Roleplay Mafia Minigame ❧ NIGHT SIX

<<
Before I begin my analysis of recent events, I'd like to answer a question by a citizen who will remain anonymous. As suggestive as it sounds, Traverse Town, I was asked if Intern Wilbur will still be able to send his reports through this broadcat -- erhm, broadcast -- if I were... incapacitated. The answer of course is "No." Naturally, without me to feed Intern Wilbur, change his litterbox every so often, and jiggle string for hours, he would instantly pick up his bags and go find work elsewhere. And who would blame him, in this economy? I do believe he will still provide information on the night of my incapacitation, should his reporting and my incapacitation happen simultaneously.

I would like to mention that my giving this information away marks me as a clear target for future attacks. I'll be taking extra care tonight in preparing my blood stone circle, Listeners. I hope this reveal is enough to earn your trust.

Now, for more pressing matters...

((
Some things don't add up. Kyouko is claiming to have been protected, and not bulletproof. First of all, it's odd that Kyouko would reveal this information. She had no real reason to do this at this point; she could have waited until the defender revealed themselves to corroborate their story (possibly saving us from a mis-lynch), but otherwise it's giving more info than is necessary to the feather-hunters. This is assuming a certain playstyle by Kyouko, of course.

What is even more odd however is the fact that nobody is owning up to it. It would be in town's best interest right now to claim this role, to reduce the chances of mis-lynching, but everyone who has been targetted so far (Luke and Soren) has come up with some other reason for not being mafia. With Sayaka not claiming defender, Amethyst unable to act, and Amumu confirmed not interacting with Kyouko, I'm more puzzled. Either the defender has a really good reason not to reveal themselves or there is no defender.

If there is no defender, I'm still confused, because claiming there is one would be an odd tactic for a feather-hunter as well. Kyouko, are you sure you were aided last night?

Here's a a question for Carlos, whenever he can answer, if he can answer: How many defender-type individuals are there?

Otherwise, I'll dig into the possible candidates for attacker. Certainly not Carlos, not Amumu (though he doesn't have evidence against being a feather-hunter). And you'll have to trust it's not me, either.

Probably not Amethyst (unless she has some ability to act while stunned, and again she doesn't have evidence against being a feather-hunter).

Probably not Kyouko. If she were feather-hunter, I would expect the other 0.9 to 1.3 feather hunter to claim that defender role and seal their innocence for a while. Not going to get into the wifom around that, but would like to at least mention it could be there though probably unlikely.

Probably not Sayaka. I'll assume for role-playing purposes that Sayaka is siding with Kyouko. Also, she's seemed pretty actively supportive of pushing things forward, and outright denied Kyouko's attribution of defender status. Will re-evaluate this as more information comes through the pipeline.

Possibly Soren. He does have an alibi, specifically a strong killing role. I feel like as town, he waited until the right time to reveal this (when pushed up against a wall), though as a feather-hunter, this seems like an easy enough escape. Still suspicious overall.

Possibly Luke. He's the last one to reveal information that might help town, though his latest comments have been a little cryptic. I think understand his abilities, but I don't understand his reason for voting for himself. If he were non-feather-hunter, I would still expect him to put together some kind of input on who he suspects and vote in that direction. After all, if you're non-feather-hunter and you vote yourself hoping to prove your innocence after being mis-lynched, that really doesn't do the wider non-feather-hunter community any good. That said, there might be some mechanisms at play behind the scene that I'm not aware of. Still, I'll stick to what seems most suspicious for now. Vote: Luke. His ability seems hazardous in general, anyway.
))

More on Feather-Gate as it develops.
>>

((Sorry, this was only partially in-character. Didn't have much time to write out a better post, and I want to keep the game going. Happy to re-write in-character when I have time, if that's deemed necessary.))

((Also, sorry to hear about your work stresses, Rasei. Hope things get better.))


EDIT: ((PAGE TOP AGAIN? BOOYAH, LISTENERS!))

As much as Kyouko wanted Sayaka to be her anonymous savior, it didn't make sense. She shook her head. Sayaka seemed genuinely disappointed that she couldn't protect her. ('Aww...always has to be the hero, eh? That cape suits her pretty well.')

"I don't think it was Sayaka, because A) I believe her, B) she's an honest person, and C) because I say so." Kyouko stated matter-of-factly. She shrugged. There was no deep analysis behind it - she simply trusted Sayaka out of habit, like eating.

Kyouko stared at Luke questioningly. He was...giving up? Sacrificing himself? That was more than peculiar. Maybe it was all an act to prove his own innocence - after all, why would a 'denier' willingly offer themselves up for banishment? Did he change his choice because Sayaka pointed out the reckless reasoning behind his previous vote for Soren? But instead of  pointing a finger at someone else, he decided to pick himself. That in itself seemed to scream 'non-denier'.

Or maybe that's what he wanted them to think. Voting for himself seemed a bit too reckless ('Even more than me.'), it was hard to believe that it was just an innocent decision. Plus he was in her suspect list, and probably everyone else's too.

'My head hurts. Eurgh.'

She tossed away the empty box of pocky and opened a bag of chips.

MUNCH MUNCH CRUNCH

Can't things just be simpler around here? She wasn't used to thinking before acting. But she had to answer Cecil's question.

"Oh I was aided alright. I'm usually more cautious around suspicious people like you guys, but in that particular night, I was defenseless. Pfft, in any case, I wouldn't lie about something like this. Do you know how hard it was for me to admit it in the first place? I just figured...."

Kyouko looked away, as if embarrassed. She let out an exasperated sigh.

"I just figured...seeing Sayaka so riled up about this, and trying so hard to get new information...for my sake...well, I thought I could try it as well. OKAY?"

---

((Kyouko's VOTE: Luke

S-sorry Rasei ;o;))

"But, but," Amumu started, the tears threatening again once a fifth person voted for Luke (including Luke himself). "I know there's someone here who can protect someone like Ms. Coco, even if Sayaka didn't. I know that..." His eyes widened a moment. "Oh. I...think I get it."

Luke was targeted for a lynch, but it failed.


It is now Night 2.

Please PM me your actions by 9:00am PST on Tuesday, June 23.

“Ah, sorry Cecil. I was already in the middle of this experiment when you asked, and you know how I can’t interrupt experiments because... well, because science. But I can get to your suggestion tonight if you’d like.

“Speaking of which, I have more important science announcements to make, so do you think I could borrow your radio program for a bit?”

The asking was just a courtesy, of course. Carlos was going to borrow the transmitter anyway, regardless of the answer, but that was okay because they were a couple and borrowing things without each other’s explicit permission was just what couples did sometimes.

<< Hello listeners, >> he began, in his best Cecil imitation, which was actually pretty good, but stopped there because he had no idea how to do the rest of the broadcast in a Cecil-esque manner. << So I have an important scientific announcement. Okay. So I was thinking about… about life, and the loss of life, and also about people threatening my boyfriend with swords. Just, you know, usual things people think about in their daily lives. So I decided to do an experiment, because, scientifically speaking, that is what I do.

<< So I ran an experiment measuring the fluctuations in Standard Fatality Units, and I made graphs of all of the data and also of some things that weren’t data, and then I got hungry so I asked Intern Wilbur to get me a sandwich.

<< I was also thinking about Cecil, and how I was asked to prove his innocence. And, well, I am usually thinking about Cecil in some way or another, >> And here, he rubbed at the back of his neck as if doing so might hide the obvious crimson flush. << B-but in this case, I was thinking about all of the things he is good at. Being a radio host, for example. Bowling. Grammar. Advanced siege-breaking. Writing slash fanfiction. Watching Cat Ballou over and over again, and yet still managing to be surprised by all the plot twists every time. These are all things that Cecil is good at. And I was thinking about all of the things he is not good at.

<< For example, murder.

<< No offense, Cec. I know you try. You try really hard and you’re really almost good at it but you’re, well... let’s just say you have a long way to go until you’d earn that Elite Assassination boyscout badge.

<< And while I was thinking about Cecil, the results of my other experiment came in, and so that’s what I’m here to share with you now. According to my research, there are two experienced fighters on each side, and Cecil is not one of them. And... also I... still don't have my sandwich. Cecil, can you check in on your intern for me? >>

---

(( For clarification, the question I asked was, “Does the statement comprising the union of the statements “there are at two or more killing roles on each side (not counting the night kill)” and “the radio host role is not a killing role” resolve to true?” and to which the laws of nature replied, “um… what” so then Carlos spent half an hour clarifying the experimental question over Skype.

As for why I asked that question specifically, I already thought it was true given that alca said that half the game was vigs, I just wanted nature to confirm my hypothesis.

So in conclusion:

There are at least 4 killing roles in this game.
Both of the mafia are killing roles.
There are at least 2 killing roles in town.
Cecil is not a killing role.

Believe me or don't believe me. Maybe I am confirming Cecil as town. Maybe I am lying through my teeth just so that nobody lynches him. Either way, I stand by what I say. ))

Soren blinked when nothing happened to Luke, realizing that he was probably the one who protected Kyouko the previous night.

He listened patiently to Carlos's speech, frowning faintly in concentration.

"Hmm.... So that's four people. We already know who two are. Myself and Sayaka if her threat against Cecil is taken at face value. I propose the possibility that Kyouko and Amethyst are the other two. Amumu is a stunner, and while it is possible he has a secondary kill ability he might not be among the feather deniers. Luke seems unlikely if he can protect people, since the two might be exclusive to one another." Soren spoke slowly, a thoughtful look on his face.

"But the problem with THAT lies in the fact that Kyouko was targeted last night. If the deniers can both kill, why were there not two attempts last night? And that's where Amethyst being stunned might implicate her as being among the feather deniers, thus solidifying Amumu as a feather seeker. She may have targetted someone last night but was blocked due to the bandaged hug given to her by Amumu. Which would leave Sayaka or Kyouko as the other feather denier, but that doesn't work since Sayaka is unable to attack Kyouko for whatever reason, or so she claims. It could be if she attacks Kyouko she awakens a "witch" whatever that means. And Kyouko wouldn't very well target herself given that she would be unable to be sure of being safe, and was protected by Luke. I did not act the previous night, so I am not a denier." Soren was trying to consider all of the possible angles of who could be a feather denier, debating heavily on it.

Kyouko furrowed her eyebrows after what she'd just heard. Luke was safe.

'So he knew that he'd be safe from the start. Did he defend himself, or does he have a partner who did?'

As she listened to the science nerd's broadcast, she found herself getting confused more and more. If he was telling the truth, and his research was correct, then that'd mean their were two or more potential killers amidst them. Amidst the feather seekers, the 'good guys' you could say.

There could be more than two? Soren did claim to be capable of a kill, so there's one. Luke just proved that he was the defensive type, so there was a small chance that he fit the description. Amumu was a proven stunner, and didn't seem to like violence, let alone actual murder. That left Amethyst, Sayaka ('You go girl!'), Cecil ('Can't rule him out completely.'), Soren, and herself.  Her eyes looked over at the Human Grape. She seemed like the type, plus she never did say anything about her role.

Kyouko ruled herself out as the denier, along with Sayaka who couldn't possibly ('Nope.') go against her. So that left Cecil, Soren, and Amethyst.

Evidently, Kyouko wasn't focusing on the people with killing roles, but on the deniers who had killing roles. She really didn't care whether someone was a killer or not, as long as they aimed at the actual enemies.

For now, she'd call them vigilantes, because "people-on-our-side with-killing-roles' was a bit too long for her thoughts. The vigilantes wouldn't want to kill at random and risk killing an innocent. Even though Kyouko was rather obnoxious on their first day, she wasn't suspicious enough for an immediate attack. So it had to be a denier who attacked her. ('Oh wait, Sayaka already mentioned this. Why didn't I pay attention? Sigh..') Amethyst, who could be a potential denier, was stunned. Cecil? S-saya...no.

Someone could be lying. Amumu could have several roles. Soren could be lying about being a vigilante. Luke could've been bluffing too. Nothing was concrete. And even if Amethyst was stunned, she could still be one of them.

Kyouko gritted her teeth in frustration. They were simply guessing and it was exhausting. She wished that she could just leave this place and all the stress behind her.

And then..

"Hm?" Kyouko turned to Amumu, who for a second looked like he knew something. She kneeled down, looked him in his teary eyes, and asked, "You have an idea of who defended me?"

Luke stared, ready to face whatever the others decided to do to him. He really did hope it was the dogs... after all, it might be fun playing with puppies... Not that he likes puppies, they aren't really manly... but he never was allowed to have a pet and almost never seen them before.

An unfamiliar man suddenly rushed at him, a knife pointed at him. "DIE DENIER! DIE!"

Luke's eyes widen as the man went ping off of him. That was when he remember something, as some other faceless people dragged the man away.

"Oh yeah, I used Guardian Field last night. I forgot that it last twenty four hours in this town for some reason."

He stopped to listen to the others' talking about who the deniers where and that they will kill people. Luke sighed. If the deniers had two killers, that means that they will kill someone that might be innocent like Amumu, Carlos, or himself.

"ARGGG! I'm going to tell you guys now... Whoever kills first is going to get a beating or two from me."

He stopped to collected himself then starts mumbling to himself, not realizing he was doing the same thing that caused him to be keep an eye on Soren.

"First of all, I doubt that Carlos the Scientist is in the deniers. He is weird and all, with all this science talk; but he doesn't care about who he gives the information to.

I'm pretty sure Amumu isn't one either, after all, he stunned the purple girl. Plus how could someone that cute... I mean, friendly hurt someone. Unless he drowns them in his tear puddles.

Soren said he can kill someone in one shot, so he is definitely one of killers. Unless he is lying. He is shifty looking with all that mumbling out loud he does.

Cecil gives me the chills somewhat with his radio show going into my head... that is really creepy. He might be attacking people... after all, who wants a Elite Assassination boyscout badge. What is an Elite Assassination boyscout badge anyway? But Carlos's words have made sense so far, except in voting for me.

Kyouko was the one that was almost killed last night. It doesn't make since for her to be a denier. Through she is violent enough to attack people, i mean look at the cafe. (Luke's eyes shifted to the ruined cafe that she never fixed.) Plus whoe... Oh!"

Luke started raffling through his pockets and pulls out a Tales of Abyss manual. He flips through it and pauses on a page.

"Oh it says ALL... I totally missed that. Opps..." He noticed that a faceless person was staring at him.

"Where did you get the book? I been wanting a new book."

"What? Oh this? Some weird girl claiming to be a fan handed to me last night with some weird pictures of Guy, Asche, and me. I threw away the pictures... I don't want to talk about it."

He clears his voice, then speaks louder.

"Ummm, guys... I think I was the one that protected Kyouko last night... I didn't notice that my Guardian Field spreads like it does."
______________

((Sorry, sorry. I know it wasn't a lynch on day 1, but I felt like we weren't getting anywhere, so that why I volunteer to off myself to start Night 2. Plus I wanted to share this picture:

Spoiler:

 ^_^' The whole affair made me smile at work, which the head of the kitchen ask why I was smiling so much after yesterday. So I had to explain the whole thing to him.))

Sayaka seldom, if ever, allowed her convictions to waver. If she doubted herself, and what she stood for, then why shouldn't others doubt her tenacity as well? It was a slippery slope, that nibbling fear that crept around at the back of her mind. One faltering step and she'd go tumbling down, and then she truly would be of no use to anyone. That could never be allowed to happen. She could never be lost.

And then Luke voted against himself.

Sayaka watched as Luke proved tenacious in ways that Sayaka wished she knew. She listened as the others of the group commented on what had happened, on what they had seen. She stood silent, brooding, considering. Her mind felt stuffed to capacity; it was ready to burst, and with it her composure. So many comments—so many truths and lies and truths again. When you make the ends meet and unite a circle, is there a true beginning? Or end? At which point could you walk this road and pluck thick from thin?

At long last, Carlos' science experiment was complete and the results published. From there, both Soren and even Kyouko viewed Luke as venerated—and Luke, himself, professed to his heroism, to saving Kyouko from a fate that Sayaka dare not consider even in her darkest nightmares. She should be happy, overjoyed, but she was... troubled.

“I don't want you to think I am ungrateful, Luke, because truly I am,” Sayaka said. “I care very much for Kyouko, and I am happy a terrible fate has not befallen her... but.” She screwed up her face.

“Something doesn't seem to add up. When pressed, you declared that the attack on Kyouko was not your own because your attacks harm those, as I recall, 'physically close to her'.” Sayaka frowned and touched her chin. “You also said you do not hurt innocent people, but now you say that you would attack whoever is the first to shed blood. What if one of the feather seekers had attacked a feather denier—or guardian or hunter or whatever we're calling them—out of fear or self-preservation? Would you retaliate and kill them, too? Would they no longer be innocent in your eyes?”

Sayaka ran a hand through her hair.

“I... I also think it's strange that you don't seem fully convinced that you protected Kyouko. I mean, you don't seem confident in how your Guardian Field, as you call it, truly works. But all the same, I'd like to think you protected Kyouko... since otherwise she would be lying about defending herself, and...”

Sayaka looked at Kyouko and shook her head. That's not possible.

“I think I'd trust you a lot more if you cleared up my concerns,” Sayaka said, and she looked at Amumu and Amethyst. “Like Kyouko, I also want to hear what Amumu thinks, and Amethyst... I will admit, I did not expect to see another puella magi—er, another gem here, but I don't know anything about you or whom you distrust.”

---

((Tried to keep this shorter without a massive IC speech. I highlighted how I'm a bit concerned by the seeming inconsistencies in Luke's claim, but in his favor it's easy to tell if he's lying if someone gets killed and he does not retaliate, or if someone gets saved again tonight (since I think I'm reading his ability as it has a limited activation period?). It does seem strange that he'd be able to both deny kills with his Guardian Field and then later kill the first person to land a kill in the night. I mean, it wouldn't be unheard of, but it feels a bit contrary.

I'd like to trust Carlos' science, but we have to bear in mind he will always defend Cecil even if Cecil is maf—er, feather denier-guardian-hunter. I was also under the impression that he could only ask one question at a time, and also that it had to be about Cecil in a way that talks about omelets. The question shown does have a bit of a loophole as it's two questions conveniently parsed as a single one, even if the omelets are missing. Regardless, if we take it at face value, there are at least 4 killing roles in the game. Coincidentally, prior to that post we had:
1. Soren state that he had a single attack that negated all protection.
2. Luke originally phrased his ability as if he could control whom he attacked (and “people physically close to”?), but later suggested that it's more-or-less a revenge type of mechanic? Eh?
3. I threatened Cecil with my sword, suggesting my capacity to attack.
4. And Amethyst said that “all [she] can do is hurt people.”

We do not know whether or not Kyouko has an attack. Carlos suggests that Cecil cannot attack. Amumu is a bit ambiguous, but he does have a stun.

As Soren points out, if both mafia can attack, do we know if they can send in a night kill and also both have their own vigilante-esque power? That'd be a bit strong as then they could blitz us down in one night. It seems likely that they are limited to one doing the regular night kill and the other being able to do their attack—granted, the attacks are probably one-use to prevent them just killing 2 or 3 per round (counter-argument: if half of us have bulletproof, it might be necessary to give them multiple shots so they can chew through defenses). It stands to reason they might have avoided the extra attack on N1 to hide their hand or save it to surprise any protective roles, or even suggest a vigilante attack. Using it right away doesn't really frame anyone since vigilantes probably would not attack N1, like I've kind of speculated.

That said, I do agree that it does potentially make Amethyst rather suspicious given the circumstances. I want to hear from her and Amumu right now, as well as hear how Luke responds to the inconsistencies.))

“You also said you do not hurt innocent people, but now you say that you would attack whoever is the first to shed blood. What if one of the feather seekers had attacked a feather denier—or guardian or hunter or whatever we're calling them—out of fear or self-preservation? Would you retaliate and kill them, too? Would they no longer be innocent in your eyes?”


Luke turned towards Kyouko, rub the back of his head.

"If it's self-defense then it isn't killing. They..." He froze suddenly, thinking of a falling airship, of screaming, of a man trying to stab him, of his sword slicing the man  through, of a falling body. He has tried to forget about that man and others that attack him. He felt a shiver go down his body, as he tried not to remember. He finally snapped out of it.

"Self-defense... is different than killing someone for no reason. Through that person... they will feel like they never truly innocent again," he whispered, "But until there is a denier kill, how do we truly know that they are willing to kill? We don't even know if it was a denier that tried to hurt Kyouko."

He looked back up, and sadly smiles.

"My skills take a long time to recharge, so my Guardian Field is gone for now. I don't even have enough tp to do my attack and I will not have enough for days. I'm pretty much useless now. And to all this, I still want to say... we shouldn't kill if we don't have to."

His eyes search the area, and landed on one person.

((Sorry for being aloof today!))

Rasei wrote:His eyes search the area, and landed on one person.

((Gonna assume that's me. XD))

---

Amumu saw everyone turning toward him. But, for once, he actually pepped up at this. "Last night...well, last time it was considered night here, I, uh, I asked Luke to be my friend. And he said yes!" This was the happiest anyone here, aside from Luke, had seen Amumu. "Which I hope means my curse isn't as strong here...but, uhm, anyway, we did friend things, like share secrets! Though...I guess they're not really secrets anymore..."

Amumu looked downtrodden at that, but kept on anyway. "I showed him how I could wrap people up, like I did to Amethyst and Sayaka. And he told me how he can keep people safe! And that, when he does, only his friends, people helping him, are safe, and that it lasts a long time. So, while I was scared at first at him voting for himself, I then remembered he'd be fine. And he is!"

He turned to look up at Kyouko, saw she was teary eyed, and loosened one of his bandages. He then used the (admittedly old...like, centuries old) thing to dab her cheeks. "So, it probably was him who kept you safe! So long as you're on the same side as him, as us, it was his magic!"

Amumu was then caught surprised by a thought, and mumbled, "Though, that means, I guess, you could have attacked yourself, if you knew Luke would keep you safe...but why would you guys try to trick us like that? He's the first one in years...uh, decades...centuries? I don't know, to say I'm his friend, and you're the first one I can remember ever gave me a gift." He still tightly held onto the cheap whistle. "You two wouldn't ever do anything like that..."

---

((Why, yes, he's claiming a second ability, one that let's him make one (UNT ONLY VON) friend, where ability information is shared.))

Sayaka turned to Amumu, confusion evident upon her face.

"Amumu," she said, "you're saying that you visited Luke last night and became friends?"

Sayaka looked at Cecil, then at Wilbur.

"But... you only visited Amethyst last night."

Amumu shrugged. "I guess the cat only followed me after I left Luke? Maybe Wilbur's not very good at his job? Or maybe Cecil left it out?"