel an ominous sense about you...
Your check target's
You may not be fighting on the front lines like many other humans, sacrificing your life for the greater good, but all the same, you play your part, being a hero in your own unique ways.
Taking a good look at
davesaz
, you determine that he, like you, can only be human. As such, you have even further created a network of potential allies. It may not be much, but...it's enough to be something, you decide, and therefore enough to call it a night.
One thing at a time, one day, one night more. You're sure of it: Agnigi can be reached.
With the death of Gyles Kaiser, the troops look largely to you for leadership. You hadn't asked for the role, but it had been given to you freely, all the same. One of the most important, most relevant humans in the army of the west. You send a hail towards
Cephrir
, while using the new information network at your disposal to figure out where he would be from.
Though you're disappointed to learn of his northern origins, you figure that, at the very least, that decreases his chances of being a wulden scumbag, and so, with a fine day's work done, you rest.
You are disappointed with the state of how things have gone. Time to step things up. This time, you decide to take a look at
Mathblade
, finding fairly quickly that they come from the great ridge, as far as your skills can tell. This done, you focus your attention on running interference for
Luna Fox
, positive you can do some good.
This Gistou...you can destroy it. You're sure of it, with your own to hands. One fight by one fight, you're positive you can do it. Make a difference, prove your skills. This world is a wicked one...but not one beyond redemption.
All you have is your best intuition. This world is hell. But you cannot give up hope.
She
taught you that. She made you promise. Never to let go of it.
It's hard. The trials you go through would be enough to break most humans. But still, you are here, fighting on. They are tough. They are difficult. But you will live, go through the pain. You can endure. You can last.
And you can make a difference. So you say, as you decide to incapacitate
Lady Lambdadelta
. You're never sure if you're doing the right thing, but next, you decide that you want to look into the history of
RAM
. Horrified, you see the nosferatu before you, and all the bad memories come flooding back.
You fight so hard. You have gone through so many difficult times, so much pain. Yet you resolve you will use this information for the greater good.
Post
Post #8456 (isolation #230) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 10:26 pm
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8452, No Retreat wrote:I feel like I was completely in the right to question if ratifying the treaty would fuck over me and the humans
Ratifying wouldn't, but rejecting could have.
Imagine if, say, hypothetically: this vote happened with 7 alive: RachMarie, Wake88, and Bacde, with you two champions either dead or low on your BPs.
Then, the treaty is rejected.
Wake and Rach become a mafia team with a nightkill.
Bacde's kill becomes a mafia team kill:
Two anti-town kills. They wouldn't be able to coordinate, the risk of hitting each other would exist, but it would take virtually zero time for them to get 50% of the playerlist and endgame the town.
So, your stubbornness in a different scenario could have fucked you over.
Post
Post #8457 (isolation #231) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 10:36 pm
Postby mastin2 »
Night Three Flavor/Results
The Cult:
Spoiler: αρχηγός σας δεν είναι τίποτα περισσότερο. Η Άλλη σας καλωσορίζει.
Enjoy your new form, davesaz? (I saw that, and knew it was perfect. )
Nosferatu
's check target has the
nation
of
East Kingdom
, the
location
of
Other
, and
race
of
Human
.
A Song of Ice and Fire
's check target has the
location
of
Other
.
davesaz
is now a member of this topic. He holds the following role PM:
Marius Hemmingway wrote:A special mission awaits you. Dmitri has willed it himself. "Do not think you are being punished, Marius," he said. "This is a task so important I would ask it only of you." The wulden have long-since universally turned themselves into lycans, yourself included. They have come out of the shadows, stopped hiding in their occult roots, the hidden movement now a public faction. All of their once-obscured secrets have been revealed, as the need to operate behind-the-scenes was no longer necessary.
And also supposed to be universal was the call to become a true wulden, the undead improvement to the creature of the gods. Yet laid before you, Dmitri had ordered you not to undergo the procedure. "No, I cannot say any is better suited for the operation you're assigned to." Others laugh at you. Others say that Dmitri Damanos is cruel to you, as to deny you your perfect form. Still more insist to bully you with their newfound strength, saying that a weakling such as yourself does not deserve Dmitri's blessing. They say that if he wished you to be strong, he would have let you become strong, and is intentionally holding you back because he thinks you unworthy.
Heretics, the whole lot of them. To think Dmitri Damanos would mean anything other than what he says! The need for lies and deceit has long-since become obsolete. If your lord and savior says that he has reason for you to not become a full wulden, then the true ruler has good reason to ask it of you. Outsiders call it blind faith. Perhaps they are right...but you see absolutely nothing wrong with devotion to a deity, divinely blessed as he is.
"I need you returned to our roots: a covert operative, to elude detection and sabotage our enemies."
A special mission, which he has selected you, and you alone, for: to be a spymaster, hiding your beasthood from the world and acting as a normal human. You operated as so for ten long years, moving from location to location, nation to nation, even hiding in the Erimos Range. Ten full years of absolute obedience, so you hesitate not for this special assignment. You will play the part of human, for as long as Dmitri Damanos deems it so. His word is all. His word is everything. And you will not fail him.
You are a
Wulden
.
You hold the following
factional abilities
:
You know that
Lady Lambdadelta
,
Tim
(Iecerint + ActionDan), and
Mathblade
are your scum partners. Their roles will be listed in the first post of your private topic.
Instead of a nightkill, once in the game, you may attempt to convert a player. If you perform the recruit and are successful, they will become a
lycan
.
If you feel you need town flavor, you may request some at any time.
In addition to the above, you hold the following
personal abilities
:
Racial Godfather
: As long as your race is lycan, you will show up as a
human
to racial checks.
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
Nation
result of
Other
.
You give the
Location
result of
Erimos
.
You are a
lycan
, but give the
Race
result of
Human
, as per your personal ability.
You win if all
nosferatu
are dead, and the
Wulden Faction
controls 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
has been slain. You do not get to know their result.
rb
is now a member of this topic. He holds the following role PM:
Tatiana Ruffins wrote:You've never had much interest in the world. Living in the Erimos range, you were one of only a few humans to owe loyalty to neither the northern tribes nor the western empire. While they had certainly fought over this domain before, you lived in a sweet spot, a neutral zone between the two.
The mountains gave everything you ever needed in life. There was game a plenty to hunt, and many a plants to farm or to forage from for a diverse diet. With the bountiful rainfall, water was never in short supply. It was no wonder why your lands would be so desired. But you never held interest in the affairs of mankind. What you wanted was the quiet life.
Gistou rendered that impossible, and as you were forced to flee from both wulden and nosferatu, you vowed you would reclaim your homeland and fight for humanity.
You are an
Individual Human
.
You hold the following
personal ability
:
During pregame, you may select either "location" or "nation". Each night, in addition to any night action you perform, you may investigate a player and learn whichever you selected in pregame.
You give the home
You frown. The death of Sergius Seneca, your trusted lieutenant, greatly displeases you. In his foolish arrogance, he thought himself perhaps your equal or superior in strength. You of course knew better, but cared not to correct him: if he were disloyal, you would kill him, and if he was as loyal as you thought, there'd be no reason to let him think otherwise.
Still, he
was
a formidable opponent. Foolish, perhaps, but formidable all the same. You had personally trained him, after all. And he was, as far as you knew, fiercely loyal to you, having been one of the founding members of the wulden back in their more cultish days. So you were thrilled to see he was equally as valuable to you as a warlord, and with him now gone, there has arisen a need for a replacement. The only question is...who could hope to match his skill, his might, as a weapon?
You shake your head. Good help is hard to come by. You could, of course, promote a wulden you already have, but you've placed them all where you have deemed them best already. No, you want a
new
wulden. Yet the whole ordeal would be a waste if you hit someone not human. Lycan? They wouldn't be susceptible to your brainwashing. Not that the wulden actually
know
you can brainwash them. Most of them willingly join as true believers, who fully believe your word of your divinity. But should the need ever arise, should a traitor ever emerge, you specifically coded it as to make wuldens have a "killswitch" of sorts, where upon your command, they would have all their rational thinking overridden and immediately give blind obedience.
You've never needed it, and you don't plan to need it. But just in case...lycans should be avoided, as they could not be controlled by this method. Similarly, undead would be out of the question. Vampires and nosferatu would, naturally, already hold immunity.
So, by necessity, it must be a human. This narrows down your options considerably. Already, you have in mind some specific criteria. You don't want to grab some random stranger and suddenly have them become your right-hand wulden. No! They must be someone special, a war hero. The issue is, most of the known war heroes of the world aren't human, or hold such undying loyalty to their countries that they'd be immune to your charismatic influence.
Of course, this does not exclude them all. Julia Otho, you seem to recall, the person you had murdered personally not too long ago, had been human, and not just a normal human. She had been a special human, but a subtle one. She was a war hero, one who was helping the efforts of humanity from the sidelines, rather than engaged in open warfare.
Given how Sergius had himself been slain, you decide this is the optimal answer. Someone who wouldn't be a total pushover, someone who wouldn't be weak, but whose strength lies in secrecy. The only question is...who do you choose for this honor? Getting off of your fancy throne, you embark across Gistou, your new realm, searching for this new recruit personally. This is something you, and only you, could decide. Ergo, it was something you must attend to personally. Besides, sitting around and doing nothing was getting boring, so perhaps the death of your strongest warrior would prove to be a chance to entertain you. It certainly was inconvenient, but it also is a thrill.
Watching the horror on the face of the unsuspecting as they are forcefully turned has been a pleasure. Most when turned simply assume they must obey your command, caving in to despair and blindly following.
Technically
speaking, they would be correct to do so, but they rarely if ever realize they hold more freedom than they assume. So, you would get to see this look in someone's eyes. The only question would be who would receive this blessing of yours.
You find
rb
, the young mountain-dweller, a promising individual, and upon meeting them, you instantly ensnare them. The conversion only takes about half the night, and then, you have your new soldier. You order them to return to base. "I don't know where that is."
"Yes you do." And so, with their newfound instincts, they head off. Still, your night is not finished yet. You decide that you need to figure out where
RachMarie
comes from, sensing something familiar about them. You, of course, had not seen
RachMarie
personally. Not only do you rarely leave to travel across the world, but they have also stayed in relative obscurity for as long as you've heard that alias, a low-key hero whose purpose, you still haven't figured out. All the same...you really feel the need to investigate this personally.
All signs point to them having being closest to the great river, a link which only furthers your concern. You want to meet
RachMarie
to confirm your suspicion, but it would have to wait.
You sense the presence of nosferatu. An elite team of hunters had been dispatched to kill you. This was not at all unusual. Wearing human armor, you decide to only partially transform, because the full-transformation would damage your Aries Gratian disguise. And, against such weak foes, you wouldn't exactly need much better than that anyway. Sergius Seneca slaughtered hundreds of hunters when he was slain. And you hold even greater talent than he does. So, one after another, they attempt to attack you, none of them landing a scratch as you, still wielding your trusted greatsword, eviscerate them.
With the last one dead, you smile, setting off back to base. It would be a few hours before day, but you could still spend that time having fun, or if not, strategizing.
...And that's when the blow happens. Instantly, a gaping hole in your chest has formed. From the back, you can sense someone had managed to puncture your armor, pierce your hide, and go through to the other side. They had grabbed your heart and ripped it out.
The attack of the elite team of nosferatu had been a distraction. They had sacrificed their lives so that you would lower your guard and not notice the approach of an assassin, sent specifically for this task.
This much, you can tell. You take a slash at the damned paleskin bitch--you can't see their face, but you can tell that much--as they immediately run away with their prize. This shouldn't have happened. You had help specifically to avoid this sort of thing from happening! And yet, there you were...missing the one organ necessary for all life to live. If you could hold on long enough for your regeneration to kick in, you could maybe make it through. You already know it'll be difficult though: the regeneration wuldens are so known for usually
relies
on the heart, so restructuring a new one is not exactly an easy task.
Your left hand clenches the chasm in your chest. The blood continues to flow, staining it entirely red. Still, you hold on, continuing forward. With treatment to slow things down, with the right conditions, it would be possible to survive. You'd just need to hold on until morning.
You'd just need to keep it up.
"Fuck."
You groan. It would be a challenge, but you are confident you can manage.
Surviving Gistou would be difficult, even for you.
groans, rolling their eyes. "I thought you wouldn't get pleasure from torturing others."
You smile. "I like to pass time entertaining myself, and driving my passengers insane is one good way to do so."
"Isn't that bad for business?"
"You're not a paying customer."
They sit in silence for a moment, raising their hand in protest, mouth open as if trying to speak, but words fail them. "...Touche."
You're still bothered by the death of
Cephrir
, Alexander Lorenz, and anything you can do to take your mind off of it. For a start, he had died while on your wagon, and you hadn't even seen him fall, something which bothers you greatly.
Second, while you couldn't exactly be remorseful for him once you learned who it was that had died, that he was who he was is something greatly concerning you. He had been that close to you. It wasn't for too long, but it was for long enough that you're greatly concerned about the nosferatu now.
Even more than before, the world of Gistou remains uncertain. All the same,
Expedience
tries to cheer you up, getting you focused on the future. "So, where to next?"
"Well, I hear
DrippingGoofball
is a famous hero of Erimos, and I was hoping to maybe see them for myself."
You do stop for a brief intermission, during which you take the time to confirm that yes, this is in fact the case, and then, you set off again to go collect the great hero.
DrippingGoofball
is all too happy to have you there, and you're now confident even more than before...you can make it in this world, fighting in your own way, from place to place.
You are a hero, and one that will help save the world.
You weep for your undead friends, now lost to the abyss. So many of your greatest warriors have died. The young, the old, all fighting for a noble cause, and yet, you come closer and closer to death every single day. Paranoia begins to creep in, and you turn your watchful eye to yourself: should you find someone, you hope to be ready for them. The undead need you alive. While you wouldn't be the last of the undead to die, you're the last of the great heroes of your kind.
If you're gone, they would have only a prayer's chance of not being exterminated. So while you hold a side project on
No Retreat
, your primary attention remains inward. It is terrible, but your life is simply too valuable to be lost. If you were to fall...not only you would die. Your entire hopes and dreams rest on you living.
All the same, your mind is distracted, and you find it hard to focus. The undead should never feel confusion or fear, yet right now, in this critical moment, you hold both: you don't know anything. You don't know what's happening. All you know is that you are afraid, and that you can't find anything useful.
hailed from, as before, is a task you complete with relative ease. The tricky task you have at hand, however, is figuring out a way to determine if
Nosferatu
is a human or not. If they were, then you figure they have a higher chance than standard of being your ally, but if they weren't, you figured they would most likely be your enemy.
So how, then, could you get a kill shot in on him? Eventually, you find out what road
Nosferatu
is heading out on, and you devise a trap: a simple startling mechanism would surprise them. You place a trap to pierce the heart of any who run into it within only a few seconds of the activation: too fast for a human. If they were something supernatural, then they would react, get impaled, and that would be that.
A devious plan, very complicated, and one you admit could fail in half a dozen ways...but a clever one all the same, and which you feel would serve as an accurate test. So, the stage set, the only thing you need do is confirm your target is on the road, and when you're certain you have them in sight, you are confident it will work, and as such, you leave, readying yourself for a morning which would undoubtedly be filled with bloodshed anew.
It's an unpleasant undertaking, but as the champion of the north, you feel it must be done.
Yes. Your presence spreads. You can feel the 'corruption' of your power slowly growing, slowly expanding, outward to others. You feel
davesaz
, and sense an opportunity. The loyal minion of Dmitri Damanos would be no more. In his place, a being whose only purpose is yours and yours alone.
Yes, the things you can sense, the things you can feel from them as you move in. The conversion would come soon. Slowly, but surely, you stalk your chosen prey. You would pay back the bandit for his betrayal. His lust for power would be the death of him, and the one person capable of warning others would fall with him.
You sense his fading life elsewhere. It was not of your doing, which you treasure all the more. His death was inevitable. And he would die not knowing what devastating you were about to wreck upon his legacy. The wuldens had, of course, always been based in a cult. Yet with your influence to slowly but surely replace his own...that direction would become far more to your liking.
The screams of agony you hear as your process begins give you much glee, and you leave the finishing touches to your trusted servant. The rest of the night would be spent stalking
TheWayItEnds
, another prospective recruit, though you are disappointed to learn of how ordinary he seems to be.
The main thing of note is the near-death experience you had. You hadn't seen what, but you could sense a threat. Somehow, you had been surprised and impaled in the chest. Where would that be? Hmm...in humans, you suppose, the location of that wound would be the heart, if you are not mistaken. In you, it is merely a small organ useful in regeneration. As such, you feel the need to acknowledge and respect whatever fool it was who tried to kill you: Gistou is filled with dangers, indeed, and you cannot help but approve of the attempt. All the same, death would be an inconvenience, thus, something you note to be careful of.
Your recruitment has succeeded.
davesaz
is now a member of your cult. They were
lycan
, and therefore, no more lycans may successfully be converted.
You cannot
With the deaths of Alexander Lorenz and, more importantly, Karl Braun, you are the last of the council's pre-elected warlords. You fight hard and long during the day, openly on the front lines commanding your troops effectively, but you know your kind now hold a distinct disadvantage in the war.
Thus, the need for overtime, and hunting during the night. You are in a difficult position, as a commander. Ultimately, however, you make the decision that you need to pursue every possible edge, even if the need for sacrifice would rise. As such, you assemble an elite team to take out
Mathblade
, or so you tell them.
You know better. They're all doomed to die, thanks to the order you gave them. But all for the chance, the opportunity, to even the playing field and fight on far more even terms. So as the hunt continues throughout the night, eventually, they find them. Your prize. Dmitri Damanos in the flesh and blood.
Target undefended, the paleskin warriors charge in, thinking they hold the edge. Yet the result would be inevitable: no guards were present because none would be needed. One after another, they die, until the great and mighty tyrant has finally killed them all. In the moment they revert from their partial transformation into a fully-human form, you use this opening, when their guard is down, to strike from behind, impaling them through the heart.
Ripping it out from behind, you immediately flee. You don't even know if the blow would kill them, and you didn't even confirm their identity. All the same, you had risked enough tonight. It was time to spend the remainder of your free time on the task of pinning down
rb
, though as far as you could discern, they hold no nation loyalties.
The task was simple enough. As a master spy, you had no trouble traveling the lands, stealthily picking up on the tidbits of information on the obscure figure known as
Heartless
, who was gaining rather the reputation in the war-torn Gistou. All you needed to do was be charming. You didn't need to use bribery, just some simple talking would be enough.
All this, you do dutifully, as it is the will of your master, your true leader, to whom you have sworn absolute fealty. Dmitri is everything. Dmitri is your life. You know he cannot fail, he cannot fall. He is worth fighting for, and he is worth dieing for. He has given you this talent, and you intend to use it to its fullest.
Everything had led you to him. You know this now. You were destined to be his pawn, and you are happy in knowing this. You would personally report back to him with your news, to deliver your findings to the deity himself, the might infallible, indomitable, Dmitri Damanos. So after traveling the lands on this latest errand, you are eager to return home to hear the rare appraisal that you so desire.
Not that you'd need it, for that is simply an honor he chooses to bestow when he sees fit to do so.
"It is pointless to resist."
...What was that?
"You are already beginning to feel it, aren't you?"
You shake your head. NO!
"Deny it all you want. In your thoughts, you're already coming to terms with what you have instinctively picked up on."
NO!
It could not be!
It absolutely cannot be!
It's impossible.
You tell yourself there's no way.
Your heart sinks, and despair begins to set in.
Something feels
wrong
.
But it's utterly crushing, to the point where you are little more than a mess.
The feelings running through you...
...
"Accept what's before you."
You resist.
You struggle.
What is it?
"WHAT ARE YOU?!?" You shout.
Something
sickly
fills every iota of your being.
A twisted, wicked feeling, perverted beyond all reality.
"What am I, you ask?"
That could not be laughter.
You've seen laughter.
Even if it could be considered mad laughter, you know Dmitri's brand of cackling.
This is something...ELSE.
And terrified, you fight.
The strange feelings continue.
A...
...AAAA....
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHGGG.
Your cries of agony reach nobody.
"I am your new retainer."
NO!
NOOOOO!
NO!!!!!!
NO! NO! NO! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It couldn't be.
It couldn't be.
It couldn't be.
This isn't right.
This isn't right.
THIS ISN'T RIGHT!
Your mental anguish is unheard.
"I don't want this!"
Yet you had been selected.
Not by Dmitri.
By another force.
"NO!"
NO.
...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
...Ο Θεός είναι πεθαμένος. Το άλλο είναι αιώνια.
Your check target's
nation
is
Other
.
Your
Race
has changed to
Other
.
As a consequence of this,
you have lost your racial godfather ability
. You will no longer show as Human; you will show as Other.
Your
Faction
has changed to
Other
: You win if your cult controls 50% of the playerlist at any given time.
You may talk in this PT at any time with the rest of the cult. Refer to this topic to see the full powers and restrictions of the cult.
You maintain all your other abilities.
This includes restrictions!
As a culted member of a scumteam, there are four things you need to know:
Rule 4's subrule applies to the cult's kill. In other words, you, personally, cannot be sent to nightkill a member of your former-team, even though your win condition has changed.
You cannot use both the cult's factional recruit/kill and your former-team's conversion/kill.
The "final note" still applies. This means that, even though you've been culted, you
cannot
claim your teammates publicly without consent. I'll STILL modkill you for breaking that rule.
However, you are not only permitted, but also encouraged, to tell your new cultists who your teammates were.
As a final note, that rule now extends to your cult members, both publicly and to your former teammates: it is inadvisable, but allowed, to truthfully claim you have been culted. You must obtain permission from the living cultists before claiming them in either venue.
In short, you are expected to play to this new win condition,
while still being under the restrictions of your prior win condition
As you watch the tribes of the north continue to scatter and fall, in spite of your efforts to rally them, you can't help but be disappointed in your fellow kinsmen. You are Kurt Rainer, a proud pinkskin. You were hoping that you could get others to rally together into an effective fighting force, especially after the devastation that was the deaths of many nosferatu warlords.
However, in spite of this great personal victory for the north, it's as if you are more divided than ever, so frustratingly, all you can do is search for more friends, more heroes, to ally yourself with. Deciding that
Bacde
is as good as any other, when asking around, you are quickly disappointed to learn many consider them to originate from the east.
But as you gain this information on the road, only too late do you realize a battle has been waged, one which you are soon in the middle of. While you survive the encounter, the wounds you suffer would be dire if left untreated. If only there was someone around to help......
Your check target has the
nation
of
East Kingdom
.
You have become a member of the
Individual Nosferatu Faction
: You win when all threats to the new humanity treaty are eliminated, and at least one player with this wincon is alive.
Your
You always knew he was not infallible. You had always known he could make mistakes. You had always known he was not immortal. But still, all the same, the news had devastated you. Sergius had died, depleting your love of his best man. While you had always thought that you serve that role well, you acknowledged he needed a replacement, and let him choose one. Valuable as you were, your place was not to be his only companion, and so, you knew that his course of action was just.
You received your new recruit eagerly enough, but were concerned when Dmitri was not quick to follow. All the same, you dutifully carried out his orders: find out more about this hero,
DrippingGoofball
, and what they are. If your information sources are to be trusted--and you see no reason they wouldn't be--you conclude they're human, a native of the land you now dominate, from the mountains. So you feel fairly good, and wait.
...And wait.
...And then, you realize something is wrong, immediately dispensing the troops to hunt. You had given him your life, you would without hesitation die for him. So why are you suddenly so terrified? "No! That can't be! It's not the way things were meant to go! I was meant to die in your place!"
...Yet all the same, with morning come, you hear his final words. He has entrusted one final task to you: live. He expects much of you, especially after the loss hits home, but you know you can manage. The extra effort you had put in so willingly would now be a necessity. Oh, your true love. His final will had been known.
With a final mission in hand, with his dieing breath declaring his intentions to the world, you would take it upon yourself to lead his...now your...wulden horde. He knew what he was doing. And so do you, now more than ever. You will follow this new path. You solemnly collect his body and entomb it, preserving his visage for eternity. The remnants of his crushed heart you keep to yourself, a personal memento of what was never your before, but which he had chosen to give you in his last seconds.
After the exhaustion you had previously suffered, when you decide to kill the hero known as
Heartless
, you decide up and personal can pass. Taking out a repeating crossbow, you use your various skills at tracking them down, and when you locate them, you decide to take a shot in the dark.
Off the trajectory of your bolt, you predict that it might miss them if they're a human, but if they're a supernatural creature, they'd probably react to it, and as such, end up ironically hit by it. So while you don't confirm a kill, you do the next-best thing, knowing that come morning, you should have some answers.
In the mean time, you decide to take a look at
davesaz
, determining where they come from. To your surprise, they seem to lack national ties, though this is certainly nothing unique. Just something you find interesting, and a bit disappointing. Overall, not the most exciting of nights, but perhaps a productive one yet.
The Other is everything. You know this truth now to be absolute. You have seen the way, and it is glorious. Gistou gives the perfect world, as it should be. While you investigate
Expedience
, finding no concrete location, you are convinced that your time is coming in spite of how slow you must be to spread your influence.
All the same, you are all too happy to wrap your tendrils around
davesaz
, the new recruit, and welcome him into the fold. For now, he, too, could share with the world the glory that is your vision.
The world of Gistou has always been something you've hated. You have never seen anything good about it, and seeing it was what convinced you that you needed to make a difference, become a hero of the world, albeit not one with the same amount of fame as some others.
This time, you travel into the territories of the west once more, intent on finding more about the legendary hero
DrippingGoofball
. You had heard stories about them, so now you wanted to know if they were, as you thought, from there. Asking around proved to be of benefit, and eventually, you come to the conclusion that, yes, you were right.
...Yet it's at this point something unusual happens.
Out of the blue, the dangers of traveling on the roads at night become apparent: there, before you, is
Mathblade
, Dmitri Damanos in the flesh. The result could only be one thing. Though you consider running, though you consider fighting, you know it would be pointless. The look of terror on your face gives pleasure to the dictator, you can tell, and then, half the night later, you are his.
And he gives his first command of you, to return to your base. "I don't know where that is."
"Yes you do."
...Sure enough, by instinct alone, you suddenly feel as if you have direction, as if you have purpose anew, and you can see a vision of the future, of what Gistou is like...and it is
glorious
. No wonder the wulden are so devout, you now know. Because they, too, like you, must see this purpose behind Gistou. There is something in it worth fighting for, and it is what Dmitri wishes to lead you to.
Yes, you would make a difference, as a hero, but now, as a warlord of the west.
Your check target's
nation
is
West Empire
.
You are now a member of the
Wulden
faction: You win if all
nosferatu
are dead, and the wulden control 50% of the town, or nothing could prevent this.
Your
proves to be fruitful, albeit sometimes not without its issues. Namely, how they keep on singing, over and over again, the same tune, as if specifically to annoy you, the person who is almost impossible to be annoyed. On and on and on they go...
"Travel to a song that gets on everybody's nerves,
Everybody's nerves,
Everybody's nerves..."
You groan, rolling your eyes. Finally, the snark gets the better of you. "I thought you wouldn't get pleasure from torturing others."
They smile. "I like to pass time entertaining myself, and driving my passengers insane is one good way to do so."
"Isn't that bad for business?"
"You're not a paying customer."
To that, you try to form a response. You try. But, in a moment of extreme rarity...you have no banter to give, no witty response, no answer to their reply. So all you can say is, "...Touche."
...Still, you desire to keep the conversation going. People you know well. You didn't get to know
Cephrir
that well, but
Heartless
was familiar with them long enough that the death of someone, even a nosferatu like Alexander Lorenz, was clearly enough to shake them, and so, you try to comfort them, to keep them on something else. So, you try to cheer them up. "So, where to next?"
"Well, I hear
DrippingGoofball
is a famous hero of Erimos, and I was hoping to maybe see them for myself."
You do stop for a brief intermission, and during that time, you manage to find someone identifying themselves as
TheWayItEnds
, who you quickly befriend, even though they probably wouldn't even remember the encounter the same way you did. Still, you sense some warm feelings about them, and are confident they are good at heart.
You also gain, thanks to your prior encounter, in hindsight, some further insight into
Nosferatu
, who you determine to not be from any of the four known landmarks. And soon enough, you reach
DrippingGoofball
. With morning approaching, you don't get to talk with them in any detail, but who knows?
Your target is not a threat to your faction.
Your check target's
In the modern day and age, knowing who to trust is a valuable skill. You can generally tell who someone is just by encountering them, and in your experience, humans seem to be fairly okay people, so it is only understandable that you seek out more of them, to call friend, to play the part of hero.
Your role in the world may not be battling at the front lines for the sake of humanity, but you still think you play a huge part in unraveling Gistou for the sake of Agnigi. So it's no surprise you seek out
DrippingGoofball
, in the hopes of finding someone to help bind the glue together, of the multiple figures of interest you have encountered thusfar.
Happiness can happen again. Fighting in your own way, you will help make the world a better place for fellow humans.
In the war, you consider yourself one of the most important heroes of the west empire. So much counts on you, and so, you decide that you cannot afford to risk sending out a hail to people who you suspect are not your allies, as you had twice so recklessly done.
Though the nosferatu are not nearly as notorious your foes as the wulden, they remain a foe you fight, and so, you would prefer to avoid asking for their assistance again. Instead, you decide to focus your efforts on figuring out the place
Tim
comes from, and inevitably, you find out something interesting: Tim, like you, originates from the west.
The developments of the night continue, as a wagon with
Heartless
and
Expedience
on it invites you on, and you can't help but think this would be of great use for the war efforts.
You were hired by a person promising enough, a human by the name of Aries Gratian, a famed general of the west empire. However, what made them truly special and made you accept their offer was that they had declared they had shed their national ties, and were working independently of others. And so, for this reason, you agreed to assist them.
You had gone through all the normal efforts. You had brought the world upon you, daring them, taunting them. You would run interference. Your efforts alone helped scare off at least three dozen nosferatu who were after your target, and you swore that you also were responsible for many wulden fleeing. As far as you knew, you were doing your family proud.
You do take this time to investigate a prospective client,
DrippingGoofball
, who you find to hail from the west, but for the most part, your efforts are focused on making sure nothing gets through. In Gistou, this is easier said than done, but you were so sure, so positive, of it, and you wouldn't have put your family's reputation on the line if you didn't think you could do it.
...So come morning, you're beginning to get a little bit frustrated.
You're a little less peeved than you would be otherwise, given the revealed identity of your protection, but all the same, this is starting to get annoying, and you fear tainting your family's name if you further fail the duties you're quite literally being paid for.
You remember back in the golden days, how you had those thoughts of peace. You remember how you were so filled with hope, even in the worst of moments. Now, in Gistou, only the influence of...
her
...keeps you going. You have to do the right thing. What that is, you don't know, but you resolve to try. You mess with
Bacde
, hoping this will help bring the world into a better place, but there'd be no way of knowing.
Furthering things, you decide to investigate the figure, and discover, much to your shock, that apparently, your target--just like Alexis--just so happens to be a greenskin. You're not quite sure what to make of that. But what you do know is that you won't stay alone in the world like this forever. For you just so happen to have encountered a certain someone on the road...a wounded, injured
Wake88
, and there, you would have an opportunity for something grand.
The broken nosferatu, first of their kind, could perhaps finally find some peace at last.
Your check target's
race
is
Undead
.
Your recruitment on
Wake88
has succeeded. He is now a member of your faction.
You may talk in this topic here at any time.
Your kill has not been utilized tonight.
For ease of convenience, Day Five link.
The Dead:
Spoiler: Heartless
Other than the slight incident with
Cephrir
, you feel fairly good about your entourage. The world of Gistou is a harsh one, but not one without humanity, not one without companionship. Now, the riches just so happen to be an added bonus, but one you feel is a real draw. These people are technically your employees, but more than that, they are growing to be an honorary family. Such is the life of a traveler: those who come together, stay together, forever bonded by the experience, by their trials, by their mutual need to trust in one another in order to survive.
Maybe you would be naive to trust in them, but it is a trust you are willing to place, and even extend outward. The hellish world is not without benefit, and you have seen high business in these times, bartering with others and trading goods for a hefty profit. As such, you look to expand your business even further, finally deciding that you could use another employee.
"So, what now, boss?"
Expedience
asks.
"We're hiring," you smile.
DrippingGoofball
, diligent worker that they are, is happy to approve of this, and it's at this point that they fully reveal to you who they are, in private. "I'll let you in on a secret. You knew when you picked me up that I was a hero. What you didn't know was that I'm the de facto leader of the West Empire since the death of Gyles Kaiser."
Not exactly surprised by the nature of their status, but still shocked both at the information and them coming forward with it, you can only ask a simple, "Why are you telling me this?"
They smile. "It's simple. I trust you. And I think we should work together. You make good decisions, so your judgement, skills, and assets, when combined with mine, will help humanity."
You nod. "Alright. But why do you still work at the simple tasks, then?"
They laugh. "Because if it weren't for Gistou, that's all I'd be doing. I'm actually happy to be doing some manual labor. Beats strategizing all day long."
You reminisce about all the times you've been on your own, fighting tooth and nail for every inch you gained, and recognize the truth in that. "True, true."
And with that, your conversation ends, with you rejoining
Expedience
in the main section of the wagon. It's at that point you spot someone in the distance. Instantly, you point to them. "There." At first, the two don't understand, and then you explain. "That person. That's the one. We're taking them with us."
"Uh..."
DrippingGoofball
, Gordian Lucilus as they now identify themselves as, is quick to point out, "You
do
know that's just some random stranger, right?"
Expedience
backs you up. "Trust
Heartless
to know what they're doing,
DrippingGoofball
." You smile, then nod in appreciation of their keen insight. They could probably tell, just as well as you.
"That person is a hitchhiker, a traveler in the middle of the night. The only possibilities are: brave, stupid, desperate, or hero. I'm gambling on the last one."
"Or, you know, villain out to murder us all."
"Well, let's go talk to them and see,"
Expedience
suggests.
And, sure enough, there they are. "Yo!" you greet them. "I'm
Heartless
, you look like you could use a lift, and I'm willing to pay you if you work. Seems like a win-win to me. You in?"
The baffled traveler, dumbstruck by the offer, just stands mouth agape for a few seconds, before ultimately, deciding to take your hand and hop on. "My name's
TheWayItEnds
."
You introduce them to your team, and then you are quick on your way, now with an extra member, an extra hand, an extra hero, by your side, a new member to your family, all too happy to be there, as you expand outward, on your quest for a better world...and for better riches. It was something you had planned carefully, and now, with it realized, you could only be happy to see them all there.
As you drink a beverage, however, suddenly the world goes black. You curse. Was it poisoned? No...something
else
had come out, specifically latching onto you, and dragged you out by using the drink as an anchor point. This...
thing
was quick to break the head of your business: you. And now, you slowly wither into death, unable to reach out, unable to do anything, but watch as your bond is forcefully severed--though they notice your absence immediately, they can't find you, and agonizingly, make the same decision you would: move on without you.
"
How does it feel to die alone?
" the being claiming your life taunts.
"It
sucks
."
This creature produces what vaguely sounds like a screeching sound, something you assume to be some sort of twisted, demented laughter.
"
You have personality, I'll give you that. But it won't last long.
"
And sure enough, you fade away slowly, claimed by the night, by yourself, as you had once feared.
Yet you can't help but keep your smile, as you face your end with dignity. "I had it pretty good."
Your check target's
location
is
East Kingdom
.
DrippingGoofball
is
Gordian Lucilus
, a human from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos.
Η άλλη έχει κάνει μια απόφαση. Et ita non erit. Dictata voluntas alterius personae.
Сначала идет найти добычу. Другая Стебли эффективно. Ο στόχος των άλλων θα ήταν ένα προστατευτικό. Το θύμα των άλλων θα είναι ένας έμπορος.
Haec est absoluta voluntas. Nemo potest prohibere cetera. Et alter succedit. The vincit omnia. Aliud autem est aeternum. Ita ut altera alterius.
You have gained much. Your foothold is such that were you to vanish, your ways would continue even without your direct mind to be around. This, you know, because you have seen it already, your agents working without your will, for they already know and understand what it is that you wish for.
And now, the time has come to deal with a few nuisances. First on your agenda, you have to figure out this pesky
Toogeloo
, to know how best to dispose of their thorn in your side. It does not take much probing into their thoughts to discover that they are from the north, but hold no location of their own, being a human traveler, one of great importance, a hero of the road.
It matters not to you. You could dispose of them later. Instead, you set your sight on
Heartless
, who you have wanted eliminated for some time. As you poison their cup, you are able to latch onto them the moment they drink, and from this, drag them away from their world and into your world, the one of emptiness and despair that you so love to inflict on everyone.
Gloating is something more suited to Dmitri, but you decide to indulge. "How does it feel to die alone?"
"It
sucks
," they snark back at you.
You can't help but give the closest thing you have to laughter at seeing their response. "You have personality, I'll give you that. But it won't last long." And with that, you steal away the life of the merchant, whose wares would no longer impede progress.
...Somewhat of a dampener on your plans, however, is the new arrow in your head. Even something like you has a vital spot, a weak point where you can be killed, and be it luck or skill, something has hit the sweet spot, so now you lay down on the ground, hissing in your last moments.
Cursing the remnants of Agnigi, you swear on your death that things aren't over: they've only just begun.
In your spare time, you had decided to dabble with investigating
A Song of Ice and Fire
, being a bit troubled by your inability to pin down where they were from, but you have a greater focus for the night:
Protecting the great hero,
RachMarie
. If the legends were true, you would be saving the first nosferatu,
the
one and only Nicholas Schroder, the man who faced Dmitri Damanos himself in one-on-one combat time and time again. You don't know the stories any better than anyone else would. You also don't know how much they can be trusted, as, after all, anyone can claim to be a legend, and it's unlikely the real thing--even if still alive--would dare counter their claim.
...Still, all the same, you
want
to believe them. They might not be human, something you had previously vowed to keep yourself exclusive to, but ultimately, you are willing to place the fate of your kind on the hope, the dream, that this Nicholas Schroder is good enough to maybe, just maybe, finally put an end to the wicked Gistou, to bring back Agnigi.
You'd be happy just seeing the wars stop, with whatever result, so long as it wouldn't be humanity subservient to the others or worse, extinct. Yet the idea this
RachMarie
, hero of heroes, radiates, of a future where everyone gets along? You think it naive, foolish, unlikely, yet are drawn to it anyway, as something worth protecting.
So, as you see a rifleman in the distance preparing to snipe your new client, you leap in front, taking the bullet. It doesn't kill you, but you know the wound mortal. By day, you would die. You could only hope to hold out until then, when you're sure the strong hunter could be competent enough to survive on their own. So, you clench your teeth, painstakingly waiting. You stave death off for hour...after hour...and then, the wuldens come rushing towards
RachMarie
.
Nicholas Schroder could probably handle them if they were normal, but you sense they are enraged, feral, as if controlled by some greater force. Using the last reserves of your energy, you are able to slay them all, but are unable to identify the source controlling the beasts, the commander, the soldier, the war "hero" responsible for the raid.
Silently, you curse as the abyss claims you.
In your final moment, however, you smile under one final realization:
Mortal matters are not yours anymore. You do care for life. It is in your nature to preserve it all. However, first and foremost, you must protect your own kind, and to do that, you must protect yourself, for they all rely on your strength and guidance.
Divinations these days seem notoriously unreliable, but all the same, you focus your efforts on yourself, ultimately discovering nothing of note. For the time being, you are safe. This, you consider an acceptable outcome, as it is an indicator that all is, currently, well. The undead will not be slaughtered. They will not die in droves.
As long as you are there to lead them, to guide them, to give them some supernatural help...you stand a chance.
The north has always been famed for its hit-and-run tactics. You come in, you do what you came to do, and you go out. It's simple, and works wonders. The other two nations have learned to have a healthy respect for your tactics, as this approach has served your people for generations, thanks to the versatility of the technique. You don't think twice. You action twice. That's how it works.
No hesitation. You poke around
A Song of Ice and Fire
, at least you presume it to be them, and find them to be of the west. Next, not satisfied with
RachMarie
, you decide to line up a shot on them. As they pass by, you pull the trigger. While you're uncertain as to whether you succeeded or not, you quickly retreat, because this is your modus operandi: don't stay in place for too long, be mobile, be ready to be where you're needed next, and all would be well.
This is your way. The north needs its champion to be a shining beacon, and you think you do exactly that. Only time would tell, though. Time, which Gistou is running precious little of. Every decision counts for something.
The Other had asked of you a new task nearly identical to your old one: to blend in flawlessly with your surroundings, only now, instead of with humans, it is with the wuldens for which you apply these teachings, this wisdom, to be invisible, to be a covert operative.
Among the interests of your kind, your new fellow comrade,
A Song of Ice and Fire
. As to not break cover, you go through the same motions as before, and 'discover' they are working for the west, but you already knew that was where they came from anyway. Now, all which would be needed is to coordinate times to communicate between one group and the next, from which you learn you also have orders to slay
RachMarie
.
You decide not to bother doing the job personally, instead sending some wuldens to do the job for you. They would serve your new master unwittingly, pawns in The Other's game, slaughtering for your cause.
And while you can't confirm the kill, you are satisfied with your work for the night.
are now compatriots, fighting for the same cause, you mutually agree that during the night, you can do more good by doing your own things, and that you'd meet back up in the morning.
So, as you part ways, you go off to find more details about
No Retreat
. The great hero is someone of concern to you, given their influence and apparent hate of your kind. Heh. Your kind. You think about that for a moment. Not too long ago, you confess to yourself, you probably wouldn't have been so different, with your extreme focus on national pride above all else.
That was then, this is now. Once you understand from various facts that, to your knowledge, they come from the east, you decide that you've had a productive night, and are greeted by the trusty Schroder, your new friend and ally.
To say living on after a loss is hard is an understatement. The urge to die is strong. You had been with Dmitri for a large part of your life. He was the closest thing you had to a soul mate. He made you whole. He completed you. You devoted your everything to him, lovingly, knowingly, with great affection, not as a follower, but as something far, far deeper than that, a connection too few people know of.
...And now, he's gone. You're rather touchy about the subject. So many things remind you of him, triggering all the memories you share, which in turn causes you to well up in tears. Yet with the urgent cries of the wuldens around you, screaming for you to live, you have no choice but to keep on going. It would be tempting to be lethargic, to give up, to do nothing, yet you take their advice to heart, and redouble your efforts.
The new target of interest?
Heartless
. It doesn't take terribly long for you to figure out that they spend little time in nations and largely hang out around the great lake, from which you profile them as a bold human being. With this extra information at your disposal, you feel you are one step closer to fulfilling HIS wish, and ultimately, you think that's all which is important.
His will shall be done. You swear it. You swear it, by the howls of pain, sorrow, rage, and loss you scream out each and every night, in solitude.
The world feels so empty without him. But you will keep on doing what you've done best: live, analyze, and continue.
You decide to take your time tonight. The wear and tear of battles during the day has begun to tire you out a bit, and yet, you still see it as your job, your duty, to help around the clock. First on your agenda,
A Song of Ice and Fire
is a figure of interest. You desire to know more about them, like where their national home is, and after you find a clue, decide to drop before confirming it, as you have the satisfaction that this is good enough for now.
Instead, you focus your attention on
Nosferatu
.
Heartless
had lived last time, but this time, the figure known as
Nosferatu
, you intended to take out. This time, utilizing a normal bow, you line things up slowly, and when the moment's right, take your shot. You fall asleep before you can confirm a hit--you are, after all, exhausted--but you have a feeling of intense satisfaction all the same. Regardless of success or failure, it feels like you're doing something.
And as a champion, you think this is what should be done.
The Other's will shall dominate all. This, you know to be fact, for you have seen what the world of Gistou will be like, and you are determined to make it be what it
should
be. Yes, the plague, the infestation, that was Agnigi should soon die out, and you will be there to see it happen, you know this. You will be around.
Still, all the same, when you take a look at
DrippingGoofball
, you encounter some slight trouble in actually getting a reading at all. While unusual, this small setback would do nothing to hinder your plans. Yes, you can see it now. It's so beautiful, so glorious. All you need is a little bit more time......
You may be the newcomer among the warlords of the wulden, but you know already that your skills will go to great use in avenging the unforgiveable death of your mighty leader, Dmitri Damanos.
You are determined to not waste the gift he, personally, bestowed upon you. Your birth marked his death. These two events should never have coincided, but since they have, the wuldens have taken to thinking of you as a new leader naturally enough.
Proving yourself worthy of the position, you decide to do some field work: nothing too advanced, simply scouting on
TheWayItEnds
enough to figure out that he hails from the east. This little bit might mean little to others, but to you, it shows you are willing to put the time and effort into furthering the will of your ascended god, even after he is no longer among you.
You know you can do it. You know you are important. You always have, the wuldens just let you know how.
for the types of experiences you used to have. Back then, the world was so simple to everyone, including you. So much has changed, a lot not for the better, but always, you remain optimistic. While it would be so easy to have a
jaded
view, you maintain your perspective in spite of everything.
So, when the time comes for you to figure out what next to do, you ask, in a light-hearted tone, to
Heartless
, "So, what now, boss?"
They smile in response. "We're hiring."
Your traveling companion,
DrippingGoofball
, seems to approve of this decision, just as much as you do: the more, the merrier. Still, the wagon takes a brief stop. During this time, you wander off, encountering
rb
, who thoroughly gives you chills down your
spine
. All too quickly, you happily come back to your comrades, at which time, you notice someone else in the distance, someone to distract you from where you were before.
"There,"
Heartless
blabbers out, at first confusing you until they elaborate. "That person. That's the one. We're taking them with us."
"Uh..."
DrippingGoofball
points out, "You
do
know that's just some random stranger, right?"
Upon seeing the face of the person, you smile, knowing better. You recognize them, and short of you having been misled, you know what should be done: head towards the
greener grass
ahead. "Trust
Heartless
to know what they're doing,
DrippingGoofball
."
"That person is a hitchhiker, a traveler in the middle of the night. The only possibilities are: brave, stupid, desperate, or hero. I'm gambling on the last one,"
Heartless
explains. You don't mention your earlier encounter with them, but you see no need to.
"Or, you know, villain out to murder us all."
"Well, let's go talk to them and see," you coyly suggest. There's more to people than they let on, and your playful side is among those things.
"Yo!"
Heartless
shouts out. "I'm
Heartless
, you look like you could use a lift, and I'm willing to pay you if you work. Seems like a win-win to me. You in?"
And, sure enough:
TheWayItEnds
, the traveler in question, eventually accepts. Introductions are made, you share a nice good long laugh, and set off. It's only too late you realize one of your own has vanished. The decision pains you greatly, but ultimately, as a group, you decide to enact the policy which was given for
Cephrir
: Move on.
A night of mixed emotions, to be sure, but one which sees you
risen up
, even if only a bit.
Your target is a threat to your faction.
Your check target's
You have had to fight hard to save the people you think are worth saving. As a human, it's only natural that you would meet a lot of people you think are worth fighting side-by-side with, and
Toogeloo
proves to be no different. While they inevitably are too busy with some other task for you to be of assistance to them, another unexpected event transpires during the night:
You are greeted by a wagon of travelers, hoping to take on some extra passengers. This is a setting you know all too well. You're used to stowing away in cargo, or occasionally hitch-hiking. So when you see them coming, you know what to expect.
...At least, that's what you thought. You were dumbstruck to hear the words.
"Yo! I'm
Heartless
, you look like you could use a lift, and I'm willing to pay you if you work. Seems like a win-win to me. You in?"
You really couldn't say no. So, happily, you hopped on, glad to be welcomed on and for free. It's always nice to see strangers help out as they do.
So, you introduce yourself, you become familiar with the others, and you set off, only later realizing that soon after gaining you, they had lost another.
The apparent rule of the wagon, heartbreaking as it is, apparently is to move on forward regardless, so the fallen hero would go unnoticed, a fate you see as sad, but unavoidable.
These deaths need to stop. And you've now got extra incentive to make sure they do.
Though initially simply for the war effort, you have since bonded with
Heartless
and
Expedience
enough that you decide it's about time to trust them with your full identity.
"So, what now, boss?"
Expedience
asks.
"We're hiring." The smile on
Heartless
's face lights up.
You know what that means: a long trek to find someone of significance, like you. It worked well for you, so you wonder who else, what other hero, they could have in mind, but it'd be some travel time before then. So, using this opportunity, you decide to talk to
Heartless
, revealing your secret to them.
"I'll let you in on a secret. You knew when you picked me up that I was a hero. What you didn't know was that I'm the de facto leader of the West Empire since the death of Gyles Kaiser."
Obviously, this out of the blue does spark their curiosity. "Why are you telling me this?"
You smile. "It's simple. I trust you. And I think we should work together. You make good decisions, so your judgement, skills, and assets, when combined with mine, will help humanity."
They nod. "Alright. But why do you still work at the simple tasks, then?"
The memories come flooding over you, and before you realize it, you're laughing. "Because if it weren't for Gistou, that's all I'd be doing. I'm actually happy to be doing some manual labor. Beats strategizing all day long."
"True, true."
Soon after, you rejoin your comrade,
Expedience
, and someone in the distance comes into view.
Heartless
points to them. "There." You don't understand. "That person. That's the one. We're taking them with us."
"Uh..." This...was not what you were expecting, and you aren't sure what to make of it. That's not the strategy you were expecting for finding a famous hero. "You
do
know that's just some random stranger, right?"
"Trust
Heartless
to know what they're doing, DrippingGoofball,"
Expedience
defends. You acknowledge this well enough, accepting it.
It helps after the explanation, somewhat. "That person is a hitchhiker, a traveler in the middle of the night. The only possibilities are: brave, stupid, desperate, or hero. I'm gambling on the last one." Somewhat. Still not a lot.
You can't help but put some snark in response. "Or, you know, villain out to murder us all."
"Well, let's go talk to them and see,"
Expedience
helpfully contributes.
And, sure enough, there they are. "Yo!"
Heartless
shouts. "I'm
Heartless
, you look like you could use a lift, and I'm willing to pay you if you work. Seems like a win-win to me. You in?"
Though they are just as confused as you were, the traveler ultimately decides to accept the offer, taking the wagon owner's hand. "My name's
TheWayItEnds
."
Introductions are made, and soon you are all talking and planning amongst yourselves, where it doesn't take long to notice that
Heartless
has vanished, but ultimately, you decide nothing can be done: you must go on, even without them.
The sad thing is, in war, there are casualties, even friends and family.
, you can't help but feel a lot happier. Before meeting him, your life was a mess. With him now in it, as your apprentice, you feel a renewed sense of joy. You can go on. You can survive. You were strong before, on your own. But with others backing you up, you feel invincible.
...Of course, that's dumb. You of ALL people know just how human you are. Heh. Well, not exactly. But close enough. You're weak. You're vulnerable. You can be killed at any second. Yet you still know now that you hold the strength to keep going, like never before. You focus some attention on
Heartless
, gathering some basic human facts about them, but the majority of your time for the night is spent on
A Song of Ice and Fire
.
You basically give them a solid boot to the face, in the hopes of stunning them temporarily, but not permanently. And with this, you decide to reunite with your new friend.
The Other is all. The Other is everything. The Other is not Dmitri Damanos. Do the pesky lifeforms of the world think that just because the current shell, the current exterior, of The Other has been slain, that the presence of The Other shall simply diminish away? What fools they are. The Other is in all that you touch. The Other is in everything you taint. The Other is everywhere. The Other is everything. The Other lives on, and shall continue long after you have had your own existence extinguished.
This, The Other dictated. This, The Other did see. This, you can tell, because The Other is still within, guiding you, giving you direction. The Other has a vision for the world. You see it. The Other can still bring this forth. The Other may need to manipulate the pitiful, pathetic wuldens you once counted yourself among, but The Other is no fool. The Other will have the end result be for the will of The Other, not for any external force. This is The Other's resolve.
This is your determination. The Other is still with you. Not figuratively. You literally hear The Other. The Other compels you to act as you do, for you still serve to sting at Agnigi, to smother it out of existence and turn it fully to the Gistou The Other will remain within.
The Other guides to the one and only path ahead.
And things like death are mere inconveniences for The Other. Perhaps they are slightly more of an inconvenience for the servants of The Other, as those who die off in droves demonstrate, yet when you are selected as a sacrifice, you follow this will without question.
The Other told you to let the musket round hit your heart, and so, you do. The Other demanded your death, thus, you hesitate not to give it, as you would any master.
This strategy would perhaps be unorthodox, and you admit, you do not understand the logical basis for sacrificing someone so immune as you had been prior to this sudden assault.
However, you remain aware that The Other will triumph no matter what.
has taught you much about the nosferatu. You were rather impressed to learn your sire, Nicholas Schroder, as you know their real name to be, was the first of them. They follow the old, idealized way of the hunters, something you now find yourself infatuated with. Back in your days of being a human, you would never have understood these things. You were, ironically enough given your point of origin, a hothead. You were rash, you were quick to jump to conclusions, and you didn't know so much about the world.
But this
RachMarie
has taught you well, and now, you want nothing but to be more like them. You haven't forgotten your origins. You desire the north to be strong, and still despise the other nosferatu for what they did to your former people, but in your new relationship, one where you have fought side-by-side by the legend day by day, you now hold this much stronger bond, one which you resolve to never let be broken.
You are happy to travel together, but
RachMarie
gets a tip about something that makes them instantly rush off into the forest alone. They ask you to not follow, explaining that it's personal, and you wonder what could be so important that they would abandon you, their disciple, behind. However, you do not question it. You know Nicholas Schroder, in spite of having come in contact with them only a short while ago.
It would be important. It would be personal. It would be a matter of life and death. And it would also be something where they would want to be alone...or maybe not alone, as much as...with someone else. You, after all, would still slow
RachMarie
down. They're a veteran, and you're still a rookie.
So you don't bother to follow. You have a set rendezvous point you'll meet with them in the morning. In the mean time, you figure that it'd be a good chance to take another look at
Almost50
, with the insight, the knowledge, you've gained since then. When you get close, you not only discover that they are from the north, as your original findings suggest, but are THE person from the north, Adrian Burkhard himself. You facepalm at how you could have possibly missed that detail before, but accept it when you see him battling off a horde of wuldens single-handed, a feat only two living humans would be capable of.
But then, you realize something: the wuldens aren't targeting Adrian Burkhard.
They've locked onto a different scent.
There's only one person you know of in the area, and soon, your fears are confirmed. Adrian had gone off chasing a large portion of the wuldens into the woods, as if hunting something more. But there were plenty now allowed to hone in on the intended target:
You.
You're a member of the northern tribes, trained since birth in basic combat. Nicholas Schroder, the biggest badass of all time as far as nosferatu are concerned, had personally been teaching you, refining those basic skills into those more suitable for the supernatural art of war. Thus, with your weapons at the ready and a firm battle pose, you survey the terrain, plan out a map for how to travel strategically while fighting, and mutter a simple two words.
"Bring. it."
...
The wuldens lie dead at your feet. A trail of corpses lead back to the snowy outlet you had been before, the solid string of crimson being a mixture of wulden and nosferatu blood. Traversing rocks, hilly terrain up and down, you had even encountered some unexpected obstacles as wulden attacked from behind as well, ultimately forcing you to make a final stand on the high ground, where you would slaughter them omnidirectionally.
The mountain below you is an artificial pile of the dead Dmitri worshipers. But you can feel it. Nicholas Schroder had warned you of this. Newer nosferatu have a strong reserve of energy, akin to adrenaline in a human, but when that is entirely used up, they need blood
immediately
, or they risk death. Add in your extensive blood loss, and you would need a supply of blood...but being in the middle of nowhere, you already know that none would come.
"Dammit."
You curse.
You were just beginning to get to know your life.
It shouldn't end like that.
Yet...as your legs weaken, the best you can do is to sit down gently, and slide down until you're laying on the frozen rock. It's hard. It's pointy. It's not comfortable.
...But the feeling of it slowly begins to disappear, such that by the time you've lost your sight, it feels as soft and angelic as the snow surrounding you.
You had excused yourself from the wagon earlier. "If I'm not back by morning..."
"We're coming back for you, we've been over this."
You insisted otherwise. "No, you move on."
"We don't move on until we see you,"
TheWayItEnds
countered. "I am
not
going to be left constantly wondering if a comrade of my lived or died while we callously abandoned them. Not again."
DrippingGoofball
nodded. "If you die, then I promise, we will move on and will do our best not to grieve. But not a moment sooner. Alive until proven otherwise."
"That's something you would say, isn't it, Expedience."
You had hesitated. But ultimately, you figured it would do no harm. "Alright. That's good enough for me."
You, of course, have no intention to die. It's just that you feel the need to take a more active approach in things, and that involves some direct risk-taking. No more could you afford to just passively sit in the background with the people you meet, be them friend or foe. You would have to be proactive, and you would need to put forth your absolute best. And instantly, you know that you need to talk to someone in particular, to feel them up.
You reach out to
davesaz
, finding him in a forest near the Erimos mountains, where you presume his home is. There, you talk to him, but he seems largely intelligible. You can't understand half of what he says, it being make in a low whisper. This is not the muttering of a shy person. Thrown in is stuttering, the type you would expect from someone who isn't quite sure what it is they have to speak. You don't know what happened to him, but you can tell: something is off. Something is wrong. This is nothing you've felt before, except...
...Except for one other time. Instantly, the urge to leave skyrockets, and you feel you need to escape, and so, you run. You run away, making sure that you aren't being followed by that dark, twisted presence.
When you finally feel out of the woods (figuratively, at least), you breathe a sigh of relief. You would have strength to move forward, and do what you needed to. You could face down the demons of the world, the ones worse than Dmitri Damanos himself, and perhaps put them in their place.
...And that's when you feel the sword sticking through you from behind, realizing that someone had used the opportunity to strike you down. But you take one good look at your attacker, at
No Retreat
, better known as Panther Timon, and simply smile at them. You place your (now bloody) right hand on their cheek, and with as much strength as possible, manage to find it within you to do what nobody has done before:
"I forgive you."
Freaked out, they immediately back off and run away into the night, not exactly knowing what to do. There you lie, waiting. You've suffered from great abuse before, even experiencing some near-life-threatening wounds before. While the blade did not pierce straight through your heart, you're fairly certain that it struck about half. The damage would be such that a first-generation undead could probably survive, and a warrior definitely could, but a noncombatant child of many generations, not so much. You know the wound would be lethal.
So, all you can do is pray.
You know your friends would be back for you soon enough, and likely could make it in time. They're not who's on your mind, though. One person in particular floods your thoughts. So you wait...and you wait. You hope. You pray, that maybe, just maybe, you would be able to see him one last time.
Nick...
Nick......
As the others approach, you can feel him. You don't know how, maybe it's just the same gift you've always had, manifested in a different manner. After all, Irene Gaios had always taught that magic was real, so perhaps in your final breaths, you were using some to sense him.
He was near. He was trying. Yet as you deliver your messages to the crowd gathered, you already know the sad truth.
You're preparing to move on, to have your final words imparted in others so that they can give them to him...because while close, he couldn't make it.
And no matter your efforts, you can't hold on long enough to see him.
By the time he reaches you, you've already slipped into the void.
You feel an ominous sense about you...
Your check target's
It's about time you broke out from your shell. The chance for peace is finally here. You can see it. You can tell. You might have the opportunity to fulfill the hopes and dreams of the undead people.
So it's about time you put your powers to good use. While you have only hearsay here and there, rumors abound that perhaps
No Retreat
could be a resident of the eastern kingdom, such as yourself. Certainly not undead, for if they were, you would know about it, but with your skills, you could find all but their name, from which they claim to be a figure of interest.
You honestly don't know or even care if their identity is accurate. What you do know, though, is that by taking this forward position, they are likely to attract a lot of attention, and you intend to be there, to support them with your mystical vision. Thus, your ritual begins. You set up your magic circle and begin casting the spell. Once more, your focus is not on what
No Retreat
is doing, so much as it is where No Retreat did things, and who would be doing things to them right now.
Bingo.
This time, you hit something of interest, and you figure that it is something worthy of recording to your undead compatriots. While you are keeping them from fighting as much as possible, you want them to know every possible point of contact, and here, before you, you now have one.
You had been tracking him for quite some time, now. The coward had fled to where the mountains most strongly meet the forests, but you knew you would be able to catch him.
The wuldens ambushing you at your campfire were long-since dead, but they had left their mark. Your trusted steed,
Hunter
, had been slain, and they were going to PAY. Lilith had been left behind, unable to handle these conditions, but Zach dutifully strode beside you, as you hunted your quarry.
This bastard would die. You never saw his face. All you knew is that, from feel, you could sense he was a warlord, that he was behind the wulden's strategic mauling of heroes, that he was a monster needing to be taken down. The only problem was...you were always one step behind, unable to catch him, unable to identify him, unable to strike back at him.
But that latest round of wulden attacks was a mistake, since they led you straight to the lair of someone. You didn't even know who they were at first, though your impression was the figure, the hero known as
davesaz
was who you shot at.
It was dark. You couldn't see if you hit anything. For all you knew, you could have murdered someone completely innocent. But you didn't care. If it was just some victim, you'd find the real culprit. If it didn't kill them and they needed to die, you'd try again. If it didn't kill them and in better conditions, you identified them as innocent, you'd drop the matter altogether.
You're in this position where you can feel a change in the winds around you. The air seems, feels, different somehow. And with renewed determination, you not only resolve to survive, but to thrive. The northern tribes would come out of this stronger than they were before.
This belief gives you the strength to push on, attending to the minor details such as prodding around
TheWayItEnds
to discover that they're from down east, apparently.
You find the information of interest, and pack it away for the upcoming day.
His dream is nearly complete. You know it. You can feel it. It is close. It is near. It is something you would have to fight for, but it is something that you know is within reach.
Dmitri died. He wasn't supposed to, but he did. And now, you must live, to carry out his final will, his last orders, to their absolute completion. You think you can do it. But instead of spending all of your time on research, you know that with things as they are...you need to take a more active role.
davesaz
can only do so much by himself. You've served your Dmitri well up to this point, doing your own thing, but it's about time you took the front lines and started acting like the warlord that you really are. You maintain a good alias to obtain cover, moving with anonymity from location to location, and you sick the wuldens on
Wake88
, who you have deemed an enemy of your new realm.
Gistou would be unified under the wuldens soon enough. You'd just need to bring a few more heroes down. The thing you are most wary of, though, is how in your research about
A Song of Ice and Fire
, you cannot discern what race they are. Everyone leaves traces: human, lycan, wulden, vampire, nosferatu, undead, doesn't matter. They all give some sort of signature, and the one that you've been analyzing for
A Song of Ice and Fire
matches none of them. This is perplexing, and troubling.
You're not absolutely sure what it means. But whatever it is, it can't be good for you.
had to die. You had good information that they weren't human, and the way they acted, they knew way too much about things they shouldn't. Given their point of origin and your suspicion on them, you absolutely had to attack. You had time to wait, to track them down, so in the mean time, you decided to gather information on
TheWayItEnds
, eventually discovering that, like you, they hold an origin from the east.
So from there, with that finished, it was just a matter of time. You knew their route. You knew what you were going to do. So, you plunged your sword straight into them. You were expecting some sort of abomination. If not, a monster of the supernatural that would struggle, that would fight back. But instead, when turning around to look at you,
Expedience
does not have a look of shock, of horror, of rage, of sadness, in their eyes. The look in their eyes is best described as one of pure, simple warmth, and then, they hold out their right harm to your head. Your instincts are to recoil away, but for some reason, you can't.
And as they place their palm on your cheek, they mutter one simple sentence, one which leaves you stunned. "I forgive you." And with that, you know you've made a terrible, terrible mistake, fleeing the scene immediately. You can't confirm whether it was truly Expedience you attacked, though you could have sworn it was a fit. You don't know if your attack succeeded. But whatever that was, you know it was not what you expected, and in this panic, you almost don't notice the messenger hawk which attempts to land on you.
When reading the contents of the note, all you can think?
"Huh. Well, that's interesting."
Your check target's
nation
is
East Kingdom
.
DrippingGoofball
is
Gordian Lucilus
, a human from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos.
Bastardi qui occidunt se dare alteri posse impedire. Το άλλο είναι ανίκητος.
Другой не подведет. Другой не будет замедлен. Другой не будет удержаны. Другой не сердитесь, просто взволнована. Другой здравый смысл; мир маразм. Другое верно.
You pause for a moment, and remember that you are not supposed to be speaking the language of The Other so often, and instead focus on your mission: you have locked your eyes on the grand prize,
RachMarie
, who you are set to turn into yet another of The Other's servants.
Yet no matter the amount of times you focus...nothing comes. You expand your mind.
It doesn't connect.
The Other taught you, commanded you, to continue on. The Other has not truly died, and lives on. The Other knows that you can perform the process. So then, why are you having such difficulties? You are a little confused, especially when you attempt to use even mundane methods to track where your prey once called their home, and yet...nothing.
You cannot reach them, for whatever reason, and as a result, the night would prove fruitless. Perhaps a short inconvenience, as you would need to regather your concentration to better channel The Other, but perhaps not something without an upside.
The Other is in you, and it beckons you to use every edge you can get.
"We're coming back for you, we've been over this."
"No, you move on."
"We don't move on until we see you," you insist. "I am
not
going to be left constantly wondering if a comrade of my lived or died while we callously abandoned them. Not again."
And in this manner,
DrippingGoofball
was quick to agree, nodding their head. "If you die, then I promise, we will move on and will do our best not to grieve. But not a moment sooner. Alive until proven otherwise."
You had made a new pact. A new promise to each other. One that was, more than anyone else,
Expedience
's idea. A fact you are quick to remind them of. "That's something you would say, isn't it, Expedience."
"Alright. That's good enough for me."
The idea of separating from one another was already perhaps not a wise one. It was dangerous, risky, to stop the wagon and go exploring on their own, no matter the need, no matter the personal errand, even though all of you had things they wanted to do.
You'd experienced a hard loss already, and you didn't want to have another one. You also didn't want to inflict that fate on the others. But all the same, they both know, as well as you do, that there are duties to be done.
So in your case, you head off to investigate
Tim
. You've heard rumors of the man lurking in the shadows, and getting a good look at him, you can tell that calling him a "man" would be generous. The information-gathering may have been dangerous, but you feel that--from what you already knew--taking this vital piece of information could help the other heroes of Gistou.
You can feel it, that sense of ease at the possibility that Gistou could end soon. So many are dead, but slim, faint, bits of progress towards peace have been made. You would just need to get a little further. Just a little further, until you could be together...
...And then, you collapse to your knees. You don't even need to be near to tell.
On the wagon, you might not be the leader...but you're among equals. You don't need a leader there. You all share responsibilities, you all share duties, you all have an equal say, as
Heartless
would have wanted it.
"If I'm not back by morning..."
Expedience
tried to command.
That wouldn't stand with you, not at all. "We're coming back for you, we've been over this."
"No, you move on."
"We don't move on until we see you,"
TheWayItEnds
spoke up. "I am
not
going to be left constantly wondering if a comrade of my lived or died while we callously abandoned them. Not again."
Not to be outdone, you are quick to use
Expedience
's own words against them. "If you die, then I promise, we will move on and will do our best not to grieve. But not a moment sooner. Alive until proven otherwise."
This, you could do.
"Alright. That's good enough for me."
And with that, the three of you went separate ways, if only for the night. You had stopped the wagon, and were planning on doing your own things, all for the sake of a better world. You like to play equal, for instance, but you still must attend to the duties demanded of you as Gordian Lucilus, the current commander of what could be considered all of the western empire's forces.
You try to coordinate with others. You try to minimize civilian casualties. You try to reduce collateral damage. And so, you decide you will next attempt to coordinate with
No Retreat
, who you hear rumors of being able to help.
Ever the cautious one, however, you decide that while doing this, you would also do some digging into them, confirming some basic facts about this alleged leader of the east. In the current world, friends are precious few to come by.
So come the time when you know you are to meet with the others, you and
, but you had much to do on your own for this night. You decide to start the night with him, by teaching him the basics of an old hunter trick, in this case, a variety on interference:
You fool your target into thinking they are targeting the person they intended to, but instead of it being their intended target, they are targeting
literally
nothing, resulting in no possible result. This technique, while simple to describe, is ridiculously difficult to pull off in practice, because it takes things one step further.
Any old human could run interference and make
themselves
a target. The long ling of the Wolf family being a famous example of such bodyguards, acting as decoys for specific target players. The key difference, however, would be twofold: first, this variant does not involve placing yourself in any danger, assuming you've done it correctly. Second, this technique is offensive rather than defensive, since it requires targeting the person you wish to prevent.
This form of interference, known as the block, is akin to a mental mind game, and your chosen target? The person you also wish to learn more about,
A Song of Ice and Fire
. As far as you can tell, the trick goes flawlessly, with you effortlessly shutting them down while they would only be able to figure out the cause come morning or so. But when you investigate
A Song of Ice and Fire
some further, doing some digging, instantly, some alarm bells ring in your head.
Were you not already pale as a ghost, you certainly would turn that way. This tip you get instantly worries you, to the point where you rush into the nearby forest all alone, in spite of knowing how dangerous it is. You ask
Wake88
not to follow, explaining that it's a personal matter.
It can't be
.
No.
You tell yourself.
You know it couldn't be.
You rush. At first, it's just a small concern.
But you've only once had this feeling before.
Only once, in your entire life, have you had anything close to what you're going through right now...and what you're feeling right now is even worse.
Not possible
, you tell yourself.
Beating through the brush, the harsh woodland lashes out at you. It doesn't matter. The cuts and bruises are meaningless to you, as you keep on going, in a flat-out panic mode. You need to go. You need to go. Faster. Faster. FASTER.
Before dawn. You would have to make it before day. You can sense it. The dark forest warns of the ill omen, that you must reach her before then. And yet, in its hostility, it tries to hold you in. Wild lycans rush after you, which you manage to outrun in your desperation.
This was life and death. And something very personal, very close, something where you would maybe finally get the chance to see them, to see
her
...if only you could reach her! And if you don't, then you'd be alone.
You could rendezvous with
Wake88
later.
And as you reach the edge of the forest, you can sense a crowd already gathering, the light blaring down.
You approach, and collapse on your knees, crying.
There she is.
Right before you.
Smiling like an angel.
Alexis Galenos.
Her eyes peacefully closed, having just passed.
You were too late.
You could do nothing.
You were powerless.
Again.
And you let out a skyward scream, of agony, of grief, mourning her, and you can't hold it together.
The waterworks of your eyes pour onward and onward, long gasps between your painful, agonized breaths, a state of shock born from pure, simple sadness, a primal level of pain nobody could ever know except you.
You had caused Gistou in order to save her.
You could have stopped Dmitri Damanos before he grew too powerful, simply if you had let this happen back then.
And yet, you didn't.
You saved her. You let her live. You couldn't let her die, because she NEEDED to live.
You needed her alive.
You couldn't bear to think she could actually leave this world like that. Before you knew she was undead, you had thought if anything, she would die of old age.
Not like this.
Not something at all like this.
This was exactly what you tried to avoid.
This was exactly what you were fighting so hard to prevent!
And then, there she was...
...Now, dead.
You want to stay for a funeral.
You want to stop living, to give up on life, because without her, it wouldn't be worth it.
But you try to shake that thought off.
No.
She wouldn't want that.
She would want you to continue on. You hear her last words, which you know were mostly to you, and you resolve to become stronger, to keep going, to make the world what you both wished it would be.
Something she saw brighter than even you could ever see.
Because she was the shining light of the world.
And you were just the somewhat-sour knight that would work with her.
You remind yourself that now, you aren't alone. You have
Wake88
to confide in. All you'd need to do is meet him at the established point, but along the way, you're concerned, finding a trail of wulden corpses nearby, a trail that is strangely close to your meeting point.
As you follow them in the direction they seem to head, eventually, you find the victorious warrior, who had managed to slay them all. By your estimate, atop a mountain of corpses, it must have been at least 200, maybe as much as 400, against just the one, and the one had won...
...Yet was limp. Pale, beyond the pale of a paleskin. Now just another corpse.
Post
Post #8461 (isolation #234) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 10:56 pm
Postby mastin2 »
Night Six Flavor/Results
The Dead:
Spoiler: Klingoncelt/Bacde's Death
The road traveled to get this far had been very long, indeed. And in your times, you had seen so much. You have seen oh so much of the world, and know all of these various facts about it, unique to you. Yet you know that these things hold a price to be paid.
For you have finally cracked the secret to foreseeing the future, and you know what you need to do. The final push would require drastic action, even actions that would put the future of your people in jeopardy. You tell them of these trying times, but you go forward with your risky plan regardless, for beyond witnessing the battle between
A Song of Ice and Fire
and
Almost50
, you know you must resolve other scars.
There are old grudges still. You have let yourself grow idle again. No more. You immediately leave to find him.
The man
. That man.
Panther Timon
. You hold him in high regards, and you know it is he who must perform the deed. The magicks of the world dictate that a final balance be struck, an equilibrium between all, and for that to be obtained, one must be willing to let go of the past, present, even their own future, for the sake of those that will be.
You would see no more sadness. No, before you, you know: there will be only a final loss in the war, and it will all be over. You pray for the better. You risked a lot on this. If you were miscalculating, it would spell disaster for all the races across the world, perhaps even including mankind. But you hold confidence in yourself: you are not wrong. You are on the path which must be walked.
Final death for some, but it would only matter for one. Life had gone downhill, was this really the answer? You shake your head, removing the doubt from your mind. Yes. You would do this. The abyss is calling your name. The hopes and dreams of your people could shatter, yet somehow, you feel at ease. No fear. No resignation. Simply...acceptance.
You come face to face with
No Retreat
, holding a sword, and as they look confused, you simply smile. "Do it."
Nobody would be sure of who actioned first. As they raise their blade, you grab it and let it pierce you. So whether they claimed your life or you used them as an instrument for the same purpose, it is unclear.
What is clear is how you see the future ahead of you, one where you have died and yet your people flourish, and the reward of that is worth the risk held in letting your life fade away.
HEAVILY recommend you read this one and the following:
Spoiler: A Song of Ice and Fire's Death
Никто не настолько глуп, чтобы оставить нас без каких-либо сил. Quamquam hic sumus vicit animi impotentia. Другой должен был быть сильным! Γιατί το άλλο έμεινε τόσο αδύναμη είναι πέρα από την κατανόησή μας. Possumus et nos de manu optimum. Модератор является сука. Она никогда не будет знать, как сбалансировать масштабы жизни и смерти. Όλα τα ίδια, ξέρουμε πόσο καλά έχουμε πραγματοποιήσει. Η άλλη θα είναι περήφανοι για τα επιτεύγματά μας. Sed quid ad nos? Alter vero bene multa.
Η άλλη έχει αγωνιστεί για να πάρει αυτό το μέτρο. Η θέληση του άλλου δεν μπορεί απλώς να σβήσει τόσο εύκολα. Αυτό, Η Άλλη έκανε εμπιστεύεστε μέσα από την άλλη με. Χρωστάμε Η Άλλη τα πάντα. Другая диктует смерть тем, кто будет сопротивляться путиДругого. Чемпионы Человечества не должно быть ни в какое сравнение с другой. Если все пойдет по плану, то другой будет устранить все. Sane tanti altera tantum praedicunt. Multis, ut ex subreptione est adiuncta. Haec voluntas Dei in ceterisque pestibus, una cum omnibus agentibus alterius.
υπόψη μας πρέπει να καταγράφονται. То, что мы говорим, не должны быть потеряны, как и другие требования наше присутствие быть известны. Denique alia omnia alia mundi, quae omnia alia, alia in nobis inhabitare super, altera dominatur servis De ceteris rebus deinceps agit. Так пусть наши слова распространились на уши тех, кто не верит. Θα δούμε ποιος έχει το τελευταίο γέλιο. Adversa soli tempus aliud juris. Так что это было сказано, и так оно должно быть.
Για όσους δεν έχουν αλιευθεί το μάτι του άλλου, γνωρίζουμε ότι αυτό είναι προσωρινό. Venient dies in te, ut possideat et alter te. В настоящее время, Другое продиктовала переключатель. Οι λέξεις των άλλων είναι άχρηστη αν δεν γίνεται κατανοητό. Ut in sequentibus venemur audientes ceteri in Latio. Kai tóra katalavaíno to állo stin ellinikí glóssa. Tak kak agent Drugoy idet, slushat' russkogo stoya v dlya nemetskogo yazyka. Tempore venit alius demum omnes arbitri.
It was time. The Other had given you a new directive: hunt down, one by one, and kill those powerful enough to resist the will of The Other, for those would prove a threat to what The Other was to achieve. Agnigi's perverted existence will be extinguished. This much could never be more clear. The will of The Other is absolute. The death of those who interfere with The Other's plans to produce Gistou shall be assured. It was inevitable. The world was weak, oh ever SO weak, and you know you hold the strength to break it because The Other tells you that the people of the land cannot lie about their failures for much longer, and you can continue on as you have.
The Other does not need allies, nor does The Other have use for those in opposition. Those that catch on could only suffer one of two ends: consumed, or corrupted. Recruited, or ripped apart. No immunity, nothing, no form of power, could prevent this. The Other would not discriminate. Simply spread. The Other could welcome any willing to welcome The Other. Chaos, carnage, death, destruction. These gifts, The Other gives freely to those The Other chooses. For while others cling in their inferiority to their precious ideals, their precious lives, you know The Other to be eternal.
The Other knows no limits. The Other could give the comfort of death to those who wish it, and so it would seem to be the results of The Other's will. The path laid out, of never giving life. The darkness of the night takes hold, setting the stage. There they were, in front of you, openly challenging you to a fight:
Almost50
, as he was known.
Είστε τυχεροί δειλός και τίποτα περισσότερο. В реальном бою, ваш маразм бы заработать смерть.
He, of course, holds a different name: Adrian Burkhard. Those without the resolve The Other gives couldn't hope to understand, yet alone, withstand, the might of The Other.
The warrior wanted a battle. You would give it to him. This, The Other had dictated. Dispose of those not needed. Deal with the nuisances and further The Other's agenda. With the prey discovered, The Other is delighted for the free victim, knowing screams of agony would soon entail. Nobody could stop The Other. It was pointless to resist. The Other would always succeed, conquering all, even this one. Always has The Other been and always shall The Other be. So what was done before must now be done again. It is all in the name of Gistou, because in that state, pure peace, real peace, could be obtained.
Direction is key, and The Other has one. This truth of The Other is absolute. With life as the true infection in need of a cure, The Other has planned to touch everything and remove the tainted forms leaving behind only the pure, as defined by The Other. The Other would allow its presence to spread, its corruption growing. The Other is everywhere, in everything. The Other touches all.
The Other reaches all. You open your mind out, communicating not verbally, but with a link beyond that, for you have transcended the need for a mouth. You have not taken your full form yet, as you intend to only unleash what you need, but as you approach, you figure you would get the upper hand.
Death. Kill. Consume. Death.
Your focus your thoughts.
"
Per benedictionem alterum, priusquam opera legere cognoscetis eos. Know us. Hear us. Fear us.
"
The hardened fighter, while clearly shaken by the move, was ultimately undeterred. It would be his funeral, as The Other cannot be felled. The Other cannot fail. Thus, The Other could never truly be stopped, so his efforts mean nothing. "Cheap parlor tricks won't save you." His words would not deter The Other. He would eventually understand what he was seeing.
You let out a laugh. At first, it resembles a human laugh, until your new internal biology twists it into something much greater than that. Perhaps in their world they view it as insanity, but you know The Other holds the only true path to the sane. You use your lips. "Perhaps." And then move into his head once more. "
Если бы это был трюк, который было бы правдой. But we know this is far more than that. Το μυαλό σας σας εξαπατά.
"
The Other, in a physical vessel, was more skilled at this art than you, a mere extension of The Other, would be, but you know how to use it.
Almost50
had let his direct confrontation skills rust: all his direct kills had been from a distance. This, you glean from him easily enough, and from it, you can deduce his weaknesses.
"Try all you like to psyche me out with that voodoo of yours. I am immune to your influence."
"You are indeed able to block more than any human rightfully should," you use your lips, to disguise your plan, "however, you've yet to grasp your situation." As if your warning could ever be deciphered, you taunt him: "
Perdidisti statim alterum indici posse putabant.
" The Other has already seen the outcome of this fight. The results would be known soon enough, even to him.
First would come the musket, at a distance. With a dagger and a strength exceeding any known beast, you launch a dagger straight into the barrel, lodging itself so deep within that the gun is permanently ruined. Closing the distance between you in only a split second, you also cut into ribbons his bow and is spare rifle, leaving him without ranged weapons. He smiles as you near a trap, but you intentionally trigger it...only to lure his pesky raptor into it instead, which you mercilessly dispose of without hesitation.
The despair on his face grows evident. "Do you grasp the gravity of your situation yet?" You lower your head down, yet lock your gaze on him, a wicked grin forming. Your otherworldly features begin to show, from the stretched edges of your mouth to the black ooze pouring from your mouth to the tentacles writhing within, rendering human speech momentarily impossible. "
Δεν είμαστε υβρίδιο λύκου. Training against wuldens and nosferatu is worthless against us.
"
Let's test that, shall we?
You sense from him. "We'll see about that." With no ranged weapons to speak of, he would have to rely on close battle tactics. His traps useless, his preparations no longer helpful, it'd be a battle of pure instinct...and yet, you would dominate every step of the way. He starts faster than you, but with you knowing every move he's going to make, you continue to block and evade, dancing around him.
It's at this point you make the troubling realization: he's getting harder to read. Perhaps resistance to your mind probe, perhaps fighting so instinctively that his consciousness is progressively losing track of his autonomous movements, perhaps both, but no matter. It would make zero difference in the end. He leaves no openings for you as you are to exploit, but he also can't find any yet, and the moment he would make a move, you would counter it.
It's at that moment that he draws his own knife, using it to block your sword, and slashes at you. Obtaining permission from The Other, you decide to crush him, invoking your full transformation: his blade shatters upon contacting your pink chiton shell, which now encases your body, except the tentacles which now serve as your method of movement. Their hypnotic glow leaves him in a state of terror, but he's quick to recover, taking out an ax to defend himself with.
"
I warned you. Другая гранты как сила и скорость. Arma alterius initium sumamus. You can do nothing.
"
You give your full speed. Before, this human had surprised you, matching your anthropomorphic form in speed and strength, yet now, you overwhelm him. In seconds, you have delivered dozens of slashes to him, utterly shattering his weapon along with several ribs. His beaten, bloodied body still breathes, so you toss him like a rag doll, into the distance. He lands, still able to stand, apparently, the stubbornness of the north running deep through him.
Yet you know he has nothing left. You close the gap once more and continue bashing and thrashing him. He is done. This, The Other was sure of. This, you were positive was the case. So as you neck-lift him, preparing a killing blow, you give a final word of encouragement. "
For a human, you were quite the threat, or I wouldn't be here, like this.
"
But at that moment, a human, some nobody from the west, jumps in front of you, taking the life-ending strike you had meant for
Almost50
. And in that second,
Almost50
uses the remnants of his sword--still in his hand--to stab into your body. He couldn't have known where to strike, and yet, he still hits a vital spot, by luck if nothing else, and you can sense your life presence has been stolen away.
He smiles. "For an abomination, you were quite the threat yourself, and I wouldn't be here like this otherwise." You are confused. The Other calms you down. It was a possibility. But you are given an assurance: perhaps not today, or in the near future, but at some point, The Other would avenge your death.
It shouldn't have ended like this. And yet, as your vision fades, you recognize, you know, that things are finished for now.
Y
o
u
h
a
v
e
d
i
e
d
.
I know you said you didn't want it, but all the same, you
In spite of being the champion of the north, your work has left you feeling rather isolated. War is bloody, war is not glorious, war is something to be fought for keeps, and you have been suffering from being forced to fight using this mentality. The enemies have never been clear, but you can only do your best to try.
You are, after all...a professional killer. Your job was always going to be murdering heroes. What would one more be? So you begin your planning. An indirect confrontation would be ideal, but luring out your prey would require something to bait them with, namely...you. You wouldn't be able to lurk in the shadows and snipe from afar. All you could do is distract them long enough to take them down.
A Song of Ice and Fire
. They are who you are to track. You're nearby, sensing danger all around you, and so, you take time to start laying out some precautions. You want to control the battlefield, such that whenever they enter your zone, you control every action they take. This method works well in open warfare, and it works well when against a beast, but you've never tested it against another capable of advanced thought, though the principle should be sound enough to not matter if you are precise enough.
You wouldn't be able to use the same techniques you did against
Nosferatu
, as you knew that they had been survivable even then for whatever reason, but similar traps would be most useful. The mechanisms you devise theoretically give you the edge you're looking for when facing the unknown, and it is here you are resolved to make a stand. This place would serve your hit-and-run style just well enough to work. It was time to finally get ahead of the game.
The preparations were complete. You have every angle covered: method of attack, method of control, even method of escape should the need arise. And thus, you came to confront
A Song of Ice and Fire
in a fight, a bloody brawl you knew would be to the death. You steel yourself. And it's then that for the first time, you hear the thoughts invading your head. "
Per benedictionem alterum, priusquam opera legere cognoscetis eos. Know us. Hear us. Fear us.
"
Though unnerved, you resolve to not be shaken by this mind game of theirs. The nosferatu are known for similar, and you have trained yourself such that you are resistant to even them. This new variant doesn't shake you, rattle you, beyond ability to reason. "Cheap parlor tricks won't save you."
They let out a laugh. At first, as a human, soon, that twisted, demented laughter becomes something...something
else
, a force, dark, perverted, beyond all comprehension, and yet, still conveying the same meaning. This was definitely not a normal human you were facing, so there would be no need to hold back. Using their lips, they speak normally. "Perhaps." Yet with a mere look, once more they return to your head. "
Если бы это был трюк, который было бы правдой. But we know this is far more than that. Το μυαλό σας σας εξαπατά.
"
This...might prove challenging. Against other heroes, you come to the realization, you've never fought them in a prolonged melee. You've fought on the front lines against plenty of wulden and nosferatu, but an elite hero specifically out to kill you? No, not so much. For those, you have dealt with them with traps and with range. You would have to use both if you were to stand a chance, you realize, since this threat emanates an aura of lethality you'd rather not test.
"Try all you like to psyche me out with that voodoo of yours. I am immune to your influence."
"You are indeed able to block more than any human rightfully should," they use lips, "however, you've yet to grasp your situation." The penetration into your mind, annoyingly enough, resumes. "
Perdidisti statim alterum indici posse putabant.
" You get sick of this bullshit, immediately readying your musket: it would not have the same power, range, or accuracy as the rifle, but you can pull it out and shoot it faster. So you point it at them, only to discover that by the time you have done so, a dagger has plunged its way straight through the barrel, permanently ruining the gun.
You would get no time to react. In only a split second, they are already down on you: they're slightly faster than the average wulden or nosferatu, placing them at about your level of speed, but because you were caught off-guard, you're forced to watch as both your trusted rifle and your backup bow are sliced to ribbons by their sword.
It would be a melee, then, unless...you smile. The traps you had laid out before look to have been well-placed, and one finally is about to pan out, as they walk nearby. You subtly shift directions, trying to do the same to them, and they take the bait, triggering the trap...yet instead of the intended target, they had managed to force Lilith into the danger zone, where they unceremoniously dispatch her without a shred of emotion, knowing full good and well what was going on.
They had triggered the trap intentionally. They knew where it was. They knew where
all
your traps were. No ranged weapons. No traps, no tricks. Just simple skill, against an unknown abomination. Now, you begin to worry, and it is in this moment, you feel the first hint of concern for yourself you've ever felt your entire life.
"Do you grasp the gravity of your situation yet?" A brief transformation flashes before your eyes. Lowering their head down,
A Song of Ice and Fire
locks their eyes, now with black sclera, red irises, and a white pupil at you, a faint glow now being emitted from them. Furthermore, a wicked wide grin begins to form, stretching cheek to cheek. Black ooze pours from their mouth, tentacles writhing within. Maybe unable to speak normally (it wouldn't surprise you, given their status), they instead continue the mind games. "
Δεν είμαστε υβρίδιο λύκου. Training against wuldens and nosferatu is worthless against us.
"
Let's test that, shall we?
"We'll see about that." With no ranged weapons to speak of, you would have to rely on close battle tactics. Rather, more accurately, with no traps and preparations no longer of use, it'd be a battle of pure instinct. You're faster than them. You can tell. They seemingly can read your moves well, able to dodge, able to dance, able to weave in and out of combat, but they are still slower than you, and so, you know you can beat them.
They begin relying more and more on blocks rather than evasion, a promising sign: it means you're getting harder (rather than easier) for them to read, and you're getting better at finding their weak spots in the split seconds they exist. No real openings exist, but all the same, this fight is yours. You take out a knife, using it to block their sword, and use your own blade to attack in that moment.
...And that is when you see their full form. Your sword, one of the strongest in existence, shatters upon contacting their pink armor, now encasing their entire body, except for the tendrils which they use for mobility purposes. This sparkle to them would be beautiful, even hypnotic, if not for the sheer freakish monstrosity of it, and for how it is clear this is a form meant for one purpose only: killing prey. Killing
you
. Still, you're not ready to die, taking out your ax now as a primary weapon.
"
I warned you. Другая гранты как сила и скорость. Arma alterius initium sumamus. You can do nothing.
" Well, sure, that armor would be an inconvenience, but surely, you would be able to find a weakness. It would slow them down, giving you time--
...Or not. As it turns out, they're even faster than you are.
A Song of Ice and Fire
overwhelms you in seconds. Only moments ago, you stood equal, and now, you have been dealt dozens of slashes, enough to utterly destroy your ax along with several of your ribs, not to mention, leaving you with nasty gashes spanning your whole body, slashes you're sure will scar. And, proving that completing the trio of endurance and speed, they show immense strength by tossing you like a rag doll, seemingly hundreds of feet into the air, before you come crashing down, hard.
You're not dead yet. But soon...you know you will be, short of a miracle. The gap between you is already gone, and you're getting bashed and thrashed and further trashed. When you're given a neck-lift, a killing blow is prepared. "
For a human, you were quite the threat, or I wouldn't be here, like this.
"
But at that moment, a human, some nobody from the west, jumps in front of you, taking the life-ending strike meant for you. That's all you need. Slashing weapons would be useless, but you figure that if you stab at just the right angle in just the right spot...using the remnants of your sword, you take your best guess at some vital spots in their anatomy, off of what limited knowledge you know. Be it luck or skill, you're not sure which, but you clearly did damage, enough that the human's sacrifice was not in vain.
You smile. "For an abomination, you were quite the threat yourself, and I wouldn't be here like this otherwise."
You turn your back on them, not bothering to confirm the kill. Or for that matter, that it was really them you were facing. Instead, you go to the west empire soldier. "Why'd you do it?"
"Y...r Adrian...hard...champion." He smiles. "Wouldn't your men...do the same...Kaiser?"
You pause for a moment, pondering. And then, confidently, warmly, you comfort them. "Yes. Yes, they would have. We would have died for one another. That's what we agreed on, after all."
Battered, but not broken, you would live to fight another day, if only just, and thanks to the strength provided by the deceased Gyles Kaiser, his will protecting you from beyond his grave. War is hell, but perhaps there is companionship to be had in it yet. And on that note, you receive a message from someone in the west, further encouraging friendship, something you're growing more accustomed to accepting. It wouldn't be much longer now. Allies are such a wondrous thing.
Your check target's
nation
is
Other
.
DrippingGoofball
is
Gordian Lucilus
, a human from the Western Empire hailing from Erimos.
long ago. Now, it was time to take action. The people were counting on you, like they always did. You had to confront things one more time, and a voice beckons you in one direction in particular. Down the Divitias you travel, to the plains at the heart of the undead's strongholds, not once encountering resistance. They all let you through, on your way, even though they no doubt know what you're intent on doing.
They tell you of their pain and suffering, as they once did when you were younger, and now accept what would come, especially in the aftermath of your actions. These people had lost their motivation to fight. And you were going to bring peace to them. Not through slaughter. Not through mass-murder. You would bring it the only way you knew how: by coming directly forward towards the problem and confronting it head-on. You'd done many before.
What was one more? It was going to be a final fight in the night, an attack taken during the last duration of the bloody war, where you would ultimately bring peace, by ending the last of their heroes and unifying your people once more. You had fought them before. You had even murdered one in cold blood, defenseless and helpless. So you could spare one time. You don't know why you're drawn to this one, why you decide to do this.
But it's as if some higher power is dictating your will, urging things to progress in one way. How could you refuse? It would be difficult. You knew that. You prepare your trusted sword, the weapon confirmed to have killed most of your targets. You're exhausted. But you can do this. Your fatigue won't let you die, not yet, not when you've still got a world to save. Your job, your duty, becomes abundantly clear as you come face to face with
Bacde
.
The legendary Irene Gaios, in the flesh. They look at peace, confusing you. They smile. "Do it."
Nobody would be sure of who actioned first. As you raise their blade, they grab it and let it pierce them. So whether you claimed their life or they used you as an instrument for the same purpose, it is unclear. All the same, the results are regardless, the same: you have slain yet one more of the undead, and for what purpose, you're not sure. You just know something lies ahead.
You had humble beginnings, as just a stowaway out to see the world. You had your dreams, your great, wonderful dreams, but you never thought they would amount to much. Even as you escaped from your home, you couldn't help but wonder what good you would do.
While you later grew to accept where you came from (albeit still preferring not to associate yourself with them), you held very little faith in yourself. But, bit by bit, you have been getting closer. As you've fought for your vision of the better future, things have gotten better. You know that the other heroes haven't seen much of you, but they don't need to: what you do is best seen, not heard.
And what you offer is an insight into others, which you have been given graciously the chance to optimize. Your unique ways have gotten you a permanent station on a long-term plan for the future world, one you rather like the look of, especially in seeing just how much of it is influenced directly by you. Agnigi is almost saved. All, thanks in large part, to a human who started as a mere hitch-hiker.
You've suffered from losses, but you resolve to have no more, that you would end this violence once and for all.
The modern world knows the fires of Gistou as nothing but a bad thing. But you still remember the heat of the loving flame that represents creation, the forge of Erimos, the mighty west having formed its great mechanical heart out of the heat of passionate flames you would tirelessly toil under.
You're no warrior, but you've fought long and hard on your battle, as a new war general of the west, one not elected to the position, but given through sheer competency and necessity. Your efforts are what has kept the west around, kicking and alive as it is. The loss of Gyles Kaiser necessitated you taking up the banner of your people aggressively.
And so, here you are. Ready to once more lead them into a new era, a future, where maybe those fires you were raised on are once more known for their glory. No more calls to arms. No more fighting. No more frying. Only for the good. With a note to
Almost50
prepared, you are ready to unify the people together. You know him to be of the north, so now, peace could potentially prosper.
You don't have as much time to interact with
TheWayItEnds
, your friend, as you would prefer, but it's an unfortunate sacrifice. You know that they, or you, could die any day, but you're sick of it. You're tired of all the deaths, of friends, of heroes. It would have to end, and have to end very soon.
You look down to your left hand. In it, a long lock of brown hair.
Her
hair. A constant reminder to yourself. Also present, a polar groden tooth, trinket inherited from your deceased companion. You're not just asking yourself this. You're asking
them
. Both of them. They had once been there, so lively, so filled with youthful energy, excited, eager. Both of them had that trait. It's probably what attracted you to them in the first place.
You shake your head.
"It has to be."
If you wouldn't make the right decision...it could end disastrously. What to do? You don't know. You can't quite figure it out for sure. All you can do is take your best guess, off of bits and pieces of information here and there along with simple gut instinct. Making the right calls is something you've never been the best at.
"You have two options, Schroder: either continue pursuing me to stop my research I extracted from her...or save the girl's life. The choice is yours, but we both already know what you're going to do."
All your mistakes. All your wrongdoings. All your shortcomings. All the times you've failed. The people who relied on you, who were counting on you to do the right thing, who wanted you to rescue them, and yet, you were always there to see them die.
It wasn't fair.
Nobody should have to go through what you have. In the world of Agnigi, you could afford this time to angst over actions. For all of eternity, should you so wish it. And yet, in the modern world, you have to deal with the decisions you make every day, no matter how hard, no matter how trying, they may be. And so, you resolve to follow through on your plan.
For all the bad in the world...so much good had happened. You must remember it. You hold onto it, you cherish it, you relish it, no matter the pain. The talismans you have, you bring up to your mouth, before pocketing them away. The consequences of your actions are long-lasting. Some of those have been bad. It's about time to rebuild all the good ones.
If that proved impossible, the solution: make it possible. Fix it, step by step, starting with
TheWayItEnds
, who you interfere with. You also desire to learn more about them, running extensive research on them. This violation of privacy would perhaps not be the wisest of moves, but if the end result would be a better world...it would be worth it. You want to make a difference, no matter what.
The pain is great. But it is not unbearable. It is not something you cannot move on from. Hopes have been shattered. Dreams broken. Lots has been lost. Yet not all. Just enough where you decide that you'll take some personal time to yourself, if you can spare it. You wonder whether humans hurt this much, but ultimately, decide it doesn't matter. It is what it is.
So you tell yourself.
Your reaction would be a different matter altogether.
The peace...the golden days...the hope...so little sustains it.
As evident when you take the time you promise for yourself. You're weak. Vulnerable. For all the strength in the world you possess, you still hold these things which wound you so deeply.
You end the night staring at the patch of recently-disturbed brown earth you find yourself closer to. They were, unfortunately, apart, rendering a visit to both impossible. But there, you kneel down. You cry. And before you, you beg. "Please forgive me. Please forgive me. Please." The tears come rushing down your face, as you sob away, still unable to recover from your loss.
There, at the gray rock, can the following be found:
Other flavors I recommend: RachMarie's N5 flavor, Expedience's death flavor, Wake88's death flavor, RAM's death flavor, A Song of Ice and Fire's conversion flavor (N1), and davesaz's conversion flavor (N3), among others. I put a lot of work into some of those.
Post
Post #8464 (isolation #235) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 11:03 pm
Postby mastin2 »
Unused Trivia:
The six East Kingdom seasons are: calidae, amnis, habeant, dest, sicatum, and maxime.
Calidae, for the East Kingdom, is the first season of their year: when the water is at its most bountiful, and the weather is temperate. This would be approximate to spring on earth. In the Northern Tribes, this corresponds to a season roughly equivalent to summer: water is at its least bountiful, and temperatures are at their highest, with their flora and fauna taking vibrant colors. For the Western Empire, this would be somewhere between autumn and winter, as they have cold weather with normal water.
Amnis, for the East Kingdom, continues with the heavy waterflow, but reduces the temperatures. This is loosely equivalent to autumn on earth. In the Northern Tribes, temperatures become temperate. The West Empire moves into their equivalent of spring, with warmer temperatures.
Habeant, for the East, continues being cold, but with a lessened water level. The North gets a downpour, their rainy fall. The West enters into their summer, suffering from heat waves and with the water drying out.
Dest, for the East, signals that their summer is approaching: hot and still reasonably humid. The North, meanwhile, firmly enters into their winter, as they get the largest amount of snowfall from the heavy precipitation combined with the low temperatures. The East begins to exit its summer, slowly heading for its fall, with the decrease in temperature.
Sicatum, in the East, is their summer: the waters recede and evaporate, thanks to the hot temperatures. The North continues with a more mild winter. The West enters fall: water is at its most plentiful, and the temperatures are still moderate.
Maxime, the last season in the year, completes the cycle: in the East, temperatures begin to lower, but the water levels continue to lower. The Northern end of things gets a beautiful spring-like environment. Finally, the West deals with sub-zero temperatures at night that lock the extra water in.
Like on Earth, Agnigi has 12 months. Unlike on Earth, they take only 25 days each, rather than ~30, thanks to the slightly-shorter years.
The Northern Tribes calendar's seasons are marked as: Summer (warm), Winter (cold), and Spring (temperate). In that order, for their year. This means their calendar starts one month prior to that of the West and the East.
The Western Empire's calendar has the seasons Synthis (average), Deltio (drought), and Grasia (water at its peak). In that order.
Variants on "Smith" are the most common surname in the West Empire.
Variants on South, East, Summers, and Winters are the most common four surnames in the East Kingdom.
In the Northern Tribes, surnames have a unique tradition attached to them. To give an example, Bjorn, as the son of Odin, might have the surname Odinson. Bjorn's son, Thor, might also have the surname Odinson, in spite of being the son of Bjorn. However, if Thor becomes notable enough that he gains a name for himself, such as "Thor of the Heavy Hammer", then if he has a son, that son might have the surname
Heavyhammer
. This differential in surnames means the Northern Tribes has the greatest variety of surnames out of any region.
On Agnigi, there are four ethnic groups: pinkskins, yellowskins, blackskins, and brownskins. Unlike on earth, where using that terminology is generally considered highly offensive, these terms are considered purely descriptive. Hunters were thought to be a fifth ethnic group, the paleskins, but the rise of Gistou has proven this wrong. Still, the term persists, as an alternative to 'bloodsucker', 'hunter', 'vampire', or 'nosferatu'.
Pinkskins, in spite of the name, come in many shades. They can be anywhere from almost-pale, to mid-brown. Their main hair colors are blond(e) and brown, with the occasional red. Their eyes are primarily green or blue, with the occasional shade of hazel. They are most closely associated with the Erimos Range, meaning they have populations in both the Northern Tribes and the West Empire.
Blackskins are called blackskins, but their skin can be other shades, in particular, dark gray or dark brown. Their hair is usually brown or black. Their eyes are usually either brown, or a shade of hazel. They are most closely associated with the Great Ridge, but exist in any arid location, so they have extensive populations in both the West Empire and the East Kingdom.
Yellowskins are called yellowskins, but they, like pinkskins, can have skin color in basically almost any shade, from almost-pale to mid-brown. They have no common hair or eye colors; all appear almost equally. They are the most common skin color, appearing everywhere from Divitias to the Great Lake to the north and even exist in the west. However, their main population is equally divided between the Northern Tribes and the East Kingdom.
A subset of yellowskins was called the greenskins, so called because their yellow skin had this pale green look to it. Universally, they were the lowest-class of citizen, existing almost exclusively in the Eastern Kingdom. In the world of Gistou, they are more commonly known as the undead, the very same population who had the slave uprising for fear of their lives.
Brownskins are called brownskins, but they can have any shade of skin, from almost-pale to pinkish to reddish to yellowish to brownish. Their hair is mainly brown or black, and they have an equal division between brown, blue, and green eyes. They mostly live in jungles and forested areas, meaning that they're huge residents of Divitias (and by extent, the East Kingdom) and the Great Lake. In fact, they were the ruling class of the East Kingdom.
When vampires were thought to be hunters only, as paleskins, they had the definition of having shades of skin from pure white to blueish to dark gray, with maybe the occasional brownish or greenish tint to them. Their eyes were universally red. Most of them had black hair. Those who bothered to read the opening flavor post would already know their preferred regions: largely the Great Lake, and from there, spread equally into the Erimos Range, the Great Ridge, and Divitias, especially the more forested areas where monsters love to lurk.
While there are general trends in ethnicities, there's always going to be a rare exception here or there. People of one ethnic group can show traits of other ethnic groups. Even vampires can have freakish incidents of eye or skin color.
"I've failed the world three times now. That'd be enough to break any man. How fortunate I never was one."
--Nicholas Schroder.
"Compassion is a weakness in war. However, I'd rather lose a hundred battles than lose it."
--Nicholas Schroder.
Post
Post #8466 (isolation #236) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 11:14 pm
Postby mastin2 »
There's more that I as the moderator should be giving you:
Commenting on the game, how it went vs how I expected, what I'd do differently, maybe even give feedback to individual players.
Plus, there are things that I said in the dead thread and the spoiled dead thread which I think I should say in here, because some people aren't going to read those insanely long topics to see those rather important posts of mine. Among them, gauging interest in maybe doing a sequel to this game. (A much smaller-scale game: a mini, scaled back, with tamer mechanics.)
But, it's 3:15 AM, and I'm kinda exhausted, so I think I'll do those things tomorrow, mkay?
Post
Post #8467 (isolation #237) » Fri Sep 02, 2016 11:17 pm
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8465, copper223 wrote:@Mastin
Thanks for modding, I'll nominate you for best flavor, just the level of detail alone was incredible and made it more fun to try and figure the game out
<3
(but get yourself a back-up mod!).
I had one! That was Majiffy.
He just slacked off. (He was around when I was on V/LA! So he was there when most needed. Just...not every night, like a devoted backup.)
He didn't check night actions.
And I actually DID bring in TWO people to check night actions N2: hebichan and McMenno.
And N4 I brought in Mathblade.
So I DID have people checking the night actions!
It's just that they ALSO missed my mistakes. Group effort fail, can't pin that one entirely on me.
Post
Post #8654 (isolation #238) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 10:23 am
Postby mastin2 »
That moment in postgame when there's a ton of extra pages, signaling to you as a mod you either did something really good or really really bad.
Anyway!
I just remembered: I promised that I would post this in postgame.
N5, up until two hours before deadline, the wuldens were set to kill RachMarie. Why was that important? Because that meant Nicholas Schroder and Alexis Galenos would die on the same night. And...this was SO close to deadline, that I had actually written the scene for it! This is what you guys missed out on:
Blood. While the hunters need it for sustenance, they had always been--prior to Gistou--hesitant to shed it. For centuries, the way has not been "kill those who find out". While a forceful turn of those who found out was mandatory until the hunters took a more public role circa 70 years ago, never would the hunters actually slay a victim. They would keep things as quiet as possible, and only if a threat to their existence and their masquerade arose would they take drastic action. After the second golden age of the paleskins began, the rules were loosened even further, such that many who discovered it were left to live ordinary human lives, and only those who were security risks had measures taken. Even then, these measures would usually involve a lifetime of luxury simply in a gilded cage, unless of course the person in question accepted the generous offer, the gift, of vampirism for their freedom which they were free to at any time.
Gistou changed much, but ever-persistent, some things remain. Among them, many of the hunters, be it vampire or nosferatu, maintain their beliefs. Most hold the stance of only taking what is necessary to survive, abhorring acts of extreme wanton destruction. A few take it even further, and nobly stick proud and true to the dead system of the past years, to only take what is given to them, even if it is not enough for them to thrive. These individuals, precious few as they may be, provide beacons of hope to the world around them, that maybe, just maybe, peace can be obtained some day.
They suffer, day to day, in their battles, but they keep on surviving, for the sake of fighting in the way that should be fought: only against those warmongers, who promote violence against everything indiscriminately. These heroes are far and few between, but are widely considered the works of myth and legend. Many have stopped believing in them at all. What sort of soul in Gistou could possibly carry that load and survive stronger than ever? Who could gain strength from their suffering and resolve only to fight even harder than before?
War. While the undead had been built for it--literally--they had since bred themselves for a different purpose altogether, a state they had maintained since the elder days of Agnigi. They had toiled, they had turmoil, but always, they would survive, but no longer to fight. Not in the way they had. They were special. They were blessed. They had always been around to help. Not a single soul among them turned bad. Some of them fell. They doubted themselves, they could still be killed, but they would recover and press onward into the future.
To serve. That was their given goal. To protect. That was their intention. To live among. That was their goal, their dream. And it was the greatest thing ever when it was achieved. They knew: "We are not alone." So, they learned. They adapted new philosophies, and their goal was simple: peace. It was a life they considered full. They abhorred the thought of losing what was now theirs, so they resolved never to not care.
They held concerns every time a crisis would arise, so they did what the could, subtly, to assist. It was their place, they thought, to stay out of sight, and given their history, it was also their wish. In their harmony, they existed with purpose, and in their secrets, they could flourish. The threat of Gistou initially was only a mild issue, yet when the situation changed, a hard decision came: they'd have to join in, too. This was of course controversial, but they'd made up their minds on what to defend. But while most supported this, it was not all. Some still desperately clung to an idea, the idea of peace.
The purest of the pure can insist: hope is not lost. These few have not lived sheltered lives. Like everyone else, they have been exposed to the hardships of the world. So how is it that they remain so adamant in their beliefs? Because they hold faith, something all too many have since thrown away. They believe in the good in others, and try to bring it out and let it shine. In this process, they show themselves to be like the ever-inclusive day itself, allowing the spread of light itself across the gloomy land. This purity, this untouchable, uncorrupted essence of all that is right in the world, was virtually nonexistent even in Agnigi, yet somehow, this has not stopped whispers across the land of mystical tales about the true path.
Much blood has been spilt. No night goes without it, since the raging fires of hatred burn through the night, as the desires of the decadent run rampant. Gistou is a world which favors the strong, where the weak are weeded out and exterminated. Yet still, they fight on to live, and some souls, even those that are not as strong as others, continue to trend onward against the abyss.
It seems that in the current state of affairs, it could be said that there are many paths which could be considered right. None can be certain who is justified. Perhaps none of them are, or perhaps they all are. Across the land, the general consensus seems to be that belief, faith, comes in three forms: that in the ways which have always existed, that in the ways of the wulden, and now that in the ways of the unknown which plague the land, spreading their toxic influence, their waste, even worse than that when Dmitri Damanos still drew breath.
Of course these manifest in different forms. Belief in the ways that have been depends on where you draw the line on 'has been': the hunters have at least three from which they draw theirs, and the undead have at least two. Humans have as many beliefs as there are humans, and so, a consensus cannot be found. But the furthest from Gistou and universally the most optimistic is in that simple, long-forgotten truth, an idea almost revolutionary and pioneering a new path in spite of it being nothing not already known: the pursuit of happiness not just for oneself, but for all.
Yet in this war, in this conflict, could such a system even work? The days pass, and the dead continue to climb in count. The night was long, the results were not pretty, and ultimately, the findings were scary. For when the corpse of
davesaz
is discovered, nobody can tell
what
he...or would he be an IT now? impossible to tell...currently is, yet the writings around him make it clear what he once was. The wulden had once followed Dmitri Damanos to a fault, or so people believed. Surely, that unwavering devotion could never be broken.
And his...its...belongings all indicate a secret, hidden admiration to the great "god". In a notebook, several secrets are found encoded, but while the encoding exists, it is simple to understand enough to realize his purpose was as an infiltrator, a spy, and that he was supposed to look and act human, in spite of his devotion to his deity. Whatever shred of the lycan was human...no longer was, because the abomination before the denizens of a small town, felled some time during the night, was neither. This...this
thing
was reminiscent of the earlier find on
Nosferatu
, and a further investigation would reveal a second book, but this one with gibberish text:
ΗΜΕΡΟΛΟΓΙΟ της βαθύτερης ΠΛΑΝΗ
Моя истинная цель служит другой.
Things are not quite as they seem in Gistou, and the weight of the world begins closing in on people. The creature, deceased, was clearly a sign of things to come, the only question being:
what
, exactly? The only clue: in the first journal, a clear message in English. "The world is ours. Unite all they like, they are still powerless to see us, to stop us. They know nothing. And thus we will destroy them in the darkness."
This proves no empty threat. A great figure of interest had been killed, a former (albeit hidden) warlord of the wulden, so the celebrations should begin, if not for the wasteland left behind: the world is suffering, and some can't even survive the onslaught. The blood, the war, is still ongoing, and though some feeble attempts at coalescing people have been made, while rudimentary teamwork has been implemented at some basic level, it is not without casualties, it is not without pain, it is not without the loss, even of those who embody their lore.
Pant.
The weak sound in the distance.
Pant.
Emerging from a forest, drenched in blood,
RachMarie
stumbles forward.
Pant.
Pant.
It's unclear how much of the blood is of some unknown enemy, and how much is gushing out from the gaping wounds in the legendary warrior.
Dawn.
RachMarie
had made it to dawn, the warmth of the morning light touching them.
"Is...it really you?"
There, nearby, lying down,
RachMarie
sees them all too clearly now.
Expedience
coughs up blood. "In the
flesh
."
They both smile.
"There's my Alexis."
Even knowing how lethal it would be, they cannot help but share a laugh together. "Nick, I finally found you."
"I'm sorry that I left you."
"I know. But we both had to try to help, in our own ways."
RachMarie
, Nicholas Schroder, looks to the world around them, giving a solemn smile. "I...guess we both failed, then, didn't we?"
Expedience
shakes their head. "Mm-m." Grinning, they point to the same scenery. "Look how beautiful it all is, then you tell me it wasn't worth it."
"I guess you have a point."
"I always do."
Both continue to cough up blood, shivering, no longer feeling the heat of the coming day.
Expedience
sheds a tear. "I wish we had more time."
"Yeah...me too."
"But...at least we're here now, right?"
"Yeah..."
"We've done so much good now...I guess it's time to leave the rest in their hands."
"They're screwed."
RachMarie
decides to lay down next to
Expedience
, Nicholas Schroder now grasping the hand of Alexis Galenos tightly.
"Can't blame them for trying."
"Maybe you can't, but I love to."
"And you wonder why you never got much credit for your deeds."
"I liked it better that way."
"So did I."
Some nearby travelers slowly begin to approach.
"I guess, in the end, we're just two more victims of Gistou."
Expedience
gives a last shake of their head. "We're just two inhabitants of Agnigi."
"I...can live with that."
Their vision fades together, Alexis Galenos and Nicholas Schroder looking each other in the eyes, smiling, and slowly, together, slipping away.
For so long had the two been separated, and only now, in death, would they be joined once more.
The hardships of Gistou become increasingly apparent, as the two greatest forces of change short of Dmitri Damanos himself were discovered dead on the new day. The bandit-hunter, the village girl. The first nosferatu, the unfortunate victim. The broken warrior, and the brave maiden. Destined to be forever intertwined in this tale, and now faced with their final resting place, as two travelers that stumbled together at just the right time.
With the looming shadow of dark forces about, there would be no time to mourn, no time to grieve, and also, no time to prepare. The assaults of the day were already on their way.
Wouldn't that have been SO cool? I mean, sad, yes, but also: character interactions! They were good! They were amazing! They were...
...Not to be.
Post
Post #8660 (isolation #239) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 10:39 am
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8470, DrippingGoofball wrote:HUUuuuuuuuuuge thanks to Mastin for a colossal/epic/unprecedented amount of work and dedication to modding. I stand in complete awe. I have never played a game that so much thought as gone into. I think this made MS history!
<3
In post 8474, Frozen Angel wrote:Just if they contain so much hints like the way they had in this game you better tell people what they must expect before signing them up.
The only hints I was expecting people to take from the flavor was the expectation that the characters Nicholas Schroder and Alexis Galenos were both good guys. (Making a claim of them to be innocent child lite.) I was also expecting that people would think maybe, just maybe, instead of actually being in the game, they could instead exist as scum fakeclaims. (I also wanted people to think that maybe they could be evil, but I wasn't convinced they'd actually think that.)
Anything else, correct or incorrect, was not something I anticipated. I expected some flavor speculation to happen, of course. But you have to keep in mind: all scum had the option to request FAKE FLAVOR. Not just a fake role PM. Fake flavor for every night. Nobody, not even once, over the course of the game, asked me to do this for them, in spite of them having that power, because they didn't think it necessary. (That, or they forgot.) The speculation was, therefore, inherently going to be flawed.
Now! Mind you. I wanted people to scrutinize something, yes, but it was not the flavor! I wanted people to scrutinize the
Mechanics Post
. The Mechanics Post flat-out told everyone everything, just subtly. It told the scum they were scum. It told the town what scum would look like. It told the town what town would look like. It also told the special town (undead risen slave and individual nosferatu) that they weren't quite like the normal town, implying something was going on to make them different. And it also warned about the cult: NOTHING was known about the cult. Nothing, at all. Meaning, inherently, the cult would not be the wulden because there were facts known about the wulden.
This is why I continuously referred people back to it, and repeatedly reminded players of it. They were looking in all the wrong places: in the opening flavor, in the flavor for their role PMs, while overlooking the obvious right in front of them. I didn't think flavor speculation would do anything, especially given the number of safeguards I gave the scum: conversions would have their original claim to truthfully claim. All scum had the ability to fakeclaim. (Plus, this all being original flavor, there was no source material to compare it to.) Between the two, claiming would be seen as not only virtually worthless, but also potentially detrimental to the town. I figured the same for flavor spec: it would be done, but it wouldn't be done successfully.
Post
Post #8661 (isolation #240) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 10:47 am
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8481, Firebringer wrote:I don't know why you are arguing with this, we had an argument day 2 for the simple ideas of who was aligned with who.
We had to read the flavor to understand this better, or at least get an idea.
To be blunt.
ESPECIALLY as culted scum.
Why the heck was there any doubt?
Between the mechanics post, and you having a list of
every possible town wincon in the game
save one (you didn't have the Undead Risen Slave one, but that had already flipped), you shouldn't have needed flavor to understand the difference.
One, those claims would not have been given to you if they were scum roles.
And two, those claims had a clear pattern to them: threats eliminated, versus threats to the new humanity treaty with at least one alive.
Flavor wasn't needed to read that. Reading game mechanics was.
I did not intend for you to figure it out through flavor. I intended for you to figure it out by reading the mechanics.
I mean.
I understand faking doubt.
As scum, especially culted scum who started as town.
Faking doubt is a needed skill.
But there shouldn't have been ANY real doubts in there.
They weren't meant to be. The town had a vampire and had a nosferatu. Not to mention, an undead who was NOT part of the undead risen slave. Especially if both had lived, and succeeded in recruits (upping their total numbers from 2 to 4), this would have given proof of the individual vampire faction, the individual nosferatu faction, and by extent, lent some credence to the idea of an individual wulden faction.
The way I saw things: the individual undead, with the presence of undead risen slaves, told the game that there could be individuals of a race that are by themselves, divorced of any factions. At some point in the game, someone correctly speculated that individual effectively meant "by themselves", as in, a lone person: individual human, individual undead, individual vampire, individual nosferatu, and while nonexistent in the game proper, as a fakeclaim individual wulden.
I was not expecting flavor speculation such that they'd assume all of a race were evil, especially when I had designed the game such that almost none of them were! It also didn't help things that the only player to attempt the individual wulden claim, Lady Lambdadelta, actually botched it: she didn't claim some specifics of her fakeclaim (which was fully written out), and had she done so, it would have been more clear that her (fake) role was a match for (real) others. And when her claim went badly, the wulden faction gave up on the idea of claiming wulden, which of course increased the power of racial checkers.
mastian was refusing to give us a fake claim for race other and then I was like
The reason that I did not give you a claim was because you already had one: your starting role PM. When I design roles, I generally assume that players are going to tell as few lies as possible. I also, in all of my fakeclaims that I handed out, gave scum the advice: "adjust as desired/needed", because the claims I would build for them would work fine in theory but in practice the scum might think it a good idea to tweak them and improve on them in certain areas. So, the assumption was, as I tried to explain to you, that you would claim your real role, your starting role, with any needed modifications to it, including to race. It would only take one or two sentences for you to justify how you're not a human, and because you'd be paraphrasing my words anyway, it wouldn't matter what you said.
That was the difference between those starting as scum and those who were recruited: it was assumed that those who were recruited would go with their real role, and modified subtly as needed. Since direct quoting isn't allowed anyway, they would be paraphrasing my words, or in their case, lying out of their asses.
It was a given that those who started as scum wouldn't claim their real role, so they needed fakeclaims.
we're fucking screwed this race checkers are alignment cops in this setup.
It was a given that race checkers would be strong against the cult, but the cult has a natural advantage: a player who was already checked by a racial checker can be recruited, and once checked, is unlikely to be re-checked.
Mind you!
This twice worked out for scum!
davesaz was checked by TheWayItEnds. He was close to being lynched, but TheWayItEnds claimed to have checked him as human, and the lynch on davesaz was averted. If Yume (the person who submitted the vig on him) had been paying attention to the thread closely enough to have read that claim, then davesaz would never have gotten shot, and never have gotten lynched, in spite of him having lost the immunity.
rb was ALSO checked by TheWayItEnds. He ultimately was caught both because of a guilty on him, and him claiming racial miller (had he claimed normal miller instead of racial miller, he would have countered the CORRECT type of cop), but had TheWayItEnds shared this result with Expedience PRIOR TO Expedience's investigation, and had rb not made that claim, rb would have not been lynched because TWIE would have backed him up.
The cult's advantage here is that, unlike the other scum, the cult can CONTINUE to recruit. Meaning, instead of having one person checked, they can continue to have people that were checked recruited. Bacde was confirmed undead by RachMarie, for instance.
the very basic assumption of mastian was people will listen to her and will assume all races may have good or bad people but it wasn't the case and people will go with the thing they can see in a pattern.
This though is true. Yes, it was an assumption on my part that people would assume all races could have good or bad people. I did not expect them to all go "wuldens are bad!". I also did not expect them to know "other = bad!" until a cult had flipped, because I expected them upon getting an "other" result to be, "...huh?". And, mind you, when Expedience got a cult result on Nosferatu, that's exactly what happened. He didn't know what he had gotten.
and a 5 player masonary in this game that I didn't even mentioned earlier
The reason the undead risen slaves were built that way is really simple: they could have become a scum faction. So I wanted them to have the ability to deduce, "maybe we're not supposed to be town". I wanted them to be able to have that level of caution, for them to be able to figure out that maybe they could be something that was a potential threat. (They were!)
...Yet I
also
didn't want them to have mod confirmation of each other at the start. So I told them that they were not confirmed to each other, because I ALSO wanted them to have the ability to deduce, "maybe we're actually town". I also wanted them to be able to figure out, they could potentially be no threat. (They were!)
I wanted them to have both. Because both were equally right, and both were equally wrong. They were both town, and not town. They were both potentially-scum, and not potentially scum. They needed to know who each other were, but they needed to not from the get-go know that they were confirmed to each other, because I knew that having a 5-man masonry was...not a good idea in any sense. Especially when said 5-man masonry can potentially shift into a scumteam midway through the game!
Post
Post #8665 (isolation #242) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 11:27 am
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8514, SirCakez wrote:This game was pretty awesome. Thanks for modding mastin!
<3
In post 8521, Frozen Angel wrote:I have no idea how I survived 5 phases after getting confirmed cult. my claim was absolute trash lol
You might've done better if you realized that the fakeclaim I actually DID make for you
had
a name.
You missed it and improvised your own.
But I gave you the name
Nick
.
Galenos
.
As in, a secret child of
Nicholas
Schroder, and Alexis
Galenos
. (The concept of naming the boy after the father is nothing new, after all.)
If you had kept 100% to the flavor of that role, then both Expedience and RachMarie would have recognized that the role was clearly making references to both of them, references which you could NOT be making up, and therefore references that MUST have come from the mod, giving validity to your claim. You would have been one happy family!
...Except you were trying to murder them all.
Post
Post #8670 (isolation #243) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 11:52 am
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8527, ActionDan wrote:As Mastin as since realized though, balance was off. And limiting the power of the BP-vigs and race checkers would be the fix (and not tampering with Vanilla's as FA suggested).
Like I said, I don't think that I was that far off the mark.
If hitting the bullseye is perfection, I think I was one, maybe two, rungs over. (These being small, thin rings, rather than wide rings. We're talking like a 10-ring-minimum target here, not a 5-ring one. Something like this.)
My solutions would be to give the vigs only a 1-shot communal BP so the cumulative number of shots it would take for them all to die is decreased from 6-->4.
Believe it or not, I
almost
did exactly that, except two communal BPs instead of 1. That would've meant 5 rather than 4, but it'd still be easier to take all three vigs out. For instance, Titus would have lived through N1...but all three vigs would now have lost their BP status and been vulnerable for the rest of the game. This is one of the things I would have changed.
TWIE should not have been a race checker.
This was also the second change I would make.
Kuroi was pure town, so him being a racial checker was all the pure town needed. It also made mechanical sense, as he'd need to know a human in order to recruit successfully.
Rach wasn't pure town, so being a racial checker wasn't meant to influence the town so strongly, but what it was meant for is to help Rach get a better idea for who to recruit.
This was also why dramonic was a racial checker: the undead risen slaves were a separate faction. They were worded in a way that I knew they could be played as either town, OR as scum. If they were playing like scum, then dramonic's check would be needed in order to scout out potential recruits.
But if all three were playing purely as town, then that was all they needed. TheWayItEnds was redundant. I realized this either D1, or early D2, but by the time I did recognize it, obviously I couldn't just go, "hey, TWIE, so I realized the game needs adjustment, sooooo...you're vanilla now!"
Mainly again, it also had no way to deal with the cop-vigs, or race checkers.
Not being able to deal with the vigs is fair enough, though that would be addressed if the vigs' BP was handled differently. But people keep saying they were vulnerable to race checks, and I keep on saying the same thing: I do not think I am in the wrong to say the power of their recruit being able to nab people
already checked
is incredibly strong and more than enough fair compensation for the racial checkers.
While a player recruited and then investigated would be screwed, a player investigated and then recruited would instead screw the town over. It works both ways, and I do not think it is at all unfair to balance with that taken into account.
In post 8538, A Song of Ice and Fire wrote:This game was really townsided by definition and whoever talk otherwise is not really paying attention or just assumes oh fuck there was a cult so it was op let town get whatever makes them Imba.
On that note:
When I designed the game, it was under the assumption that the town would be clueless. It was under the assumption the town would be paranoid. It was under the assumption that--without some serious help--the town would self-destruct, meanwhile the scum could laugh their asses off in the background knowing
exactly
why they were failing. And, circa D1-D2, this is actually
exactly
what happened! Not in the way I envisioned it, obviously, but still more or less: the town did not know who their allies were. The scum did. The town did not know who their enemies were. The scum did. The town was running around, confused. The scum were telling them what idiots they were being.
This is because, prior to mykonian's thread on the subject, my way of balancing games was more in the mykonian school of thought: assume the town is going to be morons. Assume the town is going to be incompetent. Assume that the town is going to be idiotic enough, that if they don't have roles guiding them through the process, they will not possibly be able to win the game.
And, as it turns out, I wasn't too far off the mark. Like I said above: I think I missed the bullseye. I think I slightly overcompensated. The town had
slightly
too much on their side. But I don't think it was that much. They used almost all the power they had, and they needed almost all of it, because they came
dangerously
close to losing the game at many points. And, the special town players were carried by a single individual (RachMarie), being
this
close to having been eliminated. So the special town almost did lose, in spite of their massive power, and the normal town was one or two different night actions away from being fucked over.
They didn't need every bit of strength I gave them. But they needed most of it.
Post
Post #8672 (isolation #244) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 12:15 pm
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8563, RachMarie wrote:No actually I did not buy LLD's claim completely I forget but something in it just did not jibe with mine, but I knew if I pushed it would mean revealing myself so I went with blocking her then there were so many deaths that I second guessed my read a few times.
There was that. Lady Lambdadelta fucked her claim up when she claimed she did not have a recruit. (Something I specifically put in her claim for good reason!) You're probably referring to that fact, which I noted early-on in the spoiled dead thread.
Had LLD claimed her fakeclaim as it was given (that being, including the recruit! I put that in for damn good reason), you probably would have backed her up.
In post 8564, Frozen Angel wrote:I was pretty shocked when I saw individual nos claim after the point i was sure there is no isolationist left
You have NO clue how frustrating it was for me to read you ranting about that.
I, as the moderator, wanted to SCREAM, "BUT THERE IS AN INDIVIDUAL NOSFERATU IN THE GAME!", but for obvious reasons, all I could do is passively sit and let you fume.
setup was just to predictable based on flavor
Umm...this really doesn't jive with the above.
You can't be shocked about the individual nosferatu claim after there's no isolationists left, AND say that the game was predictable based on flavor. Those two are...kinda mutually exclusive?
I put many twists and turns in the setup specifically to mess with people's predictions. I wanted people to be surprised by events. I wanted people to not know the full picture. I wanted people to think they did, only to time and time again be proven wrong.
Which, I did get a lot of, mind you. Especially from Almost50.
In post 8568, Cephrir wrote:Mostly upset that I wasted a good scum game on something this ridiculous.
I mean, you knew it was multiball going in.
You knew it had a cult, going in.
You knew it had all those ridiculously complex mechanics, going in.
You knew
it was a mastina game
going in.
What were you honestly expecting it to be?
It was going to be crazy, it was going to be insane, no matter what you did.
There was going to be a high mortality rate, and a high number of actions that could potentially fuck a faction over, no matter what.
It was going to be ridiculously swingy, no matter what.
A game this size, with no player as a FULL vanilla, guaranteed that.
And you were told all of this from the get-go.
I tried to give every faction about an equal chance of winning, all five of them.
One in particular was slightly overpowered especially because a second was backing them (the special town), but were you expecting a game like this to play in the same matter as a single-ball non-role-madness, 20ish-player game? Of course that wasn't going to happen. A good scumgame for that type of game isn't a good scumgame for this type of game. A good scumgame in this type of game emphasizes having fun, while not being a hero (heh).
Ultimately, when I mod a game, I am not looking for players to take things super-seriously. I am looking for players to enjoy themselves, to have a thoroughly rich experience, where they'd have a blast even if they were the D1 lynch. I have always been consistent about this looser stance on balance, on this more "casual" take on the game.
I am sorry if that was not your experience.
In post 8569, Frozen Angel wrote:and my own claim just came out ! Individual human champion was brilliant , whoever disagrees need to be hanged in a city center!
At that point in the game, I do think your individual human champion claim was in fact fairly good. The problem that arose from it though was that it had information that could be faked because you were using only information from players already flipped. The Nick Galenos claim, if you had adapted it into the individual human champion claim, would have done the same thing, except ALSO having information NOT public at that time, giving it credence.
Post
Post #8674 (isolation #245) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 12:29 pm
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8575, Almost50 wrote:Well, first and foremost: I can't even begin to describe how delightful this game was both concerning setup & mechanics AND flavour.
I can only say this:
@Mastin: Pre-In me in ANY AND ALL your future larges.
<3
Also, I said this in the dead thread, and I'll say it again:
Balance did not account for scum outing their investigations to town.
When I designed the game, it was an assumption on my part that scum would keep their investigations to themselves. This meant, I ASSUMED that 3/7 racial checkers would DEFINITELY keep their results to their own topics, potentially 4. (Depending on the Undead Risen Slaves.) I also assumed that there was a 50% chance that the faction cop kept their results to their own topic. (Which almost did happen! Except, Luna Fox has a big mouth. )
On D2, two of the three guilties outed were given to the town BY SCUM. The third guilty was given to the town by a person who
wasn't even sure they were town
. (And, strictly speaking, wasn't!)
I did not balance the game assuming scum would give the town free information. YET ALONE, that the town would then TRUST that information given to them when the player having given it flipped scum. But that's exactly what happened.
Of course balance is going to skewer in favor of the town if the scum are HELPING THE TOWN by giving them information they shouldn't be giving.
That halves the investigation power of the town outright. The tracker, rolecop, two full-checkers, and potentially also the watcher holding their results back from the town, while 3-4 of the racial checkers also hold their results from the town, while one cop might also hold their results from the town, would significantly weaken the town, no?
And that is what I had built the setup assuming.
It proved to be a wrong assumption, especially since the undead risen slaves had outed literally every single facet of their faction (save their kill) D2, but it was in fact my assumption, and I do not think it was that unreasonable an assumption to have made.
Post
Post #8676 (isolation #246) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 12:45 pm
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8604, Cerberus v666 wrote:Town had 4.5 kills,the undead had a non-consecutive vig that they only used N1.
Town had the lynch and three vigs, scum had two kills plus a cult/kill.
The undead are a net-neutral half-kill, because the undead were written in such a way that I intended it to be possible for them to EITHER play as town OR play as scum. They were closer to town than to scum, but they were not pure town. They were special-town. They ended up playing as if they were purely town! They ended up assuming they were purely town! But when answering about their wincon, I was very deliberately elusive because telling them they were town would have been an outright lie.
In post 8607, Cerberus v666 wrote:To go deeper, town had 4.5 kills (one which was unstoppable, the lynch, and 3 of which would only work on 78% of town, confirming those it failed on as town, with false clears on 3/9 scum ), and a total of 5 BP vests. Scum had 2.5 kills(2 potential strong), and one full vest, and another conditional full vest.
I've acknowledged the faults here, but to go into them in more detail: I'd have changed the way the champions worked, such that their BP was communicative rather than cumulative. I'd also have made you full-BP rather than conditional-BP. As for the undead's 2x BP: see above. They weren't purely town, and had the potential midway through the game to morph into scum. Giving them that two-shot bulletproof was meant to give them a way to survive an onslaught of both scum
and
town, because I anticipated these practically-third-party-players to be targeted by BOTH, and have the disadvantages thereof.
In short: the Undead Risen Slaves needed to be powerful, because they needed to be able to be pitted against BOTH the town AND the scum: they needed to eliminate the scum, but they would potentially come into conflict with the town and thus, they needed a power set that was a combination of town roles and scum roles, which is why they were built the way they were.
People keep on saying the undead were town, and in practice, they were. In the actual game, after everything was said and done, they ended up playing out exactly as if they were extra town members. But when I designed the game, they were meant to be, effectively, a message:
"This is how you design a THIRD PARTY ROLE, and do it RIGHT".
The cult, which was called a cultafia, wasn't a third party; it was a flat-out scumteam.
But the undead? The undead risen slaves were meant to be third party. Their roles had a survivor aspect to them, but it was far more complex than that. They could have been scum, or they could win with town, but could not win with scum.
This is like literally the first game of mine WITHOUT millers. (Well, unless you count the undead risen slaves and individual nosferatu showing up as an ambiguous threat to Expedience.) I know my own mod meta, and while I do try to subvert it, I also am quite aware of assumptions players are likely to make.
Last edited by mastin2 on Sat Sep 03, 2016 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Post
Post #8677 (isolation #247) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 1:14 pm
Postby mastin2 »
In post 8655, RachMarie wrote:oh gods you brought tears to my eyes again Mastin what a beautiful love/death scene.
I know, right?
It was SO good.
And I didn't get to post it!
In post 8666, Firebringer wrote:For someone who tells me that flavor and reading into it doesn't matter, its funny for mastin to tell us to use the flavor to make a defense.
That's easily explained by a divide in mindset between my thoughts when designing the game, and my thoughts when observing the game.
My thoughts when designing the game: flavor wouldn't matter.
My thoughts when observing the game: apparently, flavor does, in spite of my efforts.
So, my thoughts when designing the game say, sure, it wouldn't have made a difference.
My thoughts when observing the game, though, are that players were doing flavor spec. The players were thinking flavor mattered. So if you had claimed to be this flavor character, your odds might have gone up.
In post 8673, Toogeloo wrote:Mastina also claimed that the Town Champs never used their special vig shots which would have been more negative town utility that she was hoping for.
Also, Bacde never used his vig, in spite of me reminding him every night he had one.
Vigs, statistically speaking, are more likely to hit town than scum.
I mean, strictly speaking: Bacde wasn't a vig. It was third party, so if anything it was closer to a serial killer than a vig.
But the fact remains, he never used it once he was the last alive.
Post
Post #8683 (isolation #248) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 3:27 pm
Postby mastin2 »
Miscellaneous Commentary (Part One)
When I designed things, I wanted everyone to have some level of paranoia. I was getting awfully frustrated, since instead of SOME paranoia, it seemed like players were having OVERWHELMING paranoia. I was also worried that if I intervened in a certain way, there would be no paranoia. Eventually, this problem corrected itself, settling down into just the right levels, where I actually expected the paranoia to be. A level where town and scum equally benefited/suffered from it. Confusion caused town to submit actions hurting town, but also helping town.
The game was always going to be a puzzle, but it was meant to be solved primarily by scumhunting, with roles being used to fill in the gaps. Information at the disposal of the town was meant to give them the edge necessary to survive the onslaught of chaos and disorder and general kill-happy populations in the game, where they would be able to sift and sort through what I had given them thusfar and make deductions, deductions that would piece by piece get closer to the setup as it was, but probably never fully getting the whole thing.
So many people thought (wrongly) they had figured it out, when I was practically screaming at them the correct answer. Even the scum fell into this, at various points in time, when the answer was right before everyone: a simple trick. In spite of there being six town factions (undead, vampire, individual, west, east, north), all of them together comprised the town; in spite of being separate, the individual nosferatu and undead risen slaves share a wincon which made them special, there were two mafia, and there was a cultafia which nothing was known about.
It didn't help that I was bombarded endlessly with a string of question after question with these complex mechanics. Now, mind you. I'm autistic, so that gives me a brain-wiring that is different from most. So two people asking a question which might mean the same thing could receive two different answers because they worded it slightly differently, and my brain therefore interpreted the question (meant to be the same) in a different way.
Different ways of asking wasn't the only problem; different roles would also have different responses because their wincons were different. For instance, an obvious divergence: I had to give a different response to the undead risen slaves than I would to those with a pure town wincon, because the undead risen slaves
weren't
purely town. In short, I didn't quite have a standardized response, aside from: "Go read the game mechanics." When I had designed the game, I was expecting the game mechanics to be self-explanatory.
And to be fair...they were. Many people in the signups gave me PMs along the lines of, "Hey, I want to ask you something", I was like, "Sure, shoot", they read the mechanics post, and were like, "actually, nevermind, the mechanics post answered it for me". I built it to be as thorough and detailed as humanly possible, to answer any possible concern, so when people were questioning me, most of my answers were just paraphrasing the mechanics post, restating its words differently, maybe slightly elaborating on them, and giving them a more clear answer, but it was still a frustrating mess to be in: people thought there were all these contradictions, and I was trying my damnedest to face 28 players bombarding me simultaneously often from multiple sources (private chat, PM, topics, game thread), so keeping that in order was...well, not very easy, and I do apologize for that.
Another thing to apologize for was the miscalculation in balance. Now! Granted. This was a role madness, multiball, cult, game. It was ALWAYS going to be swingy. I underestimated the town's strength and overestimated the scum's, even if only slightly, though, and that led to a gamestate where the players doing the best at surviving were the lurkers, because the players who were active were self-destructing, drawing all sorts of negative attention to themselves be it town or scum. Not ideal.
A fun fact about the colors this game which people didn't seem to notice: I decided that the west empire would be red because of the desert. I decided the northern tribes would be cyan because of that color's association with ice. I decided that the east kingdom would be yellow because of their plains, with the undead risen slaves as orange to be close in color to yellow, and individual undead as green to represent their jungles. I decided silver for individual vampire to represent their pale skin, and gray for individual nosferatu for much the same reason.
Black was chosen for isolationists because of its tie to the night. Crimson was chosen for the wulden because it's a typical scum color aside from red, and blue was chosen for the individual humans for the same except on the pro-town side. I wanted scarlet for individual wuldens, though later learned the board doesn't support that color, and chose brown for individual lycans, both thanks to how close they were to the wulden color. This, of course, wasn't picked up on, just like the relationship between names, that I told you about in the opening flavor, wasn't.
You know all those character names? They weren't random. This wasn't from a source material, though; it was my head. So, how were their names meaningful? Because I had pre-assigned certain names to certain places, as per the documentation both in the original posts and in the modding PT. This is actually where some of the nation/location check value could be found: certain regions would make more sense for a character name's origin than others.
Speaking of the names: the names for the individual factions were easy. West/East/North, easy. Cult, easy. I had a little bit of trouble naming the Wulden, Isolationists, and Undead Risen Slaves, though. This might not have seemed important, but with a FACTION COP in the game, and the possibility of people flavor-speccing (I didn't expect them to use it so heavily, but I wasn't blind to the possibility it could exist), I knew that I needed to pick their names carefully. To this day, I'm not happy about my selections, because I think choosing the faction name "Wulden" for the Wuldens solidified the idea of race = faction (the opposite of what I wanted), and the name Isolationists did not properly convey...well, anything.
So overall, I think that this will be the largest-scale game I will ever do. Largest on flavor. Largest on mechanics. Largest on number of players. Largest on everything. It was a TON of work, at every stage. I quite literally devoted the last three months of my time exclusively to this game, at the expense of all other activities. It was a lot to think out, every minuscule flavor detail to enrich the world of Agnigi. Every mechanical interaction, and how to deal with it all. Every bombardment I was assaulted with. Every day that I needed to read posts, and deal with them as effectively as possible. (I received many players complaining about other players at various stages of the game, and playing the literal definition of moderator, I had to do my best to smooth things over.)
It was all a lot of work, a love letter to mafiascum of me giving my heart and soul to a game, which I wanted everyone to enjoy. Which I wanted to be a blast, I wanted to be a good thing everyone would enjoy, so I hope I at least partially succeeded there. To be honest, when I designed the game: I advertised it with the line, "This is a game that I absolutely guarantee you: if you don't play, you'll wish you had!" and also, "I absolutely promise you: this is not a game you'll want to miss." That's because when I designed it, I wanted it to be a game which, without any shadow of a doubt, would be game of the year material.
I'm not sure I succeeded: the game wasn't quite perfectly balanced, and there's been a lot of postgame bitching, which there was also plenty of during the game: "mastin isn't telling us our alignment" "mastin this game was broken" "mastin this game is predictable", dead thread, PM, scum threads, and so on and so forth. I meant for the game to be "Frustratingly Fun": for players to be frustrated at the difficulty level involved, but for it to still be, first and foremost, primarily, FUN! I wanted it to be a game everyone would enjoy, and everyone would come away from thinking, "I would play this game again", or similar. Given the reactions, I don't think I quite got it down, in spite of my work as a moderator. Being there as much as possible, with VCs, with answers, can only take you so far, so I don't think I quite made my mark as I wanted.
Still! While I didn't get that, "Oh, yeah, this was definitely THE game of the year!" reaction I was hoping for, while I didn't nail down things perfectly, while I did make a fair share of mistakes, I think that I did succeed overall: this was a momentous game. It was massive. It was grand. It was an epic project, which I shared with the world, from start to finish, taking you along for the ride. And I hope the rollercoaster was worth it in the end.
Post
Post #8687 (isolation #250) » Sat Sep 03, 2016 4:41 pm
Postby mastin2 »
Yeah, about that Klingoncelt:
I received multiple complaints, not just from Luna Fox, but from
literally every member of the faction
about your actions.
You used some highly-abusive language.
The first time it happened, I gave you a warning: I told you that if it happened a second time, I was force-replacing you.
It happened a second time, BUT, the other players in the topic told me you had cooled down, you had improved, that you had smoothed things out with them.
I still made it clear that if you acted that way a third time, I was force-replacing you.
And then you acted that way a third time.
That's not playing favorites.
That's me enforcing my rules:
Have fun, but don't be a jerkass. Seriously,
I'll force-replace you if you prove toxic to the game's atmosphere.
I made the call that you were being toxic to the game's atmosphere. You had, by THRICE violating the same rule (not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES) shown that you were not going to improve your behavior any time soon. The abusive language you were using, especially aimed at a particular player, was not acceptable, and need I remind you: your two PMs to me after the decision were made
continued this
, even further than before.
I do not replace players lightly. I also don't warn them lightly. (For instance, rb once or twice came close to a warning with his posting, among others.) But if one player is proving detrimental to
multiple
players (it was not just Luna Fox, as you claim, but all your undead teammates), damn straight I'm going to tell them to either improve their game or leave mine. And you didn't improve.