Rubicon Information and Summary Thread

**TinCow** · 05-13-2009, 16:28

The basic format for the general Game Rules is taken from the excellent set created for Capo de Tutti Capi II. Many thanks to Seamus Fermanagh for writing them and for allowing me to use them. I greatly encourage everyone to join Capo de Tutti Capi III when it begins later this year.

Game Summary:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

At its basic level, the game involves two mafia families (Caesarians and Pompeians) and the town (Senate). However, this is not a simple mafia vs. town game. The town itself is divided into two Factions, the Populares and the Optimates. This is representative of the historical political divisions in the Late Roman Republic. The game takes place in 49 BC, shortly after Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, plunging the Republic into civil war. Historically, the Populares faction supported Caesar, and the Optimates faction supported his rival, Pompey the Great. Pompey opposed Caesar with the claim that he was supporting the Republic, but in reality it was a conflict between the two men for absolute power. Whether the victor was Caesar or Pompey, the result would have been a Dictator, and the Republic was almost certainly doomed.

In this game, the Senators can choose a third option that was little more than a pipe-dream in 49 BC: they can put aside their factional differences and individual ambitions and attempt to save the Roman Republic by eliminating both the Caesarians and the Pompeians. This is the usual form of a town vs. mafia game, with the added complication that the mafia families are also dueling. Survival until the end of the game is not necessary for this victory. If you are a Senator (townie) and you die, you can still win if both mafia families are eliminated before either is victorious. Saving the Republic is a noble cause, and you will be remembered for all time as a virtuous defender of liberty.

However, the Senators can also follow in the footsteps of their historical counterparts and take sides in the Civil War. All Senators have a SECOND, optional, victory condition. This victory condition is to eliminate all players from the opposing faction and survive. Survival is necessary if you go this route, as you are choosing to turn Rome over to a Dictator. If that occurs, his name will go down in history and yours will be forgotten. So, in order to gain anything, you need to be alive to reap the material rewards of backing the winning horse.

You may be wondering why any Senator would choose to try and help one of the mafia families, when death is a serious possibility. There are multiple reasons. First, dying while trying to eliminate the other faction does not mean you have lost the game. It only means you can no longer win by eliminating the other faction. If both mafia families are eliminated after you have been killed, you will still be victorious, even if you were happily killing the other faction while you were alive. Second, the mafia might very well win. If you think this is likely to happen, you may be able to win with them by joining in their efforts to eliminate the other half of the Senate. Third, for all you know, the other half of the Senate have all chosen to destroy you anyway. Just as with a straight mafia victory, if they get the upper hand and eliminate your faction, you're doomed, even if you're dead! A pre-emptive attack might be a good idea to ensure that this never happens. Finally, playing with the mafia is fun!

So, where do the two mafia families fit into all of this? Simple, both families want to eliminate each other AND all of their opposing family’s supporters (Populares or Optimates). They don't need to eliminate their own supporters in the Senate to win. After all, if all armed opposition has been crushed, the faction that leans their way will quickly be groveling at their feet or otherwise enjoying the fruits of backing the victor, no matter how much they may have secretly wished to uphold the Republic.

For the Senate, the choice of what to do will be difficult. No one will know which faction the other players belong to at the start. If you want to save the Republic, how can you trust the other Senators when some of them may be out to kill you? If you want to aid the Dictators, how do you contact them without giving yourself away to the enemy?

For the Caesarians and Pompeians, the choice of strategy will be equally difficult. Unlike the Senate, you will have a few allies whom you can trust completely. However, you will have to fight your counterparts who are just as strong as you, as well as half the town. You can greatly increase your power by convincing your faction of the Senate to turn against their opponents. Make those expendable Senators do your dirty work, while you sit safely on the sidelines! But, how do you do this without giving yourself away? Can you even trust your own supporters, when they always have the option of winning by eliminating both the Caesarians and the Pompeians? How do you know you aren't being infiltrated by any Senator you choose to trust?

How to Win:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Game Phases and Basic Gameplay:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

At the outset of the game you will be randomly assigned a role, the role PM explaining the particulars will be sent to you, and shortly thereafter, play will commence.

The usual sequence of 24-hour days and 24-hour nights will be followed. Day and Night phases may be extended where necessary to account for outside events/unusual situations. In no instance will the time period be decreased below 24 hours. The first phase of the game will be a Night phase.

Day Phase: Each day the Roman Senate (town) will vote to Proscript (lynch) one living player. Each Senator can cast one vote (see below for procedure). TinCow will write up the results of these votes and post them for general consumption, along with any juicy particulars about the Proscriptions. The game then proceeds to the next night phase.

Night Phase: Every role has something to do at night – even if your choice is to do nothing. Since every role can be active in some manner, all players should PM TinCow during each night phase to indicate their actions. I will respond as quickly as possible, and will write up results that take effect immediately prior to the next day phase.

Actions: All roles will have actions or abilities that can be used at certain times during the game. These will be listed in your role PM. No player may use more than one night action in any single Night Phase, even if more than one kind of night action is listed in the role PM. You must pick which kind of night action you want to use each night from those available to you. If you are submitting an order to kill or protect someone, feel free to provide whatever level of detail you wish. Within the constraints of playability I will endeavor to create write-ups that conform to your requests, but reserve the right to edit them if necessary for game play purposes.

PM Example:

Night 4: Working with TosaInu and Ser Clegane, I will kill Seamus Fermanagh.

If your night action requires multiple people and one of the partners in your group fails to PM me, or should they PM me with different instructions (accidentally or on purpose), you group may not have the requisite numbers to perform a given night action successfully. The write up will indicate that failure, but will not reveal who was to blame for the failure.

PMs and PM-ing:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Voting:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Rules pertaining to gameplay by dead players, screenshots, etc.:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Game Roles:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

(Note: Any excerpts from role PMs listed below are for sample purposes only. The final format is subject to change before the game begins.)

Caesarians (3 Players):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Pompeians (3 Players):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Populares Senators (Half the town): All have unique names and at least one special ability:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Optimates Senators (Half the town): All have unique names and at least one special ability:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Praetor/Consul (2 of each, names secret):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

PRAETOR FULL NAME (NICKNAME)
Preator
(Populares Faction)

Victory Conditions:
(1) Eliminate all Caesarians and Pompeians. You will be victorious even if you are dead if this goal is met.

OR

(2) Survive and eliminate all Optimates Faction Members, including Pompeians.

Role Description:
Night Actions:
(1) Lictors (Protect) - As you are Praetor in 49 BC, you have a group of lictors to guard you. You can send your lictors to protect one player per night. Any player you protect will be very difficult to kill that night. Alternatively, you can have your lictors remain at your side to protect you instead. Either way, you must submit a Night Action PM with your orders. Your lictors will not protect anyone, including yourself, if you fail to submit a Night Action PM.

Participation in Senator Groups:
(1) You count towards the success of Senator kill, protection, and investigation groups. If you join a group, you will not be able to use your lictors to protect anyone, including yourself.

CONSUL FULL NAME (NICKNAME)
Consul
(Optimates Faction)

Victory Conditions:
(1) Eliminate all Caesarians and Pompeians. You will be victorious even if you are dead if this goal is met.

OR

(2) Survive and eliminate all Populares Faction Members, including Caesarians.

Role Description:
Night Actions:
(1) Lictors (Protect) - As you are Consul in 49 BC, you have a group of lictors to guard you. You can send your lictors to protect one player per night. Any player you protect will be very difficult to kill that night. Alternatively, you can have your lictors remain at your side to protect you instead. Either way, you must submit a Night Action PM with your orders. Your lictors will not protect anyone, including yourself, if you fail to submit a Night Action PM.

Participation in Senator Groups:
(1) You count towards the success of Senator kill, protection, and investigation groups. If you join a group, you will not be able to use your lictors to protect anyone, including yourself.

Special Roles (Number Secret): Names Secret - Abilities Secret - Victory Conditions Secret

Signed-up (37/37): GAME FULL
Beefy187
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Yaropolk
'khaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
White_eyes:D
Jolt
Tiberius of the Drake
Cultured Drizzt fan
Don Corleone
Glenn
A Very Super Market
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
pevergreen
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
navarro951
Lord Winter
mini
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Cronos Impera
Beskar
Caius

Replacements:
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Marshal Murat
ATPG
Thermal Mercury

**TinCow** · 05-13-2009, 16:29

It was just a stream, little more than a tiny trickle of water. It sprang from the Apennine Mountains and flowed lazily eastwards, to the Adriatic. Shallow and narrow in many places, it was hardly an obstacle for a man on foot, let alone horseback. Gaius Julius Caesar had bridged the Rhine during the Gallic Wars. That was a mighty river; wide, deep, and fast-flowing. Caesar's legions had crossed it without a second thought. Twice.

Those same legions stood with him still. Legio XIII Gemina was arranged down the road behind him. Others, like Legio VI Ferrata and Legio III Gallica were still marching from their main encampments. These were not the inexperienced levies that the Senate so often raised from rural Italy, they were veterans of countless battles. Caesar's army was powerful and loyal to him alone, yet for all this might, the tiny Rubicon gave him pause.

He stood on the north side, with the dirt of Cisalpine Gaul under his feet. It was good soil, solid and fertile, but it was still subjugated barbarian land. The other side, only a few cubits away, was Italy. The other side was Roman. At that moment, in that spot, Gaius Julius Caesar was proconsul and governor of Transalpine Gaul, Cisalpine Gaul, and Illyricum. The moment he stepped forward, across that little rivulet at the head of a legion, he became a rebel and an enemy of the Republic.

Earlier that day, disturbing news had reached Caesar at Ravenna. A bill had been pending before the Senate to prosecute Caesar for various trumped-up 'crimes' he had committed as governor. This was simply the latest move by Pompey and the Optimates to tear down their greatest opponent. The loyal Populares tribunes Marcus Antonius and Quintus Cassius Longinus had vetoed the bill, but had then been forced to flee Rome under threat of violence. Without the presence of the tribunes, the bill would pass and Caesar would be stripped of all rights, titles, and powers. He would be ruined financially, forced into exile, and his career as a Senator and general would be over.

There were only two options. Caesar could accept the bill and humbly submit to the punishments, content to live out the modest life of an exile far from Rome, or he could take up arms in his own defense. Gaius Julius Caesar was not a humble man, but open rebellion was not something easily contemplated. Civil war was not without precedent in Roman history; Caesar's own uncle, Gaius Marius, had attempted it and succeeded for a short while. Lucius Cornelius Sulla had succeeded for even longer. Even so, it was a daunting prospect. And so fate found Gaius Julius Caesar staring at the Rubicon as the sun set on January 10, 49 BC, deep in thought.

He turned and looked at those loyal friends who had gathered nearby, his complexion dark and his brow furrowed. Speaking loudly, but to no specific person, he said, “Still we can retreat, but once we pass this little bridge, nothing is left but to fight it out with arms.” Murmurs circulated amongst those within earshot. All had marched here knowing full well what was planned, but a plan is entirely different from an action. As Caesar turned back to gaze on Italy, all eyes settled uneasily on him.

For a long time the party remained frozen in uncertainty. No one was willing to be the first to step across the Rubicon, not even Caesar. After a few moments, a low murmur began off to the side, and several men extended their arms, pointing across the river. There, on the other side, was a simple shepherd. As the men watched, he sat down and pulled out a flute from under the folds of his tunic. As he began to play, the notes drifted across the water, soft and melodious. He played a tune that was haunting in its beauty, and soon all thoughts of rebellion had passed from the minds of those nearby.

The sound wavered, dipping into gentle lows and barely audible highs, and before they realized what they were doing, several legionaries had crossed over the Rubicon to better hear the shepherd’s flute. As this scene unfolded, Caesar’s mind alone remained unclouded. As the first legionary took the first step across the mystical Rubicon, his mind cleared and his doubts faded. Unsheathing his gladius, Caesar gestured towards the Heavens. Those nearby noticed this grand movement and attention once again focused on the leader of the Populares. He turned to them and said in a strong and confident tone, “Let us go where the iniquity of our enemies call us.”

With that, the spell of uncertainty and hesitation was broken and the party began to move. First in ones and twos, then by the dozen, and finally en mass, the army began to cross the Rubicon. Standing now on the south side, watching the advance, Caesar’s face hardened into grim determination.

“The die is cast.”

**TinCow** · 05-13-2009, 16:30

“Before beginning, plan carefully.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The news of Caesar’s march reached Rome as dusk was falling. Details were scarce, and without any knowledge of the specific strength of the army that marched with him, fear and paranoia began to set in amongst the Senate. Caesar had sent out advance columns of infantry, each several cohorts in strength, and they were moving with alarming speed. The garrisons that stood in his way were small, and the loyalty of the rural towns questionable.

Messengers were sent out across Rome, announcing that an emergency meeting of the Senate would begin the next morning to discuss the situation. No one expected that the meeting would be civil or productive; the Optimates would surely demand that dictatorial powers be given to Pompey, while the Populares would obstinately block every effort the Senate made to reign in Caesar. As night fell over the city, the Roman Republic was on a knife-edge. The only solace the Senate had was that at least there would be one final night of peace before the insanity was unleashed on them all…

------

All role PMs have been sent and the game is now underway. The first phase is a night action. Due to the larger than expected player base and the group night action mechanics, I will allow 36 hours for this first phase. 24 hour phases will be used after that.

The deadline for Night 1 orders is Wednesday, May 13th at 10:45am EST.

**TinCow** · 05-13-2009, 16:30

“We are not asking you to pardon those you have decided to kill; all we ask is that you free from suspense those you have decided not to kill.”
- Caius Metellus to Lucius Cornelius Sulla

White_eyes:D was greatly disturbed by the news filtering down the Via Flaminia. Caesar had made his move only a day or two before, yet there were already rumors of an impending clash. Quintus Minucius Thermus was garrisoned at Iguvium with a full five cohorts. While this was far from sufficient force to stop a legion, it was surely enough to blunt the few men Caesar had managed to hastily assemble in Cisalpine Gaul. After all, his legions were still in Long Haired Gaul… weren’t they?

Still, the uncertainty of the situation made White_eyes:D nervous. The political ramifications and personal vendettas caused by the conflict between Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla were still simmering. The Gods only knew what another round of civil war would bring to Rome. Thus it was that night found White_eyes:D pacing around his villa, his brow furrowed and his thoughts troubled.

He was concentrating so deeply on what the morning’s Senate session would bring, that he did not notice the men standing in the shadows of the nearby columns. With every turn of his pacing, they advanced silently up the room, slipping first behind one support, then another, until they were within a few cubits of their quarry. A strange reflection in a nearby polished candlestick caught White_eyes:D’s attention, and he jerked around in surprise to see a gladius descending towards him. He instinctively lifted his arm to block, but flesh proved little deterrent to hardened steel. The blade cleaved through his forearm and plunged deep into his chest; he collapsed with blood bubbling up into his lungs. He tried to speak, but the best he could manage was to spray red flecks on the cold stone floor. White_eyes:D looked into the face of his attacker, but it was cold and without emotion. As he attempted to crawl towards the figure, one of the others came up from behind him and slit his throat.

…

mini rose in the middle of the night with a stomach ache. His cena had been an excellent mix of mushrooms, eggs, fish, and snails, with marinated plums for dessert. He had an excellent chef, but he suspected that the snails had disagreed with him. Was it the snails themselves, or perhaps the garlic mash they had been dipped in? Hopefully it was the latter, because the thought of having to remove snails from his diet was too dreadful to contemplate. What would be next, clams? Sea urchin? Where would this madness end?! Yes, it was probably just bad garlic.

mini was walking towards the culina to investigate this matter for himself, when a dark figure stepped out of the shadows to block his path. It must be a servant, he thought, and requested the man’s aid in searching the basket of garlic for rot. There was no response, and as mini watched a gladius appear in the figure’s right hand. An assassin! This was not the proper Roman way of doing things. An honorable man would stab his foes to death in public, proud of the act he was committing, he would not do it in the dark of night!

He whirled around, looking for an escape, but other men stepped forward, blocking his way from the opposite side of the corridor. There was nowhere to run, and the blades were soon upon him. After the job had been done, the murders departed, leaving mini in a pool of blood on the floor. As he quickly bled to death, he muttered a quiet curse on those who had committed such a cowardly act.

…

As dawn broke over the Capitoline, the Senators slowly filed into the Curia Cornelia. Without exception, all were engaged in hushed discussions with nearby friends and colleagues. As they glanced nervously around the chamber, wondering what the day would bring, few noticed the two empty seats in the Optimates section. Attention was instead focused on a bit of parchment that had been nailed to the door. It read:

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

Whoah! Talk about an expensive woman!

We're talking about a woman that must have a platinum vagina!

Flora charges 1000 denarii for two hours of “work”.

The city guard spokesman, Aurelius Coppus, said Flora was seen in the company of a Roman Senator.

The Senator, using the fake name "Don Corleone" agreed to have sex with the famous prostitute for a whopping 2500 denarii!

Rumour has it that "Flora" is actually a former Germanic slave released by the famous Pompey the Great and is now a hard working, tax paying citizen on the payroll of... Pompey the Great!

Alive (35):
Beefy187
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Yaropolk
'khaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Tiberius of the Drake
Cultured Drizzt fan
Don Corleone
Glenn
A Very Super Market
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
pevergreen
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
navarro951
Lord Winter
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Cronos Impera
Beskar
Caius

Killed (2):
White_eyes:D
mini

Proscripted (0):

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Day 1. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Thursday, May 14th at 12:30pm EST. (Extra hour added, as I will not have time to do the day write-up at 11:30.)

**TinCow** · 05-14-2009, 17:50

“Let us not listen to those who think we ought to be angry with our enemies, and who believe this to be great and manly. Nothing is so praiseworthy, nothing so clearly shows a great and noble soul, as clemency and readiness to forgive.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The discussions in the Curia Cornelia started in earnest. It did not take long before various Senators started proclaiming some of their colleagues as enemies of the state. Ostensibly, the reasoning they gave was that someone was supporting Caesar, supporting Pompey, or otherwise working to bring down the Republic. However, many of the Senators seemed to be in a vindictive mood, attacking whoever was the latest to speak out against another. Accusations flew this way and that, with attention quickly focusing on one man, before moving just as hastily to another, and then another, and then another…

Throughout the chaos, the occasional voice of calm was raised, reminding the Senators of the horrors inflicted by Sulla’s proscriptions. These men were a small minority of the Senate, but their votes were placed less fickly than the others and once placed they tended to stick.

Near the end of the session, an older man, clad in a fine white toga stood up and waived the other Senators into silence. He launched into a dissertation on Lucius Junius Brutus and the virtues of those Romans who had overthrown the tyranny of the Tarquinian Kings. While his parallels to Caesar and Pompey were obvious for all to see, the eloquence and structure of his words were moving, and eventually even some of the most partisan Senators were nodding in silent agreement. Suddenly, with a flourish, the man turned towards Ichigo and began to lecture him at length on the history of the Republic and the duties of Senators to uphold the laws. At first, Ichigo attempted to refute the man’s arguments, but the rhetorical onslaught eventually overwhelmed him and he found himself beginning to concede point after point. The older man then shifted his statements into an attack on Sasaki Kojiro, and the ensnared Ichigo followed suit. When the man in the fine white toga finally sat down, Ichigo was so convinced that he immediately changed his vote to Sasaki Kojiro.

Even so, clemency and patience appeared to be the predominant sentiments. The Senate remained uncomfortable with the idea of resurrecting the proscription, and the body adjourned for the evening without incident.

No Proscription: 5 (TheFlax, Jolt, johnhughthom, atheotes, LittleGrizzly)
Cronos Impera: 4 (Sasaki Kojiro, spL1tp3r50naL1ty, Captain Blackadder, Iskander 3.1)
johnhughthom: 2 (Shinseikhaan, pevergreen)
Sasaki Kojiro: 2 (Tiberius of the Drake, Ichigo)
Andres: 2 (Yaropolk, YLC)
Chaotix: 1 (Cultured Drizzt fan)
YLC: 1 (Andres)
Glenn: 1 (GeneralHankerchief)
everyone: 1 (Beskar)
TheFlax: 1 (woad&fangs)
Cultured Drizzt fan: 1 (Beefy187)

Abstain: 6 (Khazaar, Caius, Chaotix, everyone, Ignoramus, navarro951)
Not Voting: 8 (Greyblades, AggonyDuck, Don Corleone, Glenn, A Very Super Market, Tratorix, Lord Winter, Cronos Impera)

Alive (35):
Beefy187
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Yaropolk
'khaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Tiberius of the Drake
Cultured Drizzt fan
Don Corleone
Glenn
A Very Super Market
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
pevergreen
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
navarro951
Lord Winter
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Cronos Impera
Beskar
Caius

Killed (2):
White_eyes:D
mini

Proscripted (0):

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Night II. ~~The deadline for Night II orders is Friday, May 15th at 1:00pm EST.~~
The new deadline for Night II orders is Saturday, May 16th at 7:00pm EST.

**TinCow** · 05-17-2009, 00:08

“All things will be clear and distinct to the man who does not hurry; haste is blind and improvident.”
- Titus Livius

Shortly after the Senate went into recess, a messenger came down the Via Vlaminia with disturbing news. At Iguvium, Quintus Minucius Thermus readied to make a stand with his five cohorts. However, the political bent of this rural town, like so many others, was vastly in favor of the Populares, and the shutters and doors of the local buildings were ominously shut to Thermus and his men. When three cohorts of Caesarian legionaries were spotted marching directly towards them, the passive displeasure of the locals began to transform into more active resistance. Insults were the first things hurled, but they were soon followed by spittle, and then rocks. Fearing an attack from within by the townsfolk at the same moment as a frontal assault by Caesar’s cohorts, Thermus withdrew from Iguvium and began to retreat south towards Rome.

Beskar was greatly concerned by this news. It was terrifying proof that Caesar’s threat to Rome was real; his march seemed to be gaining momentum and manpower with every step. With these thoughts in his mind, he tossed and turned, unable to find a restful slumber. He was finally at the verge of drifting off, when an unnatural rustle brought him instantly back to full consciousness. Beskar opened his eyes and sat up on his elbows, peering into the darkness.

He could see nothing, but a vague sense of unease crept over him. No further noises came forth, and soon he was convincing himself that it must have been a cat. Yes, just a cat. Slowly, Beskar relaxed and slid back down into complete recumbence. He closed his eyes and attempted to clear his mind. This proved to be a futile effort, as the sudden presence of a strong hand clasped over his mouth removed any possibility of tranquility.

He tried to scream, but his mouth was held firmly shut and the sound came out as little more than a grunt. His eyes followed the arm back into the darkness, where it terminated in a cold and dispassionate face. Slight movement further back indicated the presence of other men as well. Beskar tried to claw away the hand from his face and rise, but he was pinned the bed and his assailant was too strong for him. He flailed wildly for a few moments, before the man slid his gladius cleanly into Beskar’s throat. As the killers departed, Beskar drifted off into the longest, deepest sleep of his life.

…

The sound of raucous laughter made them stop dead in their tracks. The men glanced at one another hastily; eye contact and tilts of the head conveying an entire conversation in the space of a few moments. The lead man peered around the corner, then looked back at his colleagues. He made a few gestures with his hands and the others nodded in unison. As one, they all slipped their blades from their scabbards; the oiled leather making the movements as silent as they were ominous. There they stayed for a long moment, their muscles tensed and ready for action.

Another peal of laughter echoed through the villa, and as one the men rushed forward, into the light and sound. The scene that greeted them was an unusual one. In the center of the room, Yaropolk was bent over on a couch, his toga stained with wine and his face red from laughter. To his left was a strange woman, her slim body concealed by a thin white gown that left little the imagination. As the men burst into the room, both Yaropolk and the woman turned as one to look upon them. The laughter had told them to be prepared for multiple people, but the sight of the strange woman momentarily froze them in their tracks.

There was a moment of silence as Yaropolk forgot whatever it was that had amused him so, but after a few seconds of gazing at his new guests, his face puckered up in a grin and he burst forth in another bout of riotous frivolity. This broke the trance that the men were in and they moved forwards once again. Smoothly, the woman stood and backed away from the couch, giving the intruders a wry smile and a respectful bow of the head.

Yaropolk was still rolling with drunken laughter when the men reached him. The first gladius to pierce his chest broke the spell, and his eyes widened for a moment in a sober realization of horror. His blood spurted out readily; at first mingling with the wine stains, and then eventually overwhelming them. Their job done, the men turned to scan the room for the woman, but she was long gone. Only a scent of exotic perfume hung in the air.

…

As the Senators began their march past the Capitoline to the Curia Cornelia, their thoughts were clouded with troubles. Caesar marching on Rome, murders in the night, and an indecisive Senate. What other plagues would be unleashed on the city of Romulus? As they took their places in the Senate building, two Populares seats remained ominously empty. Attention was again focused on another piece of parchment which had been nailed to the doors of the Curia during the night. It read:

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

An investigation into a betting scandal has led to charges against four Senators accusing them of staking thousands of denarii on a certain gladiator to lose.

The head of the City Guard, Aurelius Coppus has stated that there is enough evidence to accuse the Senators involved of match-fixing.

The Senators could face a life ban from the Collosseum if they are found guilty.
The four Senators used cover names and were known among the gladiators as “AggonyDuck”, “Jolt”, “Don Corleone” and “TheFlax”.

Aurelius Coppus also stated: "AggonyDuck is alleged to have placed stakes to the value of approximately 4.500 denarii; Jolt 3.500 denarii; Don Corleone 2.000 denarii and TheFlax 1.000 denarii."

The City Guard was alerted after bookmakers in the north-west of the city reported unusual betting patterns in the lead-up to the gladiator duel with higher than usual amounts being staked.

A lengthy investigation has uncovered enough evidence to bring the charges. Rumour has it that the denarii can be traced back to Pompey the Great.

Alive (33):
Beefy187
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
'khaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Tiberius of the Drake
Cultured Drizzt fan
Don Corleone
Glenn
A Very Super Market
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
pevergreen
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
navarro951
Lord Winter
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Cronos Impera
Caius

Killed (4):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk

Proscripted (0):

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Day II. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Sunday, May 17th at 8:00pm EST.

**TinCow** · 05-18-2009, 01:10

“Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The Senate was greatly animated by the events at hand. The complacency and readiness to forgive that was the hallmark of the previous day had long since vanished; the terror of the moment pushed the leaders of the Republic to action. The debate quickly centered upon two individuals who were accused of suspicious activities and potential involvement in the death of Beskar the previous night. Both pevergreen and navarro951 were accused of being excessively partisan, too concerned with the political orientation of the other Senators, and not sufficiently concerned with the welfare of the Republic itself.

navarro951 attempted to explain his actions and to refute the charges brought against him. After some vigorous debate, a large number of Senators appeared satisfied with his explanations. The majority then began to focus their accusations on pevergreen alone. His response was silence, and this was unacceptable. The votes thus swung towards pevergreen, and as the session neared its end, the Republic’s first proscription since the time of Lucius Cornelius Sulla seemed certain.

As the light grew dim, an older man in a fine, white toga rose and began to speak. He discussed the evidence against the two accused, weighing the pros and cons of the cases against them. His rhetorical style was flawless, and soon the Curia was engrossed in his speech. The older man turned now to spL1tp3r50naL1ty, who, like the others, was paying keen attention to the orator. He began scolding spL1tp3r50naL1ty for his vote on pevergreen, and laid forth a case against navarro951 that made spL1tp3r50naL1ty’s vote seem not only foolish, but personally embarrassing. The older man lectured spL1tp3r50naL1ty on how navarro951 was the only reasonable person to vote for, and that to do any less would be moronic. Finally, spL1tp3r50naL1ty threw up his hands in exasperation and changed his vote to navarro951.

As soon as the older man sat down, another man rose in his place. This one was middle-aged, and his toga was plain and worn, almost to the point of appearing soiled; yet the man’s perfect posture and haughty gaze were more reminiscent of the highest orders of aristocracy. He lectured the Senate at length on the evils of corruption and the necessity of doing the proper thing at all times, regardless of the cost. The focus of his inquisition quickly became Andres, who he began hammering with numerous stoic quotations on duty and tradition. Andres attempted to refute the middle aged man’s statements, but he might as well have been arguing with the wall of the Curia itself. The man was stubborn beyond belief and he would neither budge from his position, nor lay off his verbal assault. Eventually it became too much for Andres, and he conceded victory to his opponent, and changed his voted to navarro951.

With the final debates finally over, the tally was taken and navarro951 was found to be the man chosen for proscription. As the results were read, navarro951’s face whitened in horror and he began looking around wildly at his fellow Populares for help. None moved to aid him, and in panic he fled out of the Curia and into the streets of Rome. He did not get far. The proscription had been announced from the Rostra at the same time as inside the Curia, and the ever-present forum mob eagerly set upon navarro951. All knew that whoever killed a proscripted man would receive part of that man’s estate, and thus all competed to be the first to slay him. As the victorious members of the mob paraded navarro951’s bloody body through the streets, the Senate adjourned for the evening.

navarro951: 6 (Ichigo, Shinseikhaan, GeneralHankerchief, Beefy187, Andres, spL1tp3r50naL1ty)
pevergreen: 4 (Sasaki Kojiro, woad&fangs, Chaotix, Captain Blackadder)
Sasaki Kojiro: 1 (pevergreen)
No Proscription: 1 (Caius)

Abstain: 9 (AggonyDuck, LittleGrizzly, Jolt, YLC, Cultured Drizzt fan, johnhughthom, navarro951, TheFlax, Khazaar)

Not Voting: 12 (*Greyblades, everyone, Tiberius of the Drake, *Don Corleone, *Glenn, *A Very Super Market, Iskander 3.1, atheotes, *Tratorix, *Lord Winter, Ignoramus, *Cronos Impera)

* = Have failed to vote twice in a row.

Alive (32):
Beefy187
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
'khaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Tiberius of the Drake
Cultured Drizzt fan
Don Corleone
Glenn
A Very Super Market
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
pevergreen
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
Lord Winter
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Cronos Impera
Caius

Killed (4):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk

Proscripted (1):
navarro951

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Night III. The deadline for Night III orders is Monday, May 18th at 8:00pm EST.

Note: I am very disappointed in the participation rate. All those who miss a third vote will certainly be WoGed unless they have otherwise been participating in the discussions. If you know of anyone not currently listed as a replacement who might be interested in taking over for one of the soon-to-be-evicted players, please let me know. I would far prefer to replace people than kill them outright.

**TinCow** · 05-19-2009, 01:21

“Once killing starts, it is difficult to draw the line.”
- Publius Cornelius Tacitus

After the Senate adjourned, more news came down from the north. Shortly after his retreat from Iguvium, Quintus Minucius Thermus began experiencing difficulties with his cohorts. Many of the men had served with Caesar in Gaul, and the closer their favored commander’s armies came, the more their loyalties wavered. Thermus had gone no more than a few miles when the first men started breaking away from the column. The small mutiny quickly spread to the entire force, and soon all but Thermus and his officers were turning back towards Iguvium to enlist in Caesar’s service. Thermus and his loyal staff fled south in panic with only a handful of men. Instead of being blocked at Iguvium, Caesar has only been made stronger.

pevergreen was unsure of what to make of the latest developments. The return of the proscriptions alone were enough to make any man uneasy, and pevergreen was concerned that his name would be the next on the list. Still, he did his best to keep his spirits up and continued to receive callers at his villa. Shortly before midnight, there was an urgent rap on his door. Some of pevergreen’s servants answered and found a few plainly dressed men asking to see the master of the house. The men were shown in, and pevergreen came out to greet them.

At the sight of him, the men threw back their night cloaks to reveal drawn pugios in their hands. A female slave screamed, startling the killers, and giving pevergreen just enough time to turn on his heels and run. He bolted for the rear exit through the culina, but when he reached that door he found a second group of men battering it down. In panic, pevergreen bolted towards his bedroom, but the sound of his sandals slapping on the marble drew the attention of yet another group of men who were roaming the halls with knives, their method of entry unknown. In a T shaped intersection, pevergreen found himself surrounded by armed men closing in from all sides. As if the matter were not hopeless enough, a fourth group turned the corner, adding to what was already hopeless odds.

pevergreen tried to reason with the men, but they were not there to negotiate. He shielded himself with his toga, but the thin cloth was of no protection against the sharp daggers. The stabs came slowly and clumsily, and pevergreen was cut a great many times before one finally struck home into his heart. The large group of men departed, leaving the butchered corpse lying sprawled on the floor.

…

Glenn was at home, amusing himself with a beautiful slave girl. Both he and the girl were heavily intoxicated, and several other semi-nude slaves were well on their way to stupefying inebriation. Glenn’s freedman advisor had scolded him numerous times over the previous few days for failing to even attend the Senate session. Senate?! Why would anyone go to the damnable Senate when there were beautiful, drunken, naked girls at home whom he could do with what he pleased?! The temerity of that man was unbelievable… he would have to be replaced. What kind of age was it when a Roman could not enjoy the pleasures of a slave or seven in the privacy of his own villa without being scolded?

Unfortunately for Glenn, drunken, naked slave girls are as ineffective as bodyguards as they are effective at… other things. It was not difficult for the gladii-armed attackers to burst into his villa and slaughter him. After the act was done, one of them looked at his sprawled body and expressed amazement that a man could ever look so happy in death.

…

Ichigo was strolling through the halls of his villa, enjoying the fine artwork with which he had so carefully decorated the dwelling. With the recent murders, Rome was in a low simmering panic, and the streets were not safe for pleasure walks. His servants bowed and groveled as Ichigo walked by; actions that he enjoyed. It was indeed a good decision to invest in these decorations to provide domestic amusements on nights like these.

As he rounded a corner into a side courtyard, he saw several men blocking his path. He scowled at them, daring as they did to look at him so disrespectfully. Servants should know their place, and these men clearly did not. He was about to scold them and order them to be whipped when as one they pulled gladii from behind their plain clothes. So, assassins it was then? How rude.

Ichigo cocked his head and raised an eyebrow at them, daring them to get on with whatever vile business they were about. The men needed no invitation, and they charged, blades raised. As if from nowhere, several men appeared near Ichigo from side galleries. They raised weapons and countercharged the onrushing men. Clearly outnumbered and in danger of being surrounded in the tight streets, the attackers turned on their heels and fled deeper into the villa. Ichigo’s protectors attempted to follow them, but the villa was so vast that they were able to disperse and escape with ease. Ichigo finished his walk, wondering whether he should invest in more locks.

…

Andres was deep in thought about the events that had transpired in the Senate. It was not so much the proscription itself that troubled him so much as the method with which the final decision had been made. What was the point of voting if the results were subject to the whims of a few men? The Republic had indeed fallen far. There would certainly be much to discuss in the morning. Without anything further to be done that day, Andres crawled into bed and closed his eyes.

Just as sleep was about to overtake him, Andres heard a cry of alarm from the front of the house. It was one of his servants, and it was a pre-arranged signal for intruders. Andres quickly slipped on his sandals, grabbed the blade he always kept near his bed, and crept close to the door, careful not to expose himself to anyone looking through from the hallway.

As the sounds of battle continued, he advanced in this manner from room to room and hallway to hallway. The screams of fear, pain, and bloodlust led him towards the main courtyard of the villa. Poking his head around a carved column, he saw a grisly scene: several men were lying prone with spreading pools of blood coming from their wounds. They were not Andres’ servants, but they appeared to be defending the villa nonetheless. The one surviving defender was fighting for his life against several other men wielding gladii.

Andres breathed deeply; none of his servants were nearby to aid him. It occurred to him, however, that he was the only one who knew that. Andres cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled as loud as he could, “Abito, Helvius, Proceus, follow me!” He rushed out into the room, brandishing his blade, and screaming as fierce a warcry as he could summon. The attackers, already startled by the prospect of reinforcements, turned and fled at the sight of him. The lone surviving defender, exhausted with exertion, nodded at Andres and disappeared into the night. Andres got little sleep that night.

…

As dawn broke, the Senators filed into the forum for another discussion on what to do about the looming crisis. The Curia was growing noticibly less populated, and there was some whispered discussion about the newly empty seats, one on the Optimates side and one on the Populares side. Even so, attention was again drawn to the doors of the building. This time, two notices had been nailed to it. They read:

Originally Posted by A message from Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus to the Senate

Hellos angels, I mean senators. now as I was saying, its good to see that you are all finally lynching, you may all be wondering why we switched the votes off of pevergreen. well keep wondering, that was not me or my men. so please feel free to string him up, he is obviously working for Caesar. speaking of Caesar is he crazy or what, I mean his messages are madness! NO, HIS MESSAGES ARE SPARTAN! (naahhh just kidding). but really I havent got a clue about who the heck he keeps babbling on about, I ask all populares to look at their obviously senile master, he is the future you want? really?

but that's not important, whats important is that you are all idiots! You all whine of how faction are not important, how you can "save the republic" well look at yourselves!!! both I and Caeser have a Freudian Excuse, you have breed us, and now we want our rightful place as heir! there is no going back, the shaft of justice is gone, (wink, wink, nudge nudge, say no more!) so I say to all of you tear down this false facade you have of the past. its the circle of life my friends, you cant stop us. so all of you trying to spread tales of "joy" and peace, just stop. or I promise you will die in seven days (or rather one night). gather together, I ask that all optimates strike their colors, and if you do perhaps I shall even grace you with my presence. if you are found lying about it, well then bye bye. but really, several populare are dead, if you strike your colors you could rule the senate. I am serious! I know this because we have had a hand in killing them. let me just leave it like this, lets play a game, everyone will strike their colors, tomorrow, and join their perspective sides, the sides will break down and investigate each other to make sure we have it all nice a proper, and then they shall lynch each other till no ones left. (did I mention anyone who doesn't reveal will be killed? yeah I should have. I have 5 kills every night, so it would probably be best to go with the flow on this.) yeah I play hard ball, the revolution will not be civilized and all that. but come now, optimates have nothing to fear! we can do this nice and happy like, and many of you will live to suck all the good out of the new regime!

General handkerchief
Ichigo
Sasaki
Andres
Tiberius of the drake
Woad and fangs

Have fun. cheers.

ohh and for those who will argue against me, SCREW THE RULES! I HAVE MONEY!!!!!

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

It is rumoured that Pompey the Great will divorce his wife, Cornelia Metella.

A gorgeous 18-year-old girl is involved with breaking up Pompey's marriage. A well informed source told us that this unknown girl calls Pompey the Great "daddy", because he really is her father, according to a rumor circulating widely in the province of Latium.

Her mother used to "work" for a man known in certain circles as "AggonyDuck"; already named in a recent betting scandal.

We, however, have discovered that "AggonyDuck" is in fact Senator Caecillius Metellus Scipio, Pompey's right hand and also his father in law!

Pompey, who went to the girl's birthday party and gave her a gold and diamond necklace, said, "I am a friend of this girl and nothing more."

Senator Caecillius Metellus Scipio denies everything.

Maybe the transaction of no less than 1.000.000 denarii has something to do with his sudden amnesia.

Alive (30):
Beefy187
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
'khaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Tiberius of the Drake
Cultured Drizzt fan
Don Corleone
A Very Super Market
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
Lord Winter
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Cronos Impera
Caius

Killed (6):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn

Proscripted (1):
navarro951

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Day III. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Tuesday, May 19th at 8:30pm EST.

**TinCow** · 05-20-2009, 01:42

“Do not recklessly and presumptuously assume something to be true.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The strain of the growing crisis was beginning to show in the Senate. Almost as soon as the session began the Senators began shouting and gesturing wildly at each other. Some men believed the writings that had been placed on the doors, some men refused to give them credit, and still other men somehow managed to both trust and doubt at the same time. This confusion of opinions spilled out onto the floor of the Senate, and the chaos was great. Former friends accused each other of the vilest of deeds and many volunteered private information to preserve their own necks.

As the shadows grew longer and the Senate tired, slowly a consensus began to emerge. Tiberius of the Drake was accused of both remaining silent and speaking poorly. Unsatisfied with the other options presented to them, many Senators turned on their hapless colleague. Towards the end, a few friendly voices spoke up in his defense, but it was too little, and too late. When the session adjourned, the tally of votes showed Tiberius of the Drake in the lead; a last minute attempt to save him came up short.

As on the day before, the proclamation was announced both on the rostra and in the Curia itself. Yet, Tiberius of the Drake put up a brave front and did not run as his predecessor had. Consigned to his fate, he requested that his death be carried out by one of his friends, so that his estate would not pass into unworthy hands. Several men reluctantly came forward to carry out the distasteful deed. Promises were made to ensure that Tiberius’ family would be provided for by those who were about to confiscate his property. The act itself was quick and clean, but the first sight of blood on the floor of the Senate was disheartening to all. The Senate quickly and quietly filed out into the night, to meet whatever fate awaited them.

Tiberius of the Drake: 8 (Shinseikhaan, Sasaki Kojiro, GeneralHankerchief, Iskander 3.1, Tratorix, TheFlax, woad&fangs, johnhughthom)
Cronos Impera: 6 (LittleGrizzly, AggonyDuck, Captain Blackadder, Cultured Drizzt fan, Tiberius of the Drake, Ichigo)
AggonyDuck: 3 (Chaotix, spL1tp3r50naL1ty, Beefy187, )
Sasaki Kojiro: 1 (Greyblades)
Ignoramus: 1 (Andres)
Andres: 1 (YLC)

Abstain: 3 (everyone, Ignoramus, Jolt)

Not Voting: 7 (Khazaar, Don Corleone, A Very Super Market, atheotes, Lord Winter, Cronos Impera, Caius)

Alive (29):
Beefy187
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Cultured Drizzt fan
~~Don Corleone~~ Gaius Scribonius Curio
~~A Very Super Market~~ Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
~~Lord Winter~~ Askthepizzaguy
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Cronos Impera
Caius

Killed (6):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn

Proscripted (2):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake

WoG/Suicide (0):

Replacements (3):
Done Corleone has been replaced by Gaius Scribonius Curio
A Very Super Market has been replaced by Marshal Murat
Lord Winter has been replaced by Askthepizzaguy

It is now Night IV. The deadline for Night IV orders is Wednesday, May 20th at 9:00pm EST.

Note: There WILL be WoGs/Replacements from this last phase, but I will figure it out after dinner.

**TinCow** · 05-21-2009, 03:01

“There is always more spirit in attack than in defense.”
- Titus Livius

The crowd of men walked in a dispersed pattern through the back streets of Rome. There were too many of them to risk being seen as a group. Even in dangerous times like these, a mob of men of this size would attract attention if seen wandering the streets in the middle of the night. Instead, they remained separated into four separate groups, paralleling each other along the darkened alleys of the city. A few men were farther ahead, keeping an eye on their quarry as the target moved through the city. More than one of the men wondered why the target was out so late, but the thought of their own task kept them from voicing the ironic question. The target had to reach their destination at some point, and when that happened, they would strike.

…

GeneralHankerchief was no fool. During the accusations of the previous day, he had unwittingly been caught in the crossfire. Arguments between friends were rarely beneficial in good times; in times of crisis, they could be disastrous. GeneralHankerchief knew that the day’s disputes had made him a target, and so he had prepared well.

Immediately after the Senate adjourned, he went directly home, keeping a watchful eye on the streets as he passed by. Once there, he ordered all of his guards to be put on duty and for all doors and windows to be locked and barred. Any servant whose loyalty was even remotely in doubt was dismissed from duties for the night, and the rest were armed with pugii. GeneralHankerchief himself moved a sleeping mat into a storage room in the center of his villa, the most secure location in the house, and had one of his many guards remain with him at all times. As a final precaution, he kept a blade of his own within arm’s reach at all times.

A few hours into his slumber, GeneralHankerchief was nudged awake by the guard who was watching over him. The man put a finger over his lips, and another to his ear, indicating that his master should keep quiet and listen. He did so, and through the walls he heard the sound of running footsteps. Both men drew their weapons, looking intensely at the only door to the room. There was a pause, then a knock followed by the voice of a loyal servant.

“Sir, there is a… guest… at the main gate.”

GeneralHankerchief could barely contain himself. He had been disturbed on a night like this because of a guest?! “I ordered that NO ONE be permitted entry to this villa tonight,” GeneralHankerchief screamed, “what part of that order was unclear?”

A few moments passed, but the steps did not go away. “I… I know, sir,” the servant stammered, “but… but it is a most unusual guest. I… I do not think you would be pleased if we turned her away before informing you of her presence.”

Her? Well, that was indeed a different situation. He had heard rumors that the exotic woman was in the city, but no one had talked of her visits openly. There was no way he would pass up the opportunity to see her for himself and find out what was really going on. After all, what harm could a single woman cause in a villa as heavily guarded as his?

…

The laughter was unsettling. The Republic was in crisis, the city under siege by assassins, and the Senate was now regularly proscripting the most prominent men in Rome. No one should be laughing at a time like this, especially not in the manner coming from the villa before them. The men looked at each other warily, wondering what their masters had gotten them into, but orders were orders. They had a mission, and they would attempt to carry it out no matter how strange it was.

They knocked on the gate for several minutes before a small hatch was opened and an angry face appeared inside. “The master is not receiving any guests, go away!”

The men gulped, but they were not easily deterred. “Please, sir, we must deliver a message to Chaotix! You must admit us, it is a matter of life and death!”

The angry face squinted at them for a moment, then disappeared. A few moments later, it returned. “You will be admitted, but only after you are searched for weapons.”

The men exchanged pained looks and then one responded, “That is fine, good sir, we are unarmed anyway.” And with that, the portal opened and the light and laughter poured over them. There were guards everywhere, and they were searched one at a time, very thoroughly, until the guards were satisfied that they were indeed unarmed. With that, they were shown into the main courtyard.

Glasses of wine, speckled eggs, sweetmeats, and other fine delicacies were scattered everywhere. It looked like a massive party had been underway for hours, but there were only two people in the room. Chaotix look over at them and smiled, “Ah, the men who are here for me. Welcome! Would you care for a drink.” Chaotix laughed pleasantly and took a sip from a wine goblet.

For several seconds, none of the men spoke. Eventually, one drummed up the confidence to say what they had come to say. “Apologies, but we must inform you that you life is in terrible danger! Men are coming to kill you tonight, you must flee!”

Chaotix laughed and smiled. “Well, it was brave of you to inform me of this. Surely men as brave as you would be willing to defend someone as helpless as me?”

In answer, several faces flushed simultaneously. “We… uh… that was indeed our intention. However…” one man trailed off. Another picked up where his partner was unable, “However, another group of men was supposed to meet us. They… they failed to arrive.” He shrugged, “those men had all the weapons.”

Chaotix raised an eyebrow at this news. “Well, then thank you for at least warning me. You might as well run along home. As you can see,” Chaotix gestured towards the guards at the main gate, “I am perfectly safe here.”

With sidelong looks at the scene before them, the men turned and headed back out into the night. As they passed through the gate, they heard it slam shut behind them. There was the sound of a heavy bar being lowered and a few guards snickering, then the sounds of Rome at night overtook the men and they disappeared back into the city.

…

“Sir, there are armed men outside the main gate!” The servant was wide-eyed and sweating when he finally reached GeneralHankerchief. The increased commotion from the main gate had been growing for some time, but he had tried to ignore it. Despite all his suspicions and all his precautions, after the woman arrived he had truly begun to believe this would be a pleasant evening. She was not beautiful, per se, but there was something incredibly charming and sexy about her. She was not shy, that was for sure. GeneralHankerchief was still (relatively) sober, but it was apparent he would not remain that way for much longer. He kept making a mental note to pace himself, lest the ability fade, even while the desire grew.

A loud shout broke his increasingly inebriated thoughts; something really was going on at the main gate. He looked at the servant. “WELL? In the name of Juno, what is it man?!”

The servant swallowed, “They stand in the night with torches blazing, not attempting to hide from us. They have been there for some minutes now, and have not uttered a single word, even though we’ve asked their business several times and ordered them to disperse.” His eyes strayed over to the woman before springing back to look at GeneralHankerchief. “They are all holding gladii, sir.”

GeneralHankerchief looked over at the woman for a moment, and heaved a heavy sigh. He put down his wine goblet and stood, strapping on the blade that he had wisely kept nearby, even after she had arrived. “Tell the men to stay on guard, do not leave the villa, and do not unlock any door or window. No one is to enter this house until sunrise, no matter who it is!” The servant spun on his heels and ran off to report to the rest of the guards holding the front gate.

GeneralHankerchief turned and looked at his guest. “I apologize, but this is not a matter I can ignore, even for one such as you. Please,” he gestured to a servant at the back of the courtyard, “he will show you to the side door, you may leave from there. It is no longer safe for you here.”

…

Chaotix was in the back of the villa, near the culina, when the pounding started. At first, it sounded like a slave pounding out grain, but the sound of splintering wood quickly told the difference. A servant bolted out into the hallway, wide-eyed, and shouted at Chaotix. “Run! They’re breaking in! They’re breaking in!” The man fled, making a tremendous racket in the process.

Chaotix looked around frantically. Where were all the guards? Why weren’t any back here? The culina door shattered into splinters, making the question moot. A large group of men began to pour into the villa. There were too many to count, but every man was holding a pugio. Heads swiveled quickly to look at Chaotix, and then four separate voices cried out, “There! Attack!”

There was nowhere to run. In his haste, the fleeing servant had knocked over a table that now blocked the doorway back to the rest of the villa. Chaotix could easily climb over it, but not before being pierced by several daggers. The men had just turned, sensing the easy kill, when a few voices in the rear were raised in alarm. A flailing body flew through the door, colliding with several of the men inside. They fell on top of each other in a wailing tangle.

The body was followed by a large group of muscled men wielding fierce weapons. The first few engaged the closest men, while several other broke off and started to push their way towards Chaotix. One man, clearly the leader, gestured frantically. “Over here! Quickly! We cannot hold them for long!” Chaotix did not hesitate. Regardless of the intentions of these new men, they couldn’t possibly be worse than death. Chaotix ran forward, reaching the safety of the nearest muscled man just as the pugio-wielders closed in behind. The men surrounded Chaotix and began retreating back out the culina door, the first few moving backwards, fending off the attackers as they went.

The cool night air swept over Chaotix as the exodus from the villa continued. The rearguard did a magnificent job of delaying the attackers inside the villa, and soon the sounds of battle faded behind them. Chaotix was shaken, but still drew breath. In the end, that was enough.

…

They had locked themselves inside the secured storeroom, comfortable letting the guards deal with the men at the main gate. GeneralHankerchief was irked, but not incredibly worried. He was in a secure, heavily guarded villa, locked in the most secure room, and he had an armed guard at his side. Together, they sat in silence, listening to the cries of battle coming from outside.

Suddenly, the guard slapped his hand to his eye and began to rub furiously. The man’s tunic was spattered with dust. GeneralHankerchief looked up and saw a trail of fine debris falling from the ceiling. He opened his mouth to give a warning, but there was no need. The sound of breaking roofing tiles was loud enough for all to hear. The guard was still struggling to regain his vision when several men jumped through the holes, each of them clutching a gladius. The first one down drove his deep into the guard’s neck, nearly severing his head. The others moved on GeneralHankerchief.

An increase in noise from outside the room told GeneralHankerchief that the front was now being assaulted as well. His guards were distracted, they would not reach him in time. He swung his blade at the nearest foes and cursed them all as loud as he could, but there were too many men, and they were between him and the door. There was no escape. GeneralHankerchief screamed a curse and the men and charged. He died fighting.

…

The sounds of the night’s violence had pervaded throughout the city, and by morning all of Rome knew of what had occurred. As the Senators moved through the city to the Curia, they found businesses closed and doors shut. The populous had clearly decided that Rome was no longer safe, even in the day. The Senators glanced warily at one another, whispering in groups in corners, well away from one another. No one even bothered looking at the empty seat in the Populares section, they knew what had happened before they even arrived. As they had come to expect, two notes were nailed to the Curia doors.

Originally Posted by A message from Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus to the Senate

Hello my good friends, if you have not noticed I am in a good mood! A Populare senator Lynched and A Praetor killed in one day! I could have asked for more. so I have to send my thanks to Sasaki Kojiro and AggonyDuck, I couldn’t have done it without you! but now for something completely different, I am not so angry you all have failed to follow my orders, like I said I am in a good mood, so I think I wont have to kill all of you yet. This is good news, again! You all seem to assume the role switchers are my men, and that makes me feel hurt, what have I said: you may all be wondering why we switched the votes off of pevergreen. well keep wondering, that was not me or my men I don't like Repeating myself! Look elsewhere my friends. You all probably wonder what demands I am going to make today, well stop being so pushy we are getting there. I am not so stupid as to think I can get any of you to defect this early in the game so let me put it like this, I want you to keep doing what your doing. Which means lynching Populares, Caesar is still out there, and I want him dead! Come now all of you, you must have investigated people early in the games, and I am sure some of them came out as Populares, well don't just sit back with that information! You should all know each other’s faction. Its only fair right? You should probably stop listening to Caeser, I must say it was quite hilarious watching today's session! Let me let you in on a little secret, Tyrant to senator, we do not have some super special awesome investigation skill to find someone’s guilt, all we have are you little rich senators skill, though it’s not a one trick pony. So just have fun everyone, ohh and Ignoramus I am so wounded you would ever even think of betraying us, your on thin ice mister, so you might want to be careful.

Ignoramus
Askthepizzaguy
woad&fangs
Caius
Chaotix

Cheers, have fun.

and please "Stop quoting laws, we carry weapons!”

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

Senator Caecillius Metellus Scipio could have been sentenced to a year in jail after allegedly punching another Senator in the face during a bar fight if it weren't for his friend and son-in-law, Pompey the Great.

The Senator is said to have charged at a fellow drinker following a dispute about the famous Flora at the "Gladius Tavern", in Rome, last week.

Scipio is believed to have hit a man known as "Ichigo" in the face after he reportedly insulted Scipio (also known as "AggonyDuck" according to our contacts in the Roman nightlife scene) by calling him "Scipio with the little willy".

The man known as Ichigo told us: "Little Willy got offended by that, and he started pushing my other friends around. He lost control when another patron added that Flora had spread the rumour."

The bartender added: "It was a verbal argument that escalated to pushing and shoving and then a bar brawl."

Senator Scipio could have been sentenced to up to a year if it weren't for the influence of the corrupt Pompey the Great.

Alive (28):
Beefy187
Andres
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Cultured Drizzt fan
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
Askthepizzaguy
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Cronos Impera
Caius

Killed (7):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief

Proscripted (2):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Day IV. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Friday, May 22nd at 10:00am EST.

**TinCow** · 05-22-2009, 15:15

“Even if you have nothing to write, write and say so.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

There was little discussion in the Senate. Many men were cowering in their corners, fearful of saying anything that might offend the others. Others ducked out early to go bathing. The day’s ‘debate’ turned into little more than a discussion between whoever happened to remain, and even then many were unwilling to commit to a position.

However, the Senate was also unwilling to let the day drag on longer, and thus towards the end a flurry of voting began. Cronos Impera was the target, and soon the startled Senator found himself isolated and vulnerable. His vehement accusations had provoked the ire of his colleagues, and proscription seemed likely.

At the last minute, an older man in a fine, white toga rose and began lecturing the Senate about their unwillingness to speak up in such a time of crisis. He cited many historical examples of when silence resulted in the downfall of great peoples, and many a head in the Senate was soon bowed in shame. Eventually he turned his attentions towards Andres, whose face grew confused. “But, I was speaking…” he began, before the older man wave his hand dismissively at him. “Yes, yes, but you were speaking erroneously. You are an example of passivity and that will not due in a time of crisis!” The older man then began to lecture Andres on how important it was to root out those who meant to destroy the Republic. He then began to discuss Cultured Drizzt fan and explained how voting for him would be far preferable to abstaining. “But, it won’t even make a difference…” complained Andres. The man waived his hand dismissively again, “That’s not the point!” He opened his mouth to begin yet another lecture, but Andres shrugged, “Fine, fine! I shall do as you say, just stop lecturing me!” Andres promptly changed his vote to Cultured Drizzt fan.

As had been noted though, it did not make a difference in the final tally. As it became clear that Cronos Impera was in the lead by a moderate margin, his face began to whiten. He rose from his seat in the Optimates section and attempted to flee from the Curia, but a few guards outside the gates grabbed him as he tried to run by. The men nodded to Senators inside, a subtle thanks for the prosperity their families were about to receive, and proceeded to slit Cronos Impera’s throat. They dropped his body on the floor and left to go appraise their new properties.

The Senators filed out into the city.

Cronos Imperia: 5 (AggonyDuck, Cultured Drizzt fan, Ignoramus, Capt. Blackadder, Beefy187)

Andres: 2 (Chaotix, YLC)
Sasaki: 2 (w&f, ATPG, johnhughthom)
Ignoramus: 2 (Khazaar)
Beefy187: 2 (Tratorix, Greyblades)
Chaotix: 1 (Sasaki)
YLC: 1 (khaan)
Cultured Drizzt fan: 1 (Andres)

Abstain: 5 (Splitpersonality, Gaius Scribonius Curio, Jolt, Iskander 3.1, Marshal Murat)

Not Voting: 7 (LittleGrizzly, Ichigo, atheotes, TheFlax, Caius, Cronos Imperia, everyone)

Alive (27):
Beefy187
Andres
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Cultured Drizzt fan
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
Askthepizzaguy
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (7):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief

Proscripted (3):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Night V. This phase will end on Saturday, May 23rd at 10:30am EST.

**TinCow** · 05-23-2009, 16:27

“Some men are more beholden to their bitterest enemies than to friends who appear to be sweetness itself. The former frequently tell the truth, but the latter never.”
- Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis

Andres was sipping wine and thinking deeply about the events that had transpired. He was greatly concerned for the future. The killings and proscriptions had resulted in numerous deaths, and Rome was in a veritable state of terror. However, there was still hope, and perhaps that was enough.

That notion was quickly dashed, as a cry of alarm came from the front of the villa. Andres raised his head wearily, knowing full well what that sound indicated. He sighed heavily, downed the rest of his wine, and turned his chair to watch the door. As expected, within moments several men armed with gladii ran into the room. When they saw him, sitting calmly and waiting, they stopped. “No guards this time?” one of them asked.

Andres shook his head, “I am here alone. Is that worrisome to you?”

The men grinned wickedly and raised their blades. “Quite the contrary.” They swarmed over Andres, stabbing him brutally. When they finally pulled back, all that could be seen was a slashed and bloodied toga covering the corpse beneath.

…

The two groups of men were crouched outside LittleGrizzly’s villa. Some were watching the stars, others reading graffiti on a nearby wall, still others picking lint out of their navels. A few more hours passed before the boredom overwhelmed them. There was some grumbled discussion about the hour and the location of their conspirators, but eventually the decision was made. They sheathed their sharpened pugii and, taking one last, long look at LittleGrizzly’s villa, disappeared into the back alleys of Rome.

…

The butcher’s wife had woken up in the middle of the night with a parched throat. She got up and began groping in the darkness for a ewer of water when she heard strange sounds coming from the street out in front of the insulae. She crept over to one of the shuttered windows and peeked through. Out in the street, two groups of men were facing off.

Two large groups of pugii-armed men were facing off against one another. In the middle, each side had sent three leaders to speak for them. These six men stood between the two mobs, arguing and gesturing frantically. The name of everyone was frequently mentioned, and both groups gestured in the direction of his villa at regular intervals. Eventually, one of the leaders threw up his hands in apparent frustration, turned on his heels, and stomped back to the main mob, his fellow leaders following shortly behind. There was some quiet discussion with the others, before they all dispersed into the city.

The group of men who had blocked the path of the others remained for some hours, scanning the dark side-streets. Eventually, they too disappeared, but by that time the butcher’s wife had become bored and gone back to bed.

…

The Senators filed glumly into the Curia for another day of state-sanctioned executions. Every man was nervous that he would be the choice of the day. Most men were too busy brooding in their own thoughts to notice the empty seat in the Populares section. More attention was paid to the notices nailed to the Curia doors:

Originally Posted by A message from Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus to the Senate

Another good day everyone! Andres dead, and the Populares down another man! I would sing a song if I wasn't so busy plotting Caesars death. I am quiet disappointing Cronos had to die, but oh well. On to business! Is anyone willing to help a poor old Tyrant out yet? you must all realize we are reaching a point where you need to decide what you plan on doing, if you want to cling to your idiotic ideals or live. Yes I said it, the next person to even HINT that they want to overthrow BOTH me and Caeser will be killed, faction will be irrelevant. Now, I know that some of you have the ability to send anonymous messages to me and Caesar, well guess what, now the time to point it out! any man who comes forward with this ability and chooses to ferry a message promising fealty to me between himself and others will be promised nighttime protection by my men (of course, lie and prepare to die, and I will know!). Come now! its a chance to have some real fun! you will have the power of life and death over your fellows! (oh yes, Caeser I will not attack any messenger you have brought forth as well, in this matter I propose a truce. Though I shall continue trying to kill you). ah Caesar you are the racer X to my speed racer, I could go on but I wont. So all of you, please see the sense in Killing Caeser, and letting me live. look at the numbers, Optimates are ahead, use it! that about it, though I am somewhat suprised no one has gotten the Chekhov's Gun hanging on the wall.
and please try and find the sense in my lists, I mam sure if you all tried to actually talk to me then I would tell you, I am just so lonely.

SASAKI KOJIRO Unlike crazy Caesar I have evidence backing things up.

Cheers, Have fun

The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

Originally Posted by TinCow

You send your servants off to watch Sasaki Kojiro’s villa. Your men take up position in an alley from which they can watch a side entrance. Foot traffic is low during the night, which makes the arrival of several well-dressed patricians easy to spot. They must be political supporters of AggonyDuck, who is clearly an Optimates.

Your men spy something else that is curious. At one point a servant pokes his head out a rear door and looks around cautiously, as if attempting to spot any observers. After a few moments of seeing nothing, he whistles. A group of twenty armed men, guarding a palanquin carried by four slaves, walks towards the villa. One of your men manages to take a good look at the palanquin and sees Pompeia Magna in it.

Ludi incipiant! (Let the Games begin!)

Senators, as you can see, we have reasons to believe Sasaki Kojiro is Pompey the Great.

Last night, we lost Marcus Antonius. We do no longer have sufficient manpower to break through Pompey's defenses.

We need the Senate to take him out.

Lynch Sasaki Kojiro.

The write-up of my investigation indicates that he is either Pompey the Great or that he was recruited by Pompey the Great. Remember the beautiful woman visiting GeneralHankerchief? That was my daughter trying to recruit him. Unfortunately, he died that very same night.

We also wish to inform you that the Optimates are currently outnumbering the Populares by a disturbing large margin.

Be careful, dear Populares. Do not trust the Optimates.

Gaius Julius Caesar.

Alive (26):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Cultured Drizzt fan
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
Askthepizzaguy
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (8):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres

Proscripted (3):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Day V. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Sunday, May 24th at 11:30am EST.

**TinCow** · 05-24-2009, 16:31

“First appearance deceives many.”
- Publius Ovidius Naso

Several days into the crisis, the Senate was still having difficulty determining the best course of action to take. There was little unity expressed in the debates, and Senators continued to accuse their own friends on a frequent basis. One of the most prolific accusers, Cultured Drizzt fan, finally provoked the ire of the Senate with his inability to make up his mind about who was the greatest threat to the Republic. Whenever other fingers began to point in different directions, his finger soon followed as well. This annoyed many Senators, and soon Cultured Drizzt fan found a large number of fingers turning towards him.

Ignoramus as well found himself on the receiving end of many votes. He had proclaimed a willingness to cooperate with both factions, and this unnerved many men who preferred the safety of partisanship rather than equanimity. Cultured Drizzt fan defended himself vigorously for a long while, proclaiming his innocence and dedication to restoring the Republic to its proper glory, but these pleas fell on deaf ears. So, with no other option left, he changed his vote again, this time to Ignoramus to create a tie.

As the session drew to a close, an older man in a fine, white toga rose and addressed the Senate. He talked about the Trojan who fled the destruction of their city to southern Italy, he talked about Romulus and Remus leading their peoples to the Seven Hill, and he talked about ancient Brutus overthrowing the Tarquinian Kings. It was an eloquent summation of the long road the Romans had taken to the Republic, and many men grew sentimental during the oration. Towards the end, the older man turned to Beefy187 and asked if he would personally help save the Republic. Swelling with pride for his city, Beefy187 shouted emphatically in the affirmative. “Well then, sir, surely Cultured Drizzt fan is the person most worth of your vote…” Beefy187 nodded eagerly. Of course he was, why hadn’t he realized that hours ago? Beefy187 quickly changed his vote to Cultured Drizzt fan.

The Senate had long ago embraced the proscription, and once unleashed it was a brutal animal that fed of its own accord. As the hours drew to a close, Cultured Drizzt fan was the chosen meal. He looked around the room, then bowed his head sadly. “I regret that I have failed you and the Republic. I submit myself to your judgment.” Cultured Drizzt fan saluted his fellow Optimates, and walked out into the forum. As his proscription was announced, the Mob descended on him with weapons bared. They were not merciful, and soon Cultured Drizzt fan lay dead in front of the rostra. One over-enthusiastic man cut off his head, so as better to prove his claim to Cultured Drizzt fan’s possessions. The Senators cut a wide path around the disgusting scene as they filed out of the Curia.

It would be another long night.

Cultured Drizzt fan: 6 (Sasaki, Jolt, GSC, Iskander, TheFlax, Beefy187)
Ignoramus: 4 (Cultured Drizzt fan, 'khaan, Chaotix, Khazaar)
Ichigo: 2 (AggonyDuck, YLC)
'khaan: 1 (Greyblades)
Iskander: 1 (Caius)
TheFLax: 1 (w&f)
Khazaar: 1 (johnhughthom)
ATPG: 1 (Tratorix)
Tratorix: 1 (ATPG)

Abstain: 1 (atheotes)

Not Voting: 7 (LittleGrizzly, everyone, spL1tp3r50naL1ty, Ichigo, Marshal Murat, Captain Blackadder, Ignoramus)

Alive (25):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
woad&fangs
Askthepizzaguy
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (8):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres

Proscripted (4):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Night VI. This night phase will end on Monday, May 25th at 12:00pm EST.

**TinCow** · 05-25-2009, 17:14

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”
- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

On his way home from the Senate, woad&fangs had heard the news coming down the Via Flaminia. At Auximum, the local senate had determined that the town would not obstruct the march of Caesar’s legions through the city. Prudently, the local garrison commander had withdrawn, but the speed of the Caesarian vanguard forced him to halt and take up a defensive formation. A brief clash ensued, but as with the garrison of Iguvium, many of the legionaries had served with Caesar in Gaul, and their loyalty was questionable at best. Soon after the battle began, many of the defending force deserted, with the majority simply joining the ranks of their opponents. Yet another road to Rome was open, and the crisis grew deeper.

This worried woad&fangs a great deal, and he returned to his villa to think about what he should do. He debated the situation with his freedman advisor, but could not reach a satisfactory conclusion. Eventually, he grew weary and called for his cena. Food and drink aplenty was soon brought before him. After a half hour of gorging himself, woad&fangs was finally slowing down a bit. The last few bites of baked pigeon had parched his throat, and his wine goblet was empty. Where was the damnable wine bearer?!

woad&fangs craned his neck around, looking for the man. He saw a figure in the back holding the wine ewer, and gestured frantically towards him. “Wine, damn you!” The man started forward quickly, holding the ewer out in front of him as he came. woad&fangs began berating him for his sluggishness, and the man took the abuse silently, pouring the wine as instructed. Suddenly, woad&fangs paused, having noticed the extremely large forearm muscles of the wine bearer. He had not always been so strong, had he? Before he could put voice to these thoughts, the wine bearer grabbed his head with both hands. Immense strength poured through his thick fingers, and the last thing woad&fangs heard was the sound of his own neck snapping.

…

YLC was lounging casually on a lectus, waiting for his food to digest, when a great commotion came from the front gate. A few shouts, followed by banging, and then more shouting, before the whole thing turned into an unrecognizable cacophony. A few moments later, an armed man rushed into the room. He paused before YLC, “Sir, the villa is being assaulted by men armed with gladii! You must get to safety!” His eyes wide, YLC did as he was told and retreated to one of the more secure rooms in the villa.

From his location, crouched in a bedroom with a locked door, he could hear the sounds of battle continue for many minutes. After a while, they faded, and irregular footsteps could be heard approaching his hiding place. A knock followed, and a voice stated, “They have gone, sir, we have held the villa and thrown them back!” YLC tentatively opened the door, to find an armed man standing there, clutching his leg, which was bleeding badly. He gave the man a piece of cloth to tie around the wound, and helped him hobble out to the main courtyard.

What he saw was horrifying. Bodies were scattered in multiple places, windows and doors were broken, and nearly everything of value in the room had been broken. His villa was ruined, but at least YLC was alive.

…

The butcher’s wife stayed up extra late, hoping that the strange men would return. She had told the fishmonger’s wife about what had happened the previous night, but the response was skeptical at best. The woman had had the gall to accuse her of making it all up, and had mocked her publicly for it. Tonight, the butcher’s wife was going to prove to herself that she was not crazy. Who were these men, why were they congregating outside her window, and why were they interested in everyone?

Sure enough, well after sunset, footsteps sounded on the street and a group of men approached, walking towards everyone’s villa. Within moments, other men began to emerge from side alleys where they must have concealed themselves, and barred the path of the first group. Both groups were armed with pugii, and soon a standoff began.

After a few shouts and gestures, three men emerged from the blocking group, and two from the walking group. They met in the middle of the street, between the two mobs, once again arguing and gesturing frantically. As with the previous night, everyone was frequently mentioned, and regular gestures were made in the direction of his villa. Other words drifted back to the window where the butcher’s wife stood. One of the men in the blocking group was saying something about “outnumbered” and “or else.” The leaders of the walking group turned and talked to one another quietly, before returning to their side of the mob. After some grumbling and shoulder shrugging, the walking group dispersed into the city.

As with the previous night, the group of men who had blocked the path of the others remained for some hours, scanning the dark side-streets. The butcher’s wife was pleased with the result; that bitch, the fishmonger’s wife, would get an earful for ever doubting her. Plus, she stank and her daughter was a whore.

…

As the Senate re-convened for another day’s discussion, the Senators filed in, their shoulders slumped and their brows furrowed. Yet another night had passed, and without fail the murders continued to occur. Another proscription was inevitable, and all were worried that their name would be the next one on the list. Few men paid much attention to the empty seat in the Optimates section, more were concerned with the notices that had been nailed to the Curia doors:

Originally Posted by A message from Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus to the Senate

*taps mic* Is this thing on?

Hello senatos and welcome to good morning rome!. we have a great show for ya today that i hope will provide a lot of food for thought. So,, lets get started shall we.

I would just like to say for starters that you shouldn't trust anything caser says. Why would you listen to a dirty populare? and on that note, i'm disappointed with the lack of senators taking the direct root to deal with their opponents. This is a revolution! go out and get youre hands dirty. We all know that no matter what happens their is no way the senate is coming out of this intact. Do you really want the populares calling the shots? Trying to work with them is a fools errand my fellow optimates. If you show weakness they'll kill you. And if you refuse to join me, i might haf ta kill you.

Secondly, caesar would have you beleive that Sasaki Kojiro is one of my men. Well, he is. That's right, that traitorous dog caesar is telling the truth for once. Sasaki Kojiro is one of my most trusted lieutenants. and the best part is that even though you all know this, you won't believe it. its hilarious! I'm telling you right now that he is guilty as can be. won't your faces be red once i'm in charge? Well, those that survive that is.

Any loyal optimates should find a sharp object and stick it through one of these men:

Shinseikhaan
everyone
Ignoramus
Chaotix
It would really help speed things along, we can only kill so many people before our arms get tired from stabbing.

Cheers, and tune in tommorrow same time, same staiton.

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

Senators! You have been given the chance to save the Republic and take Pompey "the Great?" out of commision. Yet still he schemes and plots, Senators sent here and there thinking they are doing good but instead being manipulated and kept far away from investigating where they should. You are all puppets on his strings, I have told you his name, I have no need to repeat it.

"Gaius Julius Caesar" (No3. II Tri)

Alive (24):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
atheotes
Tratorix
YLC
Askthepizzaguy
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (9):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs

Proscripted (4):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Day VI. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Tuesday, May 26th at 1:00pm EST.

**TinCow** · 05-26-2009, 18:00

“In a republic this rule ought to be observed: that the majority should not have the predominant power.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Despite the horrors that had been committed in the dark of night, the Senate discussions quickly devolved into a debate about who held the rightful title of Consul. Initially, many accused LittleGrizzly of falsely making this claim, while others said that it was YLC who had perjured himself with fraudulent statements about his station. The latter defended himself firmly, and for many hours it seemed as though the former would be proscripted.

However, towards the end of the day, LittleGrizzly rose from his seat and berated the entire Senate for doubting his claims. Humbled, many backed down from their attack on him, and turned their attentions back towards YLC. The votes quickly shifted, and as the session grew to a close, YLC was found to be in the lead.

Knowing what was to come, YLC rose calmly and walked out into the middle of the Curia. There, he gave a bow to his friends in the Optimates section, before turning and walking out into the forum, where the baying crowd was waiting. As a few Senators watched, he walked confidently and with his head held high, right into the maw of the hungry mob. A great tumult began, and when it finally dissipated, little was left except torn pieces of toga and a bloody sandal.

Their work done, the Senate retired for the evening, to await whatever the night would bring.

YLC: 10 (GSC, Tratorix, Iskander, LG, Greyblades, split, atheotes, johnhughthom, TheFlax, Sasaki)
LittleGrizzly: 7 ('khaan, YLC, Marshal Murat, Beefy187, Captain Blackadder, everyone, Khazaar)
Caius: 1 (ATPG)
everyone: 1 (Ignoramus)

Abstain: 1 (Chaotix (did not unvote))

Not voting: 4 (AggonyDuck, Ichigo, Jolt, Caius)

Alive (23):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
Sasaki Kojiro
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
atheotes
Tratorix
Askthepizzaguy
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (9):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs

Proscripted (5):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Night VII. This night phase will end on Wednesday, May 27th at 1:30pm EST.

**TinCow** · 05-27-2009, 19:10

“That, Senators, is what a favour from gangs amounts to. They refrain from murdering someone; then they boast that they have spared him!”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The Butcher’s wife was sitting by her window, waiting for the evening’s festivities. Seeing would be a bit more difficult due to the black eye that witch, the Fishmonger’s wife, had given her earlier in the day. She told them all about the strange nightly meetings outside everyone’s villa, but the crone hadn’t believed her and had punched her out of jealous. The punch was surely delivered with jealousy over the attention the Butcher’s wife was getting from her stories of the nightly entertainment. The fact that the assault followed immediately after a comment the Butcher’s wife had made about how the Fishmonger’s daughter rutted in a gutter with Gallic slaves was nothing more than coincidence.

This evening, the Butcher’s wife was joined by the Blacksmith’s sister. She also hated the smelly Fishmonger’s wife, though that was partly because she was sleeping with the Fishmonger. In any case, a second pair of eyes would result in more credibility tomorrow morning in the macellum. After a few hours of waiting, the first of the groups appeared. Slinking through the back alleys in four separate groups, a mob of men was moving forward towards everyone’s villa. Sure enough, other men emerged from the shadows to block them.

Both groups carried pugii, but this night the odds were much different. Far from being even, the defenders were outnumbered two to one. The two leaders of the defenders glanced around hesitantly, suddenly unsure of themselves. The attacking group, realizing they for once had a significant advantage, charged directly into battle. A fierce melee began and the numerous attackers quickly gained the upper hand. However, one of the defending groups re-organized themselves and laid into their foes with a mighty surge. The attackers were thrown into disorder and their morale quickly broke. A few shouted in panic and then the rest broke up and disappeared into the dark streets. The defenders, visibly tired and with several wounded men, limped away.

The Blacksmith’s sister was delighted. It was better than a gladiatorial match, and even more pleasurable than even the Fishmonger himself. Perhaps she would spend more nights with the Butcher’s wife in the future. After all, it was hard to get any sleep at the Fishmonger’s house when his daughter was busy wailing all night long.

…

Shinseikhaan was bored. Bored bored bored. He had dared anyone to attack him for days now, but so far nothing had happened. They were all cowards, the lot of them! Ah well, Shinseikhaan would simply have to tide himself over with another wonderful evening in his lavish villa. It was a shame his favorite slave was tending to his wife this evening, as he had needs that that girl could satisfy far better than his lovely spouse. He had been by the macellum earlier in the day, and there was some beautiful young woman behind the Fishmonger’s stall. Ever since then, he simply could not get his mind off of his… urges.

This train of thought was quickly curtailed by the sound of voices being raised in the front courtyard. Curious, Shinseikhaan strolled out to see what all the ruckus was about. He arrived to find the guards at the front gates rushing about frantically.

*WHAM*

Shinseikhaan was startled by the loud noise. There was now a huge crack in one of the main doors. *WHAM* As he watched, the doors buckled and split. *WHAM* The third impact shattered the locking bar, and the doors flew open, scattering splinters everywhere. Through the gap, he could see a large mob of men, some in the process of discarding a hand-held ram, all wielding pugii. The guards were well-prepared for this breach, however, and they had formed for a countercharge through the gate. As soon as the door was open, they raised their weapons and charged forward. The attackers were startled. One man barked out orders for the three groups to fall back, and for a fourth group to attack the sallying guards from the flank.

A few moments of melee ensued, with the guards warily watching both sides, but the flanking move never appeared. Some cursing was heard from the man giving orders on the attacking side, and the pugii-wielders began to fall back towards the city. Suddenly, one of the groups split off and made a feinting attack to one side. This distracted a large number of the guards and several fell wounded. The rest retreated in panic to the villa, pursued by the mob of men who had attacked them.

With the initiative lost, the defenders fought bravely to hold the villa, but the attackers now had momentum on their side and carried the assault forward. The battle raged for several minutes, during which time men on both sides were gravely wounded. Shinseikhaan’s beautiful villa was slowly torn to pieces, but eventually the attackers tired and fell back. The few remaining defenders limped warily around the villa, ensuring that it was indeed secure, before going to tend to their own wounds.

Shinseikhaan’s villa was a wreck, with bodies strewn about and doors and windows broken everywhere. Still, at least it wasn’t just another boring night!

…

Sasaki Kojiro was busy supervising his slaves. He had lost his favorite one recently, an Iberian he had trained for several years for the gladiatorial ring. It was a shame, as he would surely have made a great deal of money on that particular slave. The slave chambers of Sasaki Kojiro’s villa were relatively spacious and comfortable. He believed strongly that comfortable slaves were happy slaves, and happy slaves were obedient slaves. That whole Spartacus fiasco would never have happened if Sasaki Kojiro had been in charge!

“Assemble for review!” he barked down the hallway. Many doors opened, and slaves of all shapes and sizes rushed out to stand before him. He strolled down the hall, inspecting each one for signs of damage. Healthy slaves were effective slaves, and they also sold better at auction. About two-thirds of the way down, Sasaki Kojiro halted. A large man with bulging muscles was standing before him. He had clearly come out of the room that the Iberian usually resided in, but he was most certainly not the Iberian. The new slave must have been hired by his wife…

Sasaki Kojiro was about to berate the new slave for taking the room without prior approval, when the man stepped forward, a broad grin on his face. Sasaki Kojiro took a step back, not appreciating having his personal space invaded in this manner, but the new slave kept moving forward and soon had him trapped against the wall. The muscled man reached up with both arms and grabbed Sasaki Kojiro by the neck with a grip that felt like it could break a marble column. Sasaki Kojiro managed to squeak out a weak “help…” before the air was cut off to his throat.

As if from nowhere, several armed men appeared and charged at the muscled man. He let go of Sasaki Kojiro and turned to batter the new opponents, easily ducking under their swings and throwing them back with well placed punches and kicks. One of the fallen men dropped his weapon, and the muscled man picked it up and his waved it menacingly and with great skill. Two of the armed men who were still on their feet now stood in front of Sasaki Kojiro, their weapons readied. The muscled man stared at them for a long moment before spitting on the ground, and turning on his heels. He ran off into the villa and disappeared. After the defenders collected themselves, they patrolled the villa in search of the man, but they found no trace of him except for a broken window frame in a side storage room.

Sasaki Kojiro was rattled by the attack, but he had survived and for now that was enough. He gulped down a goblet of wine to calm his nerves and went to bed. After he had been prone for many long minutes, some of the deeper shadows behind the furniture and columns began to shift. Dark figures approached Sasaki Kojiro’s recumbent body. One drew a gladius and with a quick jerk, sliced open Sasaki Kojiro’s neck. He awoke with a start, but with his vocal cords severed and his artery gushing, he could do little more than clutch at his throat as his life slowly seeped through his hands.

…

The Senators filed into the Curia in the morning, many bleary eyed for lack of sleep due to paranoia at the anarchy that reigned in the night. Their numbers were beginning to thin considerably, and survival from one night to the next was becoming something of a major victory in itself. A few men glanced at the empty seat in the Optimates section, but most were concerned with the notice nailed to the main doors:

Originally Posted by A message from Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus to the Senate

Hello brave and noble senators!welcom to good morning rome, the italian peninsulas favorite spot for gossip, entertainmeant and inside information on our current crisis. Before I begin in earnest this morning, I would just like to do one thing.

...
...

You can't see me, but i'm clapping slowly and sarcastically! Bravo! Bravo, brave senators. Yesterday you had the opportunity to pro script one of Caesar's finest and yet you chose to drag down a deluded former consul instead. An absolutely wonderful performance! For a minute there I almost believed you were stupid enugh to have done that.

the first( well, second, but i'm calling it the first) thing i'd like to discuss today is the senator who goes by the nickname shinseikhaan. This poor creature has been snivelling about his wish to depart the mortal realm for days now! Is no one here a ture roman, willing to give him an honorable death? For shame, i say. Shame! Populares or optimates, it matters not! Let us put this poor man out of his misery before he is forced to take matters into his own hands.

Secondly, i would like to address caesars assertion that Sasaki Kojiro is Pompey the Great. He is not. I am Pompey the Great. And, I would like to admit something to you, brave senators. I have not been entirely truthful with you. I know, it is hard to believe, but I have told one( And only one!) slight falsehood. You see, when I said sasaki was one of my trusted lieutenants, i spoke falsely. He is a staunch defender of the republic and should be treated as such. Though he is misguided he believes he has our best interests at heart.

well, i could go on and on, brave senators, but I feel my time is up so I shall leave you simply with a list of those who are to die and depart. please, tune in tommorrow and have a safe night...

Chaotix
Gaius Scribonius Curio( Finally, the name of a True Roman!)
Shinseikhaan
Ignoramus
everyone

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can.

Alive (22):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
atheotes
Tratorix
Askthepizzaguy
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (10):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs
Sasaki Kojiro

Proscripted (5):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Day VII. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Thursday, May 28th at 2:00pm EST.

**TinCow** · 05-28-2009, 20:20

“Though silence is not necessarily an admission, it is not a denial, either.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The Senators sat in bunched groups, whispering to one another, most afraid to speak up. Eventually someone stood and read a letter written by the late Sasaki Kojiro. The letter was written in nearly indecipherable gibberish, indicating that Sasaki would likely have died of a brain disease relatively soon, had a blade not gotten the job done more quickly. However, some Senators concluded that the letter constituted evidence against atheotes and soon a great many votes were cast bearing his name.

A small group of Senators scoffed at the lack of evidence in this case and instead began accusing Gaius Scribonius Curio of being a traitor to the Republic. One of these was Chaotix who rose and presented a case before the Senate, stating that others who had been slandered had instead been acting nobly, but that the same could not be said of Gaius Scribonius Curio. “Ignorance!” shouted a voice from one of the benches. Chaotix was somewhat started by the comment and momentarily lost his train of though.

Taking advantage of the situation, an older man clad in a fine, white toga rose and began to lecture Chaotix about how his arguments made no sense. In fact, the man claimed, they were an insult to the entire art of rhetoric! Certainly, Chaotix had presented decent logos, but where was his pathos and ethos? Chaotix blushed, and tried to sit down, but the old man continued berating him anyway. After several minutes of criticism, Chaotix could take no more. He sprang to his feet, shouting, “what in the name of Jupiter Optimus Maximus do you want of me?!” The older man smiled and stated that he simply wished to educate Chaotix on the proper method of discourse. Chaotix could, the man added, prove that he had absorbed the lesson by changing his vote to atheotes, against whom the best arguments had clearly been laid. Chaotix, tired of the criticism, meekly complied.

The final tally showed that atheotes had been selected for proscription. He looked suspiciously around the Curia, eyeing those who had voted for him and shaking his head sadly at his fellow Optimates. “If this is what you have decided, then so be it. I fear that the unwillingness of so many of the Senate to speak up and defend the Republic will result in the final destruction of all that we hold dear as true Romans.” With that, he walked calmly out into the forum, where the crowd had gathered to hear to proscription proclaimed from the Rostra. They sprang upon atheotes while he was still descending the stairs and he was soon engulfed in a sea of clubs and knives.

As the plebians who had made the kill went off to assess their new property, the Senators returned for their homes to await yet another night of uncertainty.

atheotes: 8 (Caius, Jolt, TheFlax, Ichigo, GSC, Ignoramus, Iskander 3.1, Chaotix)
GSC: 3 (spL1tp3r50naL1ty, Greyblades, Khazaar)
Ichigo: 2 (AggonyDuck, johnhughthom)

Not Voting: 9 (Beefy187, LittleGrizzly, everyone, Shinseikhaan, Marshal Murat, Captain Blackadder, atheotes, Tratorix, ATPG)

Alive (21):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
Tratorix
Askthepizzaguy
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (10):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs
Sasaki Kojiro

Proscripted (6):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC
atheotes

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Night VIII. This night phase will end on Friday, May 29th at 3:30pm EST.

**TinCow** · 05-29-2009, 20:57

“Nothing is more unreliable than the populace, nothing more obscure than human intentions, nothing more deceptive than the whole electoral system.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Gaius Scribonius Curio loved his pigeons. He had first built an aviary during his time as provincial governor, and ever since then he had never considered a villa complete until it included several varieties of birds. Pigeons, pheasants, quails, doves, all made attractive pets and excellent food. What other animal was as versatile? Livestock were too messy to keep inside a home and dogs and cats tasted awful.

So it was that Gaius Scribonius Curio was to be found feeding his birds when a messenger entered. “Sir, there is a delegation from Gaul here to see you.” Gaul? What could those brutes want? Hopefully it would be the short-haired Gauls, as they stank less than their long-haired cousins.

The men who entered looked nothing like Gauls at all. Indeed, they looked like ordinary Romans, albeit a bit scruffy and rough around the edges. Why, they actually looked more like legionaries than Gauls! “Who are you!” demanded Gaius Scribonius Curio. The men looked at each other and laughed, before throwing back their cloaks to reveal gladii. Gaius Scribonius Curio’s face went white with horror. He rose to flee, but slipped on the grain he had scattered on the floor for his birds. As he flailed away, the men closed in with blades drawn.

…

Askthepizzaguy was tired. The Senate sessions continued to drag on, yet no end to the crisis appeared to be in sight. The daily sessions were now simple executions, with any attempts at proper governance and debate long since past. He was unsure whether it was safer to risk death at the hands of assassins in the night or at the hands of politicians in the day. It was all too emotionally exhausting, and all men had their limits.

Askthepizzaguy ate an early cena, bade his servants good night, and then retired to his bed chamber. He changed out of his toga into a long sleeping shirt and poured himself a glass of water from a fresh ewer left by his servants. Thirsty, he downed the glass quickly turned to make his way to bed. Halfway across the room, the walls began to spin. He stumbled and barely made it to the stuffed mattress before falling prone on his back. Askthepizzaguy put his hands up in front of his face, but they were little more than a blur. What was happening to him?

Through the blur, he saw what appeared to be a few figures approaching him, leaning over the bed to inspect him. His servants; they must have heard him stumble and come to help. They were good people, and would surely fetch the apothecary. All would be fine soon. The last thought that went through Askthepizzaguy’s head before he blacked out was to wonder why everyone appeared to be carrying gladii.

…

Shinseikhaan was not a happy man. His villa was a mess and it would take him ages to clean it up again. So much damage, and done by fellow Romans, no less! The gall of those men. Surely even during times such as these, civilized men would respect the sanctity of the home. Bah, soon the entire city would be behaving like long-haired Gauls!

With most of his servants dead and recovering from wounds, Shinseikhaan found himself in the unusual position of being required to do manual labor. As night fell, he was still wandering from place to place, picking up pieces of broken pottery and glass. As he passed by the broken front gate, he was suddenly hit with a massive blow to the head. He reeled and almost fell over. For a moment, he thought he had been blinded, but reaching up to his face he found a sticky mush plastered over his eyes. He wiped it away with his hand and nearly retched when he saw that it was the remains of a rotten fish.

Several heavy *splats* sounded nearby, and he looked up quickly to see a group of men outside his house. They were armed with baskets of spoiled food and were pelting his house with them repeatedly. Two men stepped forward and started blowing raspberries at him and making rude gestures. One of them even appeared to flatulate in Shinseikhaan’s general direction. Shinseikhaan ran outside his door, barely dodging a moldy piece of bread, and began yelling at the men. “You! Get off this area here in front of my dwelling place!” The men simply laughed at him and threw more food.

“That’s it!” cried Shinseikhaan, “I’m going to go get my ballista! If you’re still here when I get back, you’ll be sorry!” With that, he turned on his heels and marched back into the house. The men looked at each other hesitantly, threw one last volley of detritus, then fled into the streets of Rome.

…

The Senators filed sullenly into the Curia. They were now half of the original number who had first convened for this emergency session, and yet they seemed no closer now to resolving the crisis than they were when they began. A few men stared at the newly empty seats, one on the Populares side and one on the Optimates side, but most were busy reading the note nailed to the doors:

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

BLARGH!
Yargh! Grunt! Oomph! Hundreds of years ago, proto-Etruscans talked this way. We know this because we have the best education system this side of the Po! Of course, if you elect Pompey, he'll bankrupt our education and jeopardize our children's future, and then we'll go the way of the Macedonians or Carthaginians. Pompey only promises cheap whores for the wealthy. If you side with me, I'll promise quality education and affordable, accessible whores!

You've seen me kiss babies. Pompey only eats babies.

Alive (19):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Chaotix
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Captain Blackadder
Tratorix
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (12):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs
Sasaki Kojiro
Askthepizzaguy
Gaius Scribonius Curio

Proscripted (6):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC
atheotes

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Day VIII. You may begin voting. ~~This day phase will end on Saturday, May 30th at 4:00pm EST.~~ This day phase will end on Sunday, May 31st at 4:00 pm EST.

**TinCow** · 05-31-2009, 21:49

“It is foolish to tear one's hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The day seemed to drag on longer than usual, but as was typical by this point, there was little agreement to be found. As the day finally drew to a close, the Senate remained undecided on whether Captain Blackadder or Chaotix should be proscripted. Which was the greatest threat to Rome? Would the removal of one over the other better protect the Republic? These were impossible questions to answer, but the Senate was at a deadlock and nothing else could be decided until they were.

At one point, and older man clad in a fine, white toga rose and began addressing johnhughthom. He showered johnhughthom with praise, proclaiming his many virtues and reciting the many accomplishments the man had achieved during his lifetime. Above all, the older man praised johnhughthom for having the wisdom to vote for Iskander 3.1. At this, johnhughthom grew confused and furrowed his brow, “But, I never…” he began, but the older man cut him off in mid-sentence. “Ah, but we all know you were going to vote for him, weren’t you? Such a fine decision that vote was! Yes indeed! Clearly the most intelligent thing that’s been said in the Senate today!” johnhughthom blushed, mumbling “Well, yes, now that I think of it perhaps that was my intention…” He promptly changed his vote to Iskander 3.1.

When the older man sat down, the rest of the Senate glared at him, wondering why he had wasted their time with an issue that still left the fates of Captain Blackadder and Chaotix in the air. As the hour grew late, an Augur rushed into the Senate. “17 geese were seen flying west over the Capitoline! Soon after, a horse fell over stone dead right in the middle of the forum! Plus, my throat itches!” The Senators looked at one another, confused. After a few moments of silence, the Augur grew annoyed. “Do you know nothing of the omens! These signs clearly indicate that both Captain Blackadder and Chaotix must be enemies of the state!” The Senators shrugged their shoulders and agreed. At least it avoided further debate.

Captain Blackadder’s name was announced from the rostra first. The crowded cheered, knowing that his fabulous wealth would soon be theirs for the taking. Captain Blackadder himself went white as a sheet. He begged his fellow Populares to do something about what was clearly a dreadful mistake. Several of the poorer Optimates saw their chance for wealth in his delay, and sprang from the benches with knives in their hands. They descended upon Captain Blackadder with ferocity, stabbing him repeatedly until his wailing finally ceased. The Optimates then began bickering amongst themselves as to who had struck the killing blow.

When Chaotix’s name was announced, two men rose, one each from the Populares side and one from the Optimates side. They heavily protested this move, saying it would benefit the Republic far more to allow Chaotix to live. The rest of the Senate yelled and hissed, proclaiming their distain for the men who had obviously been bribed by Chaotix. Embarrassed, the men looked at each other and shrugged. There was little more they could do, and further protestation would obviously risk their own necks.

…

Chaotix was relaxing in a villa, sipping a goblet of wine when a messenger arrived with news of the Senate’s decision. The wine goblet went hurtling across the room to smash against a marble column. “Damned Romans! Do they not recognize an ally when they see one?! I will not have my assets confiscated by these uncivilized brutes! If they will not aid me, I shall find other ways. Perhaps the King of Parthia would be interested in my proposal…” Choatix nodded to a nearby servant, and soon the household was thrown into movement. As various jewels and gifts were packed up into sacks and chests, Chaotix was hoisted up on a litter and carried out of the city. By the time the mob arrived, there was nothing left but an empty villa.

Captain Blackadder: 3 (Chaotix, Marshal Murat, LittleGrizzly)
Chaotix: 3 (Ignoramus, TheFlax, Captain Blackadder)

Tratorix: 2 (Jolt, AggonyDuck)
Iskander: 2 ('khaan, johnhughthom)

Abstain: 4 (Iskander, Greyblades, split, Beefy187)
Not Voting: 5 (everyone, Khazaar, Ichigo, Tratorix, Caius)

Alive (17):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Khazaar
Ichigo
Jolt
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Tratorix
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (12):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs
Sasaki Kojiro
Askthepizzaguy
Gaius Scribonius Curio

Proscripted (8):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC
atheotes
Chaotix
Captain Blackadder

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Night IX. This night phase will end on Monday, June 1st at 5:00pm EST.

**TinCow** · 06-01-2009, 22:19

“The wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can.”
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Ichigo was relaxing in the main audience chamber of his villa. It doubled as an entertainment space, and a pair of Greek actors were putting on a play for his benefit. Greek tragedy was incredibly tedious with its moralizing and wailing about opportunities missed and errors made. However, Greek comedy was often quite clever. A good glass of wine and a few lewd Athenian jokes made any night pleasant.

Shortly after the performance ended, a servant approached. “Master, there are some men here to see you.” Ichigo raised an eyebrow. The hour was certainly late, but who was he to refuse an audience with a potential voter? He nodded to the servant, and a few minutes later a small group of men entered. They appeared to be led by a single man, who approached and addressed Ichigo. “Good sir, I am pleased to report that I have arrived to defend your life with these few men behind me.” He beamed and bowed, impressed with the generosity of his own offer.

Ichigo grinned. “You, protect me?” He slapped his thigh and laughed heartily. “Look at you, you have nothing to wield but pugii… and there are so few of you my own bastards would overwhelm you with sheer numbers! Go back to your homes and sleep off the night, I assure you, I am perfectly safe where I am.” The men looked taken aback and turned about dejectedly to be escorted out of the villa.

On came another performance, this time a nude dancer from Illyria. Only a few minutes into the act, the servant approached again. “Apologies, master, but there is another group of men here to see you.” Ichigo was growing annoyed with these interruptions, but voters were voters and they should not be too put-off. The men were soon shown in. Like the first group, they were few in numbers and a single man spoke for them. “Great Ichigo, my companions and I are here to lay down our lives for you!”

Ichigo simply rolled his eyes. “You as well? Let me guess, you’ve brought Gallic poetry with you and you intend to read it at my enemies until their ears rupture and spill forth their wits!” The men looked confused, “No, sir, we have these pugii and…” Ichigo cut them off with a dismissive wave. “Begone! A man such as me has no need for pathetic, disorganized weaklings such as yourselves! My life is in no danger.” Then men looked annoyed, but they shrugged their shoulders and were escorted out of the villa.

Not five minutes after this interruption had ended, the servant returned again, just as the nude dancer was getting to the more… personal performance. Now Ichigo was actively angry. “WHAT IS IT NOW?!” he bellowed. The servant shrank visibly at the outburst, “Well, sir… there are some men here to see you.”

“Let me guess,” snapped Ichigo, “a small group of men, of which only one has a tongue, they’re armed with pugii and they think themselves great heroes of the Republic and have volunteered to protect me?” The servant looked puzzled, “Well, they are actually appear to be led by two men, but yes they…”

Ichigo sighed heavily. “Fine, fine. Let them in. These useless men can stay awake all night long if they like, as long as they leave me alone!” The servant turned and ran off to let the latest group of men in and instruct them to stay out of Ichigo’s way. “And you can tell the same to any other buffoons who show up to save me from the evils of the night!” With that, he turned his attentions back to the dancer, but she had fallen asleep against a column and was drooling on herself. The attraction gone, Ichigo sighed heavily and got up. At least he still had his fine decorations and could enjoy a pleasant walk to admire them before he turned in for the evening.

As he rounded a corner into a side courtyard, he saw several men blocking his path. Recognizing the scene from several nights before, he rolled his eyes. “Can you people not come up with something original for once?! Let me guess, you’ve all got gladii and you’re here to kill me.” The men looked at each other, puzzled, but after a moment they shrugged and indeed did pull out their gladii.

“Ah, very good,” sighed Ichigo, “you’re so threatening. I am absolutely terrified. Come on then, let’s get this over with, shall we? I’m tired and would like to go to bed.” The men obliged, charging forward with blades raised. Ichigo sighed, it was all so tedious. Any moment now, men would appear to fight them off and save his life. It might as well have been written by that hack, Aeschylus. Yes, his saviors would burst forth from right and left about… now.

Right on key, the group of men with two leaders appeared from their hiding places in nearby corridors. They charged out to block the path to Ichigo, waiving their blades menacingly. However, one of them glanced over to his right and did a double-take. Tapping the man next to him on the shoulder, he pointed towards another corridor. There stood a second group of gladii-wielders, looking on with amusement. The two men leading Ichigo’s saviors exchanged hesitant words, looking first at the two groups of gladii-wielders, then at Ichigo, then at the blades in their hands. After some mumbled discussion, they dropped their knives and ran.

Ichigosquinted. That wasn’t right at all. They were supposed to vanquish these annoying interlopers, not run off! Ah, well, at least it was just those overeager voters who had abandoned them. Perhaps higher taxes would teach them to follow through with their plans better. In the meantime, surely a better group of protectors would appear and dispose of these ruffians.

Ichigo looked hesitantly to right and left. No one else was in sight. Surely they were just late and would appear… now! He looked around again, seeing nothing. A single bead of sweat ran down Ichigo’s face as the gladii-armed men finally reached him, their blades thrusting forward to disembowel him. The last through that ran through his head was a niggling suspicion that he had forgotten to do something important.

…

As the Senate convened for the morning’s session, there was great commotion regarding the empty seat of the dead Optimates. For once, few of the Senators paid much attention to the note that was nailed to the Curia doors:

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

Friends,
I am a man of the people, just like you I enjoy pop culture and that classic cartoon family, the Simpsii. Our situation here has reminded me of one the great episodes, "The Telltale Head". I am sure you all remember the conversation between father and son:

Bartus: I was wondering. How important is it to be populares?
Homus: I'm glad you asked, son. Being populares is the most important thing
in the world!

Wishing to be a good populares, Bartus promptly ran out and cut the head off the statue of the town founder. Of course who could forget that the town founder was actually a pirate who had changed his name, hoping his past would be forgotten. Remind you of anyone? Yes, of course. Pompey. He claims to have defeated the pirates, we all know they were under his employ. He hides out under a false name, committing all sorts of cruel and evil deeds, while hoping history will paint him in a kinder light. The Simpsii can show you the way good people, if you only open your eyes. I am not the enemy, the optimates are.

You know what you need to do, good populares. Be like Bartus. Bring me the head of Pompey the Great.

Now a message from our sponsors,

"There once was a man named Ichigo
Who thought he had quite a big ego
But Senators are corrupt
And it's easy to disrupt
The plans of Sasaki Kojiro"

Alive (16):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
everyone
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Khazaar
Jolt
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Tratorix
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (13):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs
Sasaki Kojiro
Askthepizzaguy
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Ichigo

Proscripted (8):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC
Atheotes
Captain Blackadder
Chaotix

WoG/Suicide (0):

It is now Day IX. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Tuesday, June 2nd at 6:30pm EST. (Day extended a slight bit, as it would otherwise end during my evening commute, when I am obviously unavailable to end a phase.)

**TinCow** · 06-02-2009, 23:43

“I have so lost my manly spirit that I prefer to be tyrannized over in peace and quiet.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The Senate was full of snoring men. Apparently most were getting little sleep at night due to paranoia or other less passive activates. Their fatigue was telling, and the debate was largely confined to a few particular individuals bickering amongst themselves. Eventually, a small consensus began to emerge that was focused on Beefy187. Suddenly, and at the last minute, several Senators spontaneously, and with little explanation, changed their votes to Tratorix. This resulted in yet another tied vote.

At this point an older man rose, looking disdainfully at the large number of snoring Senators around him. He smoothed the folds of his fine, white toga and began to address the merits of the arguments against Beefy187. His colorful language and excellent rhetorical style caught the attention of a few others, including Iskander 3.1. As the older man went on, he explained how the case against Beefy187 was weak, and that instead Tratorix was more worthy of the proscription. Isksander was so taken by his arguments that he immediately leaped to his feet, shouting “He’s right! Why didn’t I see that before?!” He immediately changed his vote to Tratorix.

With so few votes, no one even had to count in order to know who had been chosen for proscription. Tratorix’s face whitened in horror, and he rose from his seat in the Optimates section and fled out into the forum. At the first sight of him, the waiting mob cheered heartily. The regular proscription of so many wealthy men was making the plebians extremely pleased. Few opportunities for easy personal enrichment existed in Rome, and a lifetime’s wealth was excellent pay for a few seconds of state-sanctioned violence. Tratorix tried to escape the crowd, but there were too many of them. He was pulled down to the left of the Curia and quickly clubbed to death.

As the Senators filed quietly out into the city, everyone slipped on a paving stone that was wet with blood. He flew through the air, head-first, and landed with a smack in a large pile of horse manure. The blow instantly knocked him unconscious. A few of his fellow Populares saw the spectacle, but none wished to dirty their togas in the mess. Without aid, everyone soon suffocated, his nose and mouth clogged with dung. A few slaves looked on curiously, but after a while they lost interest and left. The corpse rotted for several days before a local merchant grew tired of the smell and tossed it into the Tiber.

Tratorix: 4 (LG, khaan, johnhughthom, Iskander)
Beefy187: 2 (Ignoramus, Greyblades)
everyone: 1 (Tratorix)

Not Voting: 9 (Beefy187, AggonyDuck, spL1tp3r50naL1ty, Khazaar, Jolt, Marshal Murat, TheFlax, Caius, everyone)

Alive (14):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
johnhughthom
AggonyDuck
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Khazaar
Jolt
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (13):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs
Sasaki Kojiro
Askthepizzaguy
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Ichigo

Proscripted (9):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC
Atheotes
Captain Blackadder
Chaotix
Tratorix

WoG/Suicide (1):
everyone

Note: I have lost my patience for the lack of general participation in the discussions. From now on, anyone who misses TWO votes in a row will be WoGed unless they are also contributing to the public discussion. This will occur regardless of whether you are submitting night orders or are involved in discussions about the game outside the public forum.

It is now Night X. This night phase will end on Wednesday, June 3rd at 7:00pm EST.

**TinCow** · 06-04-2009, 00:07

“Few men desire liberty: The majority are satisfied with a just master.”
- Gaius Sallustius Crispus

The large group of men moved through the city cautiously, through back streets and alleyways. As they approached their target, they slowed down and eventually halted. There before them was a large and impressive villa. A high wall encircled it, but light was blazing forth from behind the barrier. The occupants were awake. The four leaders of the mob huddled together, discussing what to do, when a shout startled them.

“Come on, come on!” A man was standing at the main gate of the villa, waiving to them. Their cover blown, the men stood up and walked forward into the illuminated street. Before them stood spL1tp3r50naL1ty, apparently unarmed and unconcerned. “You took long enough!”

The men looked hesitantly at one another, before one asked “You were expecting us?”

spL1tp3r50naL1ty laughed. “Expecting you?! Your masters proclaimed their intentions to kill me openly in the Curia itself! How could I not be expecting you?” He shook his head wryly, then turned around and walked back through the gates. When the men did not move to follow him, he stopped, turned, and beckoned them onwards. “Come on then, you’re here to kill me, are you not? Yes? Well then, come in here and do it!” The mob of men drew their pugii and followed after spL1tp3r50naL1ty.

No sooner had they crossed the threshold than the gates slammed shut behind them and armed men charged from concealed locations on either side. With a cry, the mob turned to meet them. A desperate fight ensued, and soon cries of terror and pain began to echo around the villa. Though they outnumbered their foes, the men were clearly not as well trained at battle and they were out-maneuvered as well. The leaders of the group called for a retreat, but with the gate barred, there was nowhere to go but deeper into the villa.

They ran forward, fending off the attacks of the armed men who followed them. Tables were thrown over, chairs broken, and expensive artwork and decorations scattered about as the battle moved through the building. Men began to fall, wounded and bleeding, only to be left behind as the battle passed them by. The mob broke through many doors, looking for an exit, but they found only walled rooms or further corridors. They began to lose hope of ever escaping when at last a broken door revealed a room with a high window. The men bolted inside, throwing any object they could into the doorway to keep their foes at bay, while one by one they began to climb out the small window and into the streets of Rome.

The last man left had a desperate struggle, as he held the barricade, waiting for his companions to get clear, before he threw himself forward, jumping for the window. He caught the ledge, and pulled himself through, landing heavily on the outside. Other men pulled him to his feet, and together they ran off into the night.

…

AggonyDuck had not been sleeping well lately. The crisis caused by the confrontation between Caesar and Pompey had inflicted horrible suffering on Rome. Well, actually more on the Senate than the population as a whole, but the Senate was Rome, was it not? Even more importantly, AggonyDuck was part of the Senate, and thus his own neck was on the line every day! Ah, those ignorant plebeians, growing wealthy through proscriptions and free from the risks of assassination in the night. All they had to worry about was the normal kind of murder. Murder and poverty. Unemployment was rife, of course. Plus starvation. And war, since they would inevitably be the ones fighting it. Oh, and disease. Indentured servitude was a risk too, if they fell into debt. Plus fire, you couldn’t forget fire. Or the gangs that ran the streets.

Yes, all in all the plebeians had it pretty well, while the Senate had to sit in their large villas, wondering whether an assassin was hiding behind this fountain, or perhaps that fountain, or maybe even the fountain over there! It was nearly unbearable, so AggonyDuck consoled himself with late nights drinking fine wines and eating delicacies imported from Africa and Illyria.

Still, the paranoia ran deep. It crept into AggonyDuck’s heart and soon he was eyeing those damned fountains, looking for assassins. Why had he made them so huge? An entire legion could hide behind one of them, and a cohort could hide behind another! Damn be the life of a patrician! Slowly, he crept up on the largest fountain, carefully protecting his eyes so that the light reflecting off the numerous jeweled inlays would not ruin his vision. Circumventing the entire structure, he was relieved to find it empty.

Next, he approached the second fountain, certain to find a cohort of dastardly legionaries waiting to end his humble life of public service. A cautious perusal soon proved this one to also be free of assassins. AggonyDuck was now much more relaxed. All that was left was the third statue, and that couldn’t possibly hide much more than a few armed men. Steeling himself, he snuck up on it, then jumped forward, revealing what was behind.

Just as he expected, there crouching in the shadow of the statue was a group of men clutching gladii. Typical. As the men got about their dirty work, AggonyDuck couldn’t help but pity himself and the miserable life of suffering and hardship he had endured. For the previous few nights at least. Easily a week; maybe a bit more.

…

In the morning, the small group of Senators filed through the forum and took their places in the Curia. No one paid any attention to the newly empty seat in the Optimates section, as an incredibly important note was nailed to the main doors. They all read it very, very, very closely and agreed that it was wisdom of unparalleled magnitude:

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

I have no need to try some "cryptic message" this time as it is quite clear to me I am going to win. Instead I will lecture you all in your failure to show respect to the Gods. Specifically of course the greatest of all Gods, Metallus Bovinus. Your lack of participation in Senate discussions has been scandalous, indeed it seems many of us have to try to converse with the dead to get any serious discourse going. A lot of effort has been made behind the scenes by his priests, don't displease him further with your idleness.
Be good Romans, respect the Gods.

Alive (13):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
johnhughthom
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Khazaar
Jolt
Marshal Murat
Iskander 3.1
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (14):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs
Sasaki Kojiro
Askthepizzaguy
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Ichigo
AggonyDuck

Proscripted (9):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC
Atheotes
Captain Blackadder
Chaotix
Tratorix

WoG/Suicide (1):
everyone

It is now Day X. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Thursday, June 4th at 7:30pm EST.

**TinCow** · 06-07-2009, 23:36

“Delay not; swift the flight of fortune's greatest favours."
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The Senate session was long and heated, but just as things were coming to a head, a shadow appeared over the sun. Every man, woman, and child in Roman cried out in fear and ran for their lives. Inside the Curia, the Senators could do nothing but gape in awe at the spectacle. It seemed to last an eternity, but eventually the shadow passed and light returned to the world. When at last some of the men regained their composure, none could remember what they had previously been talking about.

It was at that point that an older man in a fine, white toga stood up and gave a summary of everything that had previously occurred. He kindly summarized who everyone else had voted for and why. When he got to Greyblades, he indicated that he had lodged a vote for Iskander 3.1. Greyblades scratched his head quizzically. "Eh, actually, I think I voted for...[/B], he began, but the man soon cut him off. "Nonsense! Only an imbecile would do something like that, and since you're not an imbecile, you must not have done it. No, in fact I remember your persuasive arguments against Iskander 3.1 very well. You most certainly made a wise and educated argument against him!" Greyblades shrugged his shoulders, "Well, if you say so, I suppose I did intend to vote for Iskander 3.1."

When the votes were finally tallied, Iskander 3.1 was in the lead by a single vote. He looked about him, mainly focusing on his fellow Populares. He sighed deeply and shook his head. "So, this is what is to become of Rome then? Sad... sad indeed." He strode out into the Curia, boldly confronting the bloody fate which soon engulfed him.

Iskander 3.1: 4 (khaan, Jolt, TheFlax, Greyblades)
Beefy187: 3 (johnhughthom, Iskander, Split)
spl1tp350naL1ty: 1 (LG)

Abstain: 2 (Marshal Murat, Caius)

Not Voting: 3 (Beefy187, Khazaar, Ignoramus)

Alive (12):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
johnhughthom
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Khazaar
Jolt
Marshal Murat
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (14):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs
Sasaki Kojiro
Askthepizzaguy
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Ichigo
AggonyDuck

Proscripted (10):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC
Atheotes
Captain Blackadder
Chaotix
Tratorix
Iskander 3.1

WoG/Suicide (1):
everyone

It is now Night XI. This night phase will end on Monday, June 7th at 7:00pm EST.

(Note: Despite what I said before, I have refrained from WoGing Beefy because the chaos caused by the forum implosion provides a reasonable excuse for missing a vote here.)

**TinCow** · 06-09-2009, 00:01

“It is when fortune is the most propitious that she is least to be trusted.”
- Titus Livius

As the night grew dark, many Senators sat in their villas, afraid of what fortune might bring their way. Yet as the hours crept past without incident they slowly relaxed and began to forget their worries. Soon wine and music both flowed freely in the dwellings of Rome. When dawn broke, no unusual incidents of any kind were reported within the city limits. Could this be so? Was this the end of the chaos? Had the issue finally been settled once and for all?

As the Senators filed into the Curia in the morning, a note nailed to the doors was all the answer they needed:

Originally Posted by A message from Gaius Julius Caesar to the Senate

I am as constant as the northern star.

Alive (12):
Beefy187
Greyblades
LittleGrizzly
johnhughthom
Shinseikhaan
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Khazaar
Jolt
Marshal Murat
Ignoramus
TheFlax
Caius

Killed (14):
White_eyes:D
mini
Beskar
Yaropolk
pevergreen
Glenn
GeneralHankerchief
Andres
woad&fangs
Sasaki Kojiro
Askthepizzaguy
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Ichigo
AggonyDuck

Proscripted (10):
navarro951
Tiberius of the Drake
Cronos Impera
Cultured Drizzt fan
YLC
Atheotes
Captain Blackadder
Chaotix
Tratorix
Iskander 3.1

WoG/Suicide (1):
Everyone

It is now Day XI. You may begin voting. This day phase will end on Tuesday, June 9th at 7:00pm EST.

**TinCow** · 06-10-2009, 00:06

“Old age: the crown of life, our play's last act.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

The relative serenity of the previous evening had emboldened the Senate. Despite the reputed note from Caesar, the restoration of order at last seemed to be a real possibility. Those who had weathered the crisis and emerged intact struck out viciously against those of their colleagues who were suspected of holding partisan views. The debate quickly focused on Beefy187 and johnhughthom.

At first, the accusations flew in both directions, but as the pressure mounted, johnhughthom’s friends began to abandon him. What was at first an even contest soon turned into a landslide. When the votes were finally tallied, johnhughthom sighed heavily. He bowed his head briefly in contemplation, then stood to address all in the Curia. “What you have done here today has doomed the Republic! You think that you have saved it, but you are wrong. Caesar crossed the Rubicon not to destroy Rome but to save it! The Republic has grown corrupt and the people clamor for reform.”

johnhughthom turned to face Jolt, “Will you give it to them? You claimed to uphold law and order with your accusations against Lucius Sergius Catiline, but then you executed him and his conspirators without a trial! Is this the way of the Republic? Those in power executing whom they please on a whim and without an opportunity to present a case in their own defense?! That is the way of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, not Lucius Junius Brutus. No, you are no true defender of Rome; you speak of upholding law, but you discard it whenever you feel it expedient!”

johnhughthom then turned to face Caius, “I would have to be a comic to place the word reform in the same sentence as your name! What do you care about except tradition and the Old Ways? You follow these as if they were the teachings of Jupiter Optimus Maximus himself, yet you ignore all of the evils that the ancient traditions have brought upon us! If Rome had always believed in upholding tradition, the Tarquinian Kings would rule us to this day! You pay homage to Lucius Junius Brutus, yet you are too stupid to realize that he was a revolutionary, a radical who overthrew the established order and created a better system! Change is not always an evil, sometimes can be good, and sometimes it is necessary. Your ways lead to stagnation, decay, and death.”

“As for the rest of you,” johnhughthom scowled at the remaining Senators, “you will see soon enough that this is not the end. All that you have done is prolonged the struggle. There are others who will take up arms to do what must be done to save Rome!” He turned back to Jolt and Caius, bowing low, “Might I have your permission, most honorable Senators, to address the public before I meet my end?” Jolt and Caius looked at each other briefly. What harm could a few words from a proscripted man do? They nodded in assent. With that, johnhughthom turned and strode out into the forum.

The crowd was baying for his blood, expecting another opportunity at enrichment. Boldly, johnhughthom walked to the rostra and raised his arms. He gestured, at them to let him speak, but it was no good. Suddenly, a disturbance began off to the side of the forum, and a procession of legionaries began to make their way forward, pushing through the crowd. Between them, they carried the body of Andres. At the sight of this, the mob began to hush, and soon they watched in silent awe as the body was brought to johnhughthom and placed on the rostra. With that, johnhughthom began to speak.

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. The noble Cicero hath told you Caesar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a grievous fault and grievously has Caesar answered it.”

“Here under leave of Cicero and the rest --- for Cicero is an honorable man --- so are they all honorable men --- come I to speak in Caesar's funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me --- but Cicero says he was ambitious and Cicero is an honorable man.”

“He has brought many captives home to Rome whose ransoms did fill the general coffers. Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? When the poor have cried, Caesar has wept --- ambition should be made of sterner stuff. Yet Cicero says he was ambitious and Cicero is an honorable man. I speak not to disprove what Cicero spoke, but here I am to speak what I do know.”

“You all did love him once, not without cause. What cause witholds you then, to mourn for him now? Oh judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts and men have lost their reason. Bear with me. My heart is in the coffin here with Caesar and I must pause til it come back to me. But yesterday the word of Caesar might have stood against the world; now he lies there. And none so poor to do him reverence.”

“Oh masters, if I were disposed to stir your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage, I should do Cicero wrong, and Cato wrong, who, you all know, are honorable men. I will not do them wrong; I rather choose to wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you, than I will wrong such honorable men. But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar --- I found it in his closet, 'tis his will: Let but the people hear this testament, which, pardon me, I do not mean to read, and they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds and dip their napkins in his sacred blood, yea, beg a hair of him for memory, and, dying, mention it within their wills, bequeathing it as a rich legacy unto their issue.”

The crowd had long ago grown quiet, their bloodlust sated by johnhughthom’s elegant words. Yet with the revelation of Caesar’s will, they found their voice again; pleading with johnhughthom to continue, to tell them of Caesar’s final wishes.

“Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it; it is not right you know how Caesar loved you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; and, being men, bearing the will of Caesar, it will inflame you, it will make you mad! 'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs, for if you should, oh, what would come of it!”

johnhughthom made to stop, and turned away, but the mob screamed out for him. Slowly, he turned back towards them and continued, making obvious sidelong looks at the Curia.

“Will you be patient? Will you stay awhile? I have overshot myself to tell you of it. I fear the honorable men whose daggers have stabbed Caesar, I do fear it!”

With this, the crowed howled with violent anger, and the Senators watching from the steps of the Curia glanced warily at one another. This was not what they had expected from the proscription, not at all. johnhughthom continued.

“You will compel me, then to read the will? Then make a ring about the corpse of Caesar, and let me show you him that made the will. Shall I descend? And will you give me leave?”

The people responded with cheers. Descending from the rostra to stand amidst the people, johnhughthom continued his eulogy.

“If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. You all do know this coat --- I remember the first time Caesar put it on. 'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, that day he overcame the Huns.”

“Look --- in this place ran Ahenobarbus’ dagger through! See what a rent the envious Metellus Scipio made! Through this well-beloved Pompey stabbed, and as he plucked his cursed steel away, mark how the blood of Caesar followed it, as rushing out of doors, to be resolved if Pompey so unkindly knocked or no.

“For Pompey, as you know, was Caesar's friend and son in law --- judge, oh you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him! This was the most unkindest cut of all! For when the noble Caesar saw his stab, ingratitude, more strong than traitor's arms, quite vanquished him, then burst his mighty heart, and in his mantle muffling up his face, even at the base of Pompey's statue, which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell.”

“Oh, what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I and you and all of us fell down, while bloody treason flourished over us. Oh now you weep and I perceive you feel the dint of pity --- these are gracious drops. Kind souls, what weep you when you but behold our Caesar's vesture wounded? Look you here! Here is himself marred as you see with traitors.”

“Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up to such a sudden flood of mutiny. They that have caused this deed are honorable. What private griefs they have, alas, I know not what made them do it. They are wise and honorable and will, no doubt, with reasons answer you.”

“I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts. I am no orator, as Cicero is; but, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, that loves my friend and that they know full well that gave me public leave to speak of him --- for I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, action nor utterance, nor the power of speech to stir men's blood. I only speak right on; I tell you that which you yourselves do know; show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor dumb mouths, and bid them speak for me … but were I Cicero, and Cicero, Lepidus, there were a Lepidus would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue in every wound of Caesar that should move the stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.”

With this, the crowd began to gesture angrily, and hands that were previously raised with open palms now clutched knives and cudgels. With shouts, a few men began to move towards the Curia, but johnhughthom continued.

“But friends, you go to do you know not what! Wherein has Caesar thus deserved your love? Alas, you know not - I must tell you then - You have forgot the will I told you of. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal. To every several man, seventy-five drachmas! Moreover, he has left you all his walks, his private arbors and new-planted orchards - he has left them all to you. And to your heirs forever, common pleasures, to walk abroad, to recreate yourselves. Here was a Caesar! When comes another?”

With this revelation, the crowd emitted a sound the like of which Rome had never heard. Part elation at their inheritance, part outrage at Caesar’s death, it was all passion. The crowd surged up the steps towards the Curia, but the Senators had seen what was coming and they had long since departed. With no target for their anger, the plebeians settled for defacing a few statues before marching back through the streets of Rome, singing the praises of those who had fallen in the crisis. johnhughthom slipped away amongst the crowd, his proscription forgotten by the people who had been so enriched by his words and Caesar’s will. He removed his white Senatorial toga and vanished into the city.

That night was a restless one for the surviving Senators. In the morning, they met again, though this time privately in the house of Cicero. The city had quieted down a great deal since the previous day’s excitement. There was still great turmoil amongst the populous, but without any partisan Senator to lead them it remained a simmering discontent instead of a boiling rebellion. Cicero and Cato now sat in firm control of the Senate. With the dual threats of Pompey and Caesar defeated, the work of restoring the Republic to its old glory was about to begin. It would be hard work, and it would take much effort, but with these two dedicated and talented men leading the way, there was hope at last. The Roman Republic would survive.

…

It was late at night when he reached Velitrae. The town was dark, but the light of the moon was bright and guided him on towards his destination. With Cicero and Cato in control of the Senate, he had no choice but to go into hiding. Yet, there was power still in the name of Caesar, and he had not said all during his eulogy on the forum. True, Caesar had given much to the plebeians, but that was but a small part of the boundless wealth he had appropriated during his time in Gaul. A full two-thirds of that wealth was bestowed on another beneficiary, one who Caesar had formally adopted as his son and heir in his will. That man would receive not only the wealth required to pay armies, but the name required to inspire them: Gaius Julius Caesar. True, he was still young, but he was ready for the toga virilis, and more importantly, Caesar had believed him worthy of his great legacy. Perhaps he would succeed where his adoptive father had failed. Perhaps there was still one man who could do what had to be done for the sake of Rome.

johnhughthom reached his destination, and rapped hastily on the door. After a few moments, the shuffling of sandaled feet could be heard, and a small window opened to reveal the face of an elderly servant. “Yes, what is it?” johnhughthom pulled back his hood, so that the moonlight spilled onto his face. “Tell Gaius Octavius Thurinus that Marcus Aemilius Lepidus has arrived with news from Rome.”

Republic Victory

johnhughthom: 6 (LG, Beefy187, TheFlax, Jolt, Khazaar, Marshal Murat)
Beefy187: 2 (johnhughthom, Ignoramus)

Abstain: 2 ('khaan, split)
Not Voting: 2 (Greyblades, Caius)

Alive (11):
Beefy187 - Appius Claudius Pulcher (Pulcher) – Optimates Senator
Greyblades - Gaius Asinius Pollio (Pollio) – Populares Senator
LittleGrizzly - Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus (Lentulus) – Consul, converted by Cato
Shinseikhaan - Publius Attius Varus (Varus) – Optimates Senator
spL1tp3r50naL1ty - Lucius Munatius Plancus (Plancus) – Populares Senator
Khazaar - Lucius Afranius (Afranius) – Optimates Senator
Jolt - Marcus Tullius Cicero (Cicero) – Republican Orator
Marshal Murat - Publius Cornelius Dolabella (Dolabella) – Populares Senator
Ignoramus - Tiberius Claudius Nero (Tiberius Nero) – Optimates Senator, switched to Populares Senator
TheFlax - Aulus Allienus (Allienus) – Praetor, converted by Cicero
Caius - Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis (Cato the Younger) – Republican Orator

Killed (14):
White_eyes:D - Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Marcellus) – Optimates Senator
mini - Gaius Cassius Longinus (Cassius) – Optimates Senator
Beskar - Titus Labienus (Labienus) – Populares Senator
Yaropolk - Quintus Cassius Longinus (Longinus) – Populares Senator
pevergreen - Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (Decimus Brutus) – Populares Senator
Glenn - Marcus Antonius (Mark Anthony) – Caesarian Legate
GeneralHankerchief - Quintus Scribonius Curio (Curio) - Praetor
Andres - Gaius Julius Caesar (Caesar) – Caesarian Dictator
woad&fangs - Marcus Junius Brutus (Brutus) – Optimates Senator
Sasaki Kojiro - Faustus Cornelius Sulla (Faustus) – Optimates Senator, converted by Cato
Askthepizzaguy - Marcus Terentius Varro (Varro) – Optimates Senator
Gaius Scribonius Curio - Quintus Valerius Orca (Orca) – Populares Senator
Ichigo - Gaius Claudius Marcellus Major (Marcellus Major) – Consul, converted by Cato
AggonyDuck - Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther (Spinther) – Optimates Senator

Proscripted (11):
navarro951 - Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus (Calvinus) – Caesarian Legate
Tiberius of the Drake - Servius Sulpicius Lemonia Rufus (Sulpicius) – Populares Senator
Cronos Impera - Publius Cornelius Scipio Salvito (Salvito) – Optimates Senator
Cultured Drizzt fan - Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) – Pompeian Dictator
YLC - Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus (Bibulus) – Optimates Senator
atheotes - Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (Ahenobarbus) – Pompeian Legate
Captain Blackadder - Marcus Caelius Rufus (Rufus) – Populares Senator
Chaotix - Cleopatra VII Philopator (Cleopatra) – Queen of Egypt
Tratorix - Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica (Metellus Scipio) – Pompeian Legate, promoted to Dictator
Iskander 3.1 - Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus (Paullus) – Populares Senator, recruited to Caesarian Legate by Lepidus.
johnhughthom - Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (Lepidus) – Populares Senator, recruited to Caesarian Legate by Caesar, promoted to Caesarian Dictator

WoG/Suicide (1):
everyone - Publius Vatinius (Vatinius) – Optimates Senator

**TinCow** · 06-10-2009, 00:15

“It is pleasant at times to play the madman.”
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Caesarian Roles

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Pompeian Roles

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Special Roles

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Populares Senators

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Optimates Senators

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Extra (Unused) Roles

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**TinCow** · 06-10-2009, 00:23

“No one can give you better advice than yourself.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

Excel Spreadsheet tracking all game actions

Before the game begins:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

I am surprised by the speed of the sign-ups. While pleasing, it also puts a bit of pressure on me to perform, since this is my first mafia game. It’s worth noting at this point that Rubicon is actually a stripped down version of the game I originally envisioned (The Thirty Years War), which would have required about 50-60 players. I figured it was impossible to get that number of players, so I kept the core mechanic of my idea (town divided against itself) and made Rubicon with a smaller size and fewer roles.

The speed of the sign-ups has made me question how large I should expand the game. A couple weeks ago (I’ve been fiddling with this game off and on for several months now), I drew up a basic outline for expansion of this game to 45 players, but I didn’t complete it. Here is that outline:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The basic difference was increasing the mafia families to 4 members each (1 Dictator/3 Legates, then called Generals), adding in 1 extra Consul and Praetor (I had no choice in who these were, since I am using historically accurate roles and there are only 2 Consuls, both Optimates, and a handful of Praetors in 49 BC), adding in ‘Neutral’ Senators, and adding in more partisan Senators. There were problems with this though. First, the obvious 4th Caesarian Legate was Lepidus, but that broke one of the Amicitia pairs and I couldn’t find another easy Populares relationship to generate. Second, I was not happy with the sketch for the Neutral Senator roles. They just seemed boring, incomplete, and likely to steal some of Cleopatra’s wind. Third, with the game this close to starting, I didn’t feel like I had the time to properly write and re-write almost 20 new background descriptions.

In the end, I decided not to use the 45 person expansion. I liked the original 31 person set-up very much (it would also have worked with 27 or 29 people without dropping any special roles) and figured it would be better to keep the game smaller rather than risk making it too complex or unbalanced. This was especially true since (at the moment I am writing this) I’m not even sure how well the divided town idea will work. Still it was clear I was going to go over 31 players, so I gave it some consideration and decided I could add on 2 partisan Senators to each side without it impacting the balance much, for a total of 35. I then bumped it up to 37 with the addition of 2 extra doctors (1 Praetor, 1 Consul) and compensated for the mafia families by allowing the Dictator roles to kill or protect whenever they wanted. In the original version, the Dictator could only kill when his Legates were dead, could never protect, and was essentially confined to investigating while his Legates were around. So, this balance upped the mafia killing power to 3 per night from 2 to compensate for the extra players and the extra doctors.

Speaking of balance, I do feel like I have a lot of freedom in creating the roles for this game, because it’s pretty much impossible to make the partisan halves unbalanced. Since they’re mirror images of each other, it’s impossible for one to be more powerful than the other at the start. Incidentally, this mirror image need was the reason for the slight fudge of making Cicero a Populares… apologies to anyone this annoyed during the game, but no other character fit into this role with Cato, and I couldn’t very well make Cato a Populares, could I? Plus, Cicero was a moderate, he tried to appease both sides, and by all rights he should have been a Populares due to his provincial novo homus background!

The real balance issue is whether the ‘Republic’ victory has any chance at all. This is the main problem I’ve encountered with creating this game, and the reason why I consider Rubicon to be a simple test setup for the real game I want to run. After much thought, I concluded that the slower the rate of the kills, the better the Republic’s odds. Cicero and Cato are very powerful pro-town roles. If whoever gets them survives for a while and makes full use of their abilities, I think the Republic victory has a serious chance of winning despite the massive obstacles in their way. If Cicero and Cato die early or are otherwise ineffective, I predict that the Republic victory will be impossible.

This is why I’ve made the game protection heavy. Villa Stronghold is easily the most common ability (4 per faction in the 31 version, 5 in the 37 version), Manumission is rare (1 per faction in the 31 version, 2 in the 37 version), assembling 4 Senators for a kill group is likely to be very difficult given the factionalism, Mafioso are likely to spend some time protecting each other instead of killing, and allowing no lynch may result in a couple death-free days. All in all, it is my hope that these things will factor together to give Cicero and Cato a chance to get some work done before they inevitably die. While I would consider it to be a historically accurate result for the Republic victory to fail with an early exit of these roles, my focus on the feasibility of the Republic victory is largely to determine whether I should bother trying to create the ‘real’ game. We’ll see. Let the games begin!

Role Distribution

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Night 1

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Several Senator investigation pairs are up and running already. As expected, both Amicitia pairs are working together. They both have the potential to rally small groups of their own faction quickly, so it will be interesting to see whether they attempt this and which side they try and support from the start. Amusingly, both Dictators have gotten themselves roped into Senator investigation groups with a random person: Andres with Beskar and Cultured Drizzt Fan with Tiberius of the Drake. While they were both probably going to investigate anyway, it poses potential problems for them if they can’t shake their partners in future nights.

AggonyDuck pops his one time investigation on GH. Caius has already put out a feeler looking for Cicero. The biggest risk with the latin connection is that someone else will randomly spout some of it while roleplaying… which of course was my intention when making that the clue. This bit was inspired by Seamus’ Capo II Crusader group, btw. Let’s see if the ‘Republican Crusaders’ can do better than their Capo counterparts.

Sasaki is spot on in this post: investigations are almost certainly a bad idea for the town in general. This is the prisoner’s dilemma manifested in mafia; unless everyone stays the course, it’s going to get very messy to their detriment. Lots of investigation results means lots of temptation to turn on the other faction. Ignorance is bliss for the town in this game. Of course, I still expect Sasaki to go mafioso in the end-game unless a Republic victory seems guaranteed… and maybe even then.

White_eyes is the first death chosen by the Caesarians, apparently for being a “semi-lurker.” Not a bad strategy. Glenn hasn’t even picked up his role PM, which is a bad omen. I will not accept orders from other people for their partners, but this situation seems inequitable. Last time Glenn was online, the game had not started and it looked like Villains was going to take several more days to finish. Since Glenn has not been online to discover that the game has started, and had a legitimate reason to expect that the start was several days off yet, I don’t consider it his fault that he hasn’t been online to submit orders. Andres has requested the ability to submit orders for Glenn. I will allow it until Glenn receives his role PM or is WoGed. The only other person who hasn’t received their role PM is TheFlax, who has one of the Praetor roles.

The Pompeiians are opting to do a double investigation instead of killing. A wise policy, as this is less likely to result in accidental Optimates deaths. Clearly they intend to play for Optimates support. In addition to Cultured being roped into the investigation with Tiberius, Tratorix and atheotes intend to combine for a normal Senator investigation. Unfortunately, atheotes hasn’t submitted any orders. He has received his role PM and is well aware the game is underway, so no leeway will be allowed there. The two-person investigation attempt will fail.

Several players drop blatant hints as to their factional allegiance in roleplaying-style posts. Andres submits the first bit of ‘Propaganda.’ He doesn’t let me down, it is hilarious.

With 15 minutes to spare, atheotes gets his orders in. Strangely, they are to kill mini, not help Tratorix investigate. The Pompeiians seem to be suffering from a lack of communication.

Day 1

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Poor mini, being killed in the first round of his first game. Hopefully he’ll stick around, he’s a great Throne Room contributor. TheFlax finally shows up and does not disappoint by voting No Lynch. I’m curious to see how this option will work since I’ve never played with it in a game before. I’m not sure why it’s not very popular, as I see plenty of ways it can be used to both the benefit of the town and the mafia, so it seems balanced. We shall see, I suppose…

Interesting that people are buying Andres’ propaganda as evidence of a role block. I guess there’s still some confusion about the precise origin of that message, despite the title. I expect they’ll catch on quickly.

A short lived-bandwagon on Ichigo emerges, with the justification that he hasn’t yet voted for Sasaki. Ironic, since Ichigo attempted to investigate Sasaki (though failed due to his partner, Yaropolk, being blocked by Chaotix). It soon dissolves into a series of retaliatory votes, without much thought. I expected No Lynch to be the obvious first day option, so this surprises me. Cultured Drizzt fan does an excellent job to dodge what could have been an easy early bandwagon on him. It would have been criminal if Pompey went out on Day 1! The retaliatory craziness is really amazing, this is one of the most vindictive rounds I’ve ever seen.

In the end, a slow trickle of No Lynch votes steadily adds up. It’s not a large number, but with the rest of the votes strewn around haphazardly, the No Lynch prevails. At this point in the game, I think this aids the Republic victory more than either of the mafia families. People are right that eventually you have to start lynching, but without any evidence to go on the odds of lynching a townie in the first round are so high it’s best avoided. At least, that’s how I see it.

Caius makes Ichigo vote for Sasaki just to be amusing; I certainly find it entertaining. Jolt is active, but doesn’t seem to have caught on to the whole “speak Latin so that Cato can recognize you” thing… unless he’s already noted Caius’ statements and they just haven’t contacted me about it yet.

Night 2

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Cue the elevator music while the forums go crazy for a day…

GH and AggonyDuck are now cooperating on an investigation, and GH casually refers to his Lictors in the orders PM which is CCed to AggonyDuck. Clearly Aggony confronted GH about the results last night, who must have revealed, and they now trust each other enough to work together. This is the first evidence of cross-faction trust. I doubt it will accomplish much though since Andres knows Aggony is Optimates and was active last night. I thus expect a Caesarian hit on Aggony tonight, which will snuff that burgeoning friendship.

Good news for the Republic as Jolt and Caius both submit PMs IDing each other. Caius’ use of latin in the thread appears to have worked, and they are both now immune to lynching as long as both remain alive. Their cooperation is about to pay off as well. Jolt submits orders to investigate Navarro, which will reveal a Caesarian Mafioso. Caius is wisely using his action to convert Ichigo into a loyal Republican. They now have a doctor who is a certain ally, which could be very useful.

For the Caesarians, Andres is again roped into an investigation with Beskar, this time of Sasaki who is the ever-popular target. Yaropolk is the chosen hit, which will result in an interesting write-up, since he is also being visited by Cleopatra tonight.

For the Pompeians, Tratorix submits orders to attack Beskar with atheotes. Atheotes doesn’t submit any orders at all, but it doesn’t matter since Beskar has no protection. Cultured Drizzt fan (hereinafter Drizzt, since I’m getting tired of writing his name out) submits orders to protect himself and reports that he’s going to be away camping. I send him a response indicating that he can’t protect himself, only other people, but he doesn’t receive it in time to change his orders. It does not matter though as no one is attacking him anyway. At this point, the Pompeians’ biggest hurdle is their own disorganization.

A townie protection group forms, Beefy, w&f, and Khazaar. They are protecting Captain Blackadder. This is entirely irrelevant to tonight’s actions, but an interesting development in townie cooperation. AggonyDuck and GH investigate Andres, though it won’t give them any useful information at the moment.

Day 2

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Night 3

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As expected, the double vote shift is arousing a lot of attention. People seem to think it was a mafia move, and no one has picked up on the descriptive hints indicating Cato and Cicero. Is there no one with a knowledge of classical history in this game? A little historical analysis would lead them to properly conclude that it was a pro-Republic move. In any case, both mafia families know they have a Republic opponent to go up against.

Drizzt submits an amusing propaganda PM. It will be nice to get to post two head to head for once. Hopefully they’ll start responding to each other in the future, that might be a laugh.

A most unexpected thing occurs: a vigilante group forms to kill pevergreen. It is a nonpartisan grouping of Sasaki (O), splitpersonality (P), AVSM (P), and Iskander (P). An interesting and pro-active attempt to off a mafioso, albeit horribly misguided. Has no one read the description of the vote shifters? I thought they were pretty blatant… Not that I care that much, a vigilante kill will make tonight’s write-up interesting.

The protection group of Beefy, w&f, and Khazaar is active once again and protecting Sasaki this time.

Luck is just not on the Caesarians’ side in this game. The Pompeians submit orders to kill Ichigo, Glenn, and Andres. These must be random kills, as they were submitted quickly after a late reminder from me about the time limit being about to expure; beginners luck in every sense of the term. Ichigo survives as he was protecting himself, as does Andres due to him having Glenn protect him. However, Glenn dies and Andres will show up as protected in the write-up, which could well put him under lynch pressure. This will be a tough round for him. The only positive thing for the Caesarians is that with Glenn gone, Andres can now use his recruiting ability. He’s already IDed some Populares, so if he can survive the coming lynch phase, he might recover from this.

As for the Pompeians, while tonight was a success for them, I think they may have done themselves serious harm here. The kill choices combined with the nature of the propaganda statement may well stand out as a flashing arrow indicating that the mafioso are newer players. Unless the Pompeians get more organized and use less blunt force, they may hand themselves to the Senate. At this point, their greatest advantage is numbers and a lack of attention in the thread due to lurking.

Caius and Jolt investigate YLC and pevergreen. They won’t be able to guide the town to anything useful in the next day phase.

(Note: On the day of Night 3, I woke up feeling horrible after having a sore throat for several days. I called in sick and suffered through the day. If there are any errors in the Night 3 write-up or results PMs, it’s because I was running a 102 degree fever for part of the day.)

Day 3:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Interesting, the early voting and discussion is not what I expected. The first bandwagon is on AggonyDuck because Andres named him as one of the Pompeians in his propaganda. Very interesting, and I think the first vindication of the propaganda ability. It may indeed be useful beyond the amusement value.

Amazingly, in the Republic QT thread the three dedicated Republicans (Jolt, Caius, and Ichigo) think the hit on Andres clears him, partially due to the nature of the write-up. Little do they know that I long ago decided to take a page from Andres’ book and make them indecipherable when it matters. Mafioso use gladii in their kills and townies use pugii. Beyond that, I am not giving any easy hints. With so many different types of protection in this game (lictors, mafia protection, townie groups, special abilities) it is my intention to make them all look as close as possible, while still fitting into the storyline. Townie kill/protect groups will be noted by reference to the number of people, but nothing beyond that. The Republic group also thinks Andres was attacked by Senators, which ignores my reference to gladii, which I suppose has not been noticed yet. In any case, this is looking very favorable for Andres to survive this lynch phase, which means he’ll get his shot at recruiting a new partner.

AggonyDuck is getting a lot of flak, a lot of it expertly manufactured by Andres. Amazingly, the more that comes out, the more squeaky clean Andres looks. The recently disclosed fact that he has been investigating every night since the beginning with another Senator is a massive boost to his innocence rating, since it means he wasn’t responsible for any of the kills. Andres’ long-term planning is paying off big-time here, and is the perfect example of why he is an excellent player. He seems to have gained the trust of the town, which is no small feat in a game like this. Now he just has to hope the Pompeians don’t knock him off.

In any case, both mafia families had better hope that either Cicero or Cato is killed off soon. With the kills proceeding slower than I anticipated (note: it was theoretically possible for there to be 15 kills on the first night), their double investigations can plow through the rest of the players in relatively short order.

Wow, lots of information spilling out this round for anyone who cares to look for it. Multiple faction identities, GH’s role as Praetor, Cicero and Cato finally IDed, two special abilities revealed… interesting stuff.

Sasaki expertly pegs Andres’ actions for exactly what they are. A mini bandwagon begins until AggonyDuck, of all people, comes to the rescue. The attention on Andres then dissolves and goes all over the place before it finally rests on Tiberius of the Drake. Interestingly, Drizzt posts (part of) his first night results on Beskar. This includes the “side entrance” bit which I only put in Dictator results. I wonder if Andres will notice that…

Night 4:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Some interesting convergence tonight. The Pompeians are being sensible and taking advantage of yesterday’s glut of information. They get their orders in early (!) with a double kill on GH to get around his lictors and an investigation of Ichigo, presumably to check on whether they need to kill him or not after last night’s failure. Note that while Ichigo can no longer win with the Pompeians, the Pompeians still don’t need to kill him to win themselves. Drizzt also submits another propaganda note, this one with some actual true information in it. The Senate will go nuts over this one, trying to determine whether to believe it or not. All in all, the Pompeians are looking much more organized tonight, and for this reason their stock just rose several points in my mind. If they can kill off at least one of the Orators before any of them are found, they’ll be in a good position for a victory. They’re already leading 6 to 2 in the faction death count, including both Caesarian Legates, and are about to off one of the Praetors.

Andres appears to be working in a protection group with other people, but he submits orders to recruit GH. This is risky because if the others think he’s with them, they’ll get a notice that the orders weren’t in properly. Not that it matters, since GH is going to die anyway. And… Chaotix is blocking Andres, which doubly foils his plans; he just cannot catch a break. Sasaki appears to be assembling a group to kill Chaotix. This is an interesting development in itself, as the evidence on Chaotix is minimal at best. I wonder what Sasaki’s plan is… (other than to go Mafioso at the end, obviously!)

The most interesting bit, however, is that there is another group assembling to protect Chaotix. This includes 2 of the replacement players, ATPG and Curio, plus split. More interestingly, split is also listed in the kill Chaotix group. Split has not yet submitted orders, so I cannot tell where this is going, but it’s likely to be a hot night in Caesar’s villa one way or another!

And… Chaotix changes his order to block GH instead. Gotta redo his death writeup now, since it will have to show Cleo. I just realized that Cleopatra’s block ability should technically block Consuls/Praetors from protecting themselves. This goes against the spirit of the role though, so I will allow self-protection by Consuls/Praetors to remain intact when visited by Cleo. Not that it will help GH though. If the attack orders on Chaotix don’t come in completely, I’ll just show him being attacked out in the streets, which will not expose him as Cleo. Same if both the attack and the protection orders are successfully submitted, though that seems impossible since split is on both. However, if the attack orders are successfully submitted and the defense orders are not, Chaotix will only survive because of GH’s lictors, so the write-up will have to show him at GH’s villa. So, for Chaotix’s sake, he had better hope that attacking Senator group is not well organized.

Split submits orders to kill Chaotix. To make things even more bizarre, TheFlax submits orders to have his Lictors protect Chaotix. This cannot be a coincidence, there’s too many people working on this Chaotix thing for that to be the case, but I can’t quite see what the purpose of this is. Why attack and protect the same person? Just to see what kind of write-up I will produce? Well, if that’s what they want, they’ll get something interesting…

Jolt decides to investigate GH. Seriously, what are the odds of this?

Day 4:

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Night 5

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Day 5:

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Night 6:

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Day 6:

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Night 7:

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Day 7:

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Night 8:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The Republicans don’t appear to be even bothering with trying to hold the senator groups together. This could be a mistake, as it’s likely going to make it easy for the mafia teams to pull off kills without being detected. The only saving grace for the Republicans is that the Pompeains are down to 1 player and will have to spend a night recruiting before they can cause any serious damage. For the Caesarians, tonight is the perfect time to make a double kill.

In the Republic QT, Jolt is pushing for an investigation of Tratorix. If he actually goes through with it, he may well win the MVP award for this game. He and Sasaki combined have been a massive help to the Republic victory. At the same time, he also suggests the possibility of making a public reveal as Cicero. This would be an unmitigated disaster, as he would certainly be killed almost immediately. He thinks both mafia families are nearly eliminated and doesn’t realize that they can both recruit.

Caius submits orders to investigate Tratorix. Unless Tratorix recruits tonight, the Pompeians may be making an early exit from the game. Tratorix submits orders to kill GSC. That’s one less Populares, but it is not likely to help the Pompeians at all, since Tratorix will certainly be lynched now before he can recruit.

As expected, despite Sasaki’s in-thread orders, the senator groups have essentially dispersed. The only orders received are from ATPG and AggonyDuck to attack khan and from Ignoramus to protect everyone. The Caesarians are going for a double hit on ATPG tonight, which is wise as it will finally dissolve the last bit of the Senate group. They’re obviously cautious about protection, though in this case it is overkill. They’re going to have to up their kill rate soon or they will likely be found by the Orators before they can kill off all the Optimates. One per night isn’t going to cut it.

With 25 minutes left in the night, Caius changes his investigation to ‘khaan. A huge mistake, and Tratorix dodges a bullet tonight. Instead of eliminating the Pompeians completely during the day, another innocent is likely to be lynched instead.

Day 8:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Night 9:

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Day 9:

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Night 10:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The Republic QT is showing an interesting aspect of the Iskander/john plan that I hadn’t considered: by openly proclaiming their partisan nature and saying they are investigating together, they get a free ride to kill at night without the Republican group thinking they’re backing out of groups. A ballsy play, but startlingly effective so far; the Republicans are completely ignoring them, even Sasaki who was on their case earlier in the game. Can these two pull off a massive come-from-behind win?

Ignoramus uses his special ability and switches from Optimates to Populares. A wise choice on his part, and one less person the Caesarians need to kill to win. johnhughthom will get a PM saying that someone has switched factions. Though it won’t name the person, it shouldn’t be too hard for him to figure out who it was given the info that has been disclosed about Ignoramus previously. As of this moment, the Caesarians only need to kill off 6 more to win. Tonight they are doing a double hit on AggonyDuck, which will reduce the Optimates to 5.

LG attempts to arrange a townie hit on split to narrow down the suspects. Greyblades balks publicly and accuses LG of being a mafioso. This kind of conflict within the townies was what I was hoping to create with this game. It adds an extra dimension of strategy to being a townie which is not normally present in most mafia games. I definitely feel like the current situation is ramping up the tension a bit, and it’s a shame it didn’t come earlier. This makes me think that some of the stuff that I stripped out from the 30 Years War game concept would work well. Perhaps it will be worth doing a second game afterall.

LG’s assaults eventually convince Greyblades to participate in the vigilante group, apparently to save his own skin. The group will fail because split has his villa and is inactive. This will probably be seen as reason to lynch him tomorrow. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Beefy and Khazaar are investigating together, apparently with LG’s approval, which is interesting.

The summary of this all is that the Republicans have managed to re-assemble their groups and think they have a handle on everything. They are wrong on all their top suspects, but it’s going to take them some time to realize this. The game will probably turn on whether they turn on john and Iskander immediately after their current suspects are disposed of or cleared. john and iskander really need to be killing 2 per night. Their caution on AggonyDuck is understandable, but unwise. LG has said he was a Consul so many times that they must have seen it by now. LG is the obvious target for a double hit, not Aggony. Plus, LG is leading the townie group. I think john and Iskander are making a mistake by leaving him alive and wasting a double hit on Aggony.

Day 10:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

As expected, split gets a lot of heat for surviving the attack. However, that’s not the major development. The big news is that john and Iskander sent a fake result on an investigation of AggonyDuck to LG. They made a massive blunder here, because they named Aggony as a Populares. For anyone who cares to read the Night X write-up carefully, it IDs Aggony as an Optimates. That’s solid evidence that john and Iskander have fabricated their result, which is instant guilt at this point in the game. Eventually this will get out and that will seal their fates. The most unbelievable aspect of this blunder is that Andres has a REAL investigation result on Aggony from Night 1, which he presumably provided to john in his ‘last will.’ This mistake would never have been made with if they had checked their info a bit more carefully.

I am now comfortable predicting a solid Republican victory. I’m a bit sad to see the mafioso groups go down, but in the end the Republicans simply played a better game. Jolt and Caius have done a superb job. For every step back they’ve made, they’ve taken two steps forward. Good instincts resulted in good investigations. They wisely used their conversion ability to gain solid, trustworthy allies, and all the while they kept out of the public eye and remained alive. I am absolutely stunned that they have essentially survived the entire game without either of them being attacked once by anyone. They deserve to win, pure and simple.

john and Iskander are attempting to privately rally the Populares to eliminate the Optimates. Unfortunately, they continue to include the self-confessed Consul, LG, in their plans. Even if they persuade split and Greyblades, they will not have enough votes to do this through brute force. Of the 6 remaining non-mafioso Populares, only 4 have the option of winning by siding with Caesar. Thus, they are outnumbered 6 to 7 by those who need to defeat their plans in order to win. Those 7 also include the two vote switchers. They’re making a good effort, but the course of the game is against them. The continued survival of Cato and Cicero will be impossible for them to overcome. One will likely be lynched here, and the other vigilante killed during the night.

And cue the hold music again as the forums seize up for three days. Needless to say, this is annoying.

When it resumes, I give the phase several extra hours, which results in split getting a vote in for Beefy. There’s no point in holding the vote longer, because it’s never going to get any better than this for the Caesarians. Of the three no votes, Beefy is a guaranteed vote against Iskander to save his own neck, and Khazaar is a likely vote against Iskander since he’s Populares. While Ignoramus and Murat (abstaining) could theoretically go for a Beefy vote, Caius is also currently abstaining and if he gets online, he could make it impossible for Iskander to stay alive by voting for him and submitting another vote switch order. As I see it, Iskander is doomed no matter what, so I pull the trigger. Time to close this game out.

Night 11:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Day 11:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Concluding Remarks:

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The Republicans won through superior strategy and organization, pure and simple. As I predicted in the beginning, the Republic victory depended entirely on whether Jolt and Caius were able to join up and survive for a while. They did not disappoint, meeting up by the second day and operating together from there on out. They investigated wisely, IDing 3 of the 6 starting Mafioso by that method and using their vote switching abilities very well to get their targets lynched. Jolt in particular deserves the MVP award for this game for his inspired and consistent push to investigate atheotes and Tratorix. No one else was suspicious of them, and Jolt even had to buck the skeptical Sasaki to get it done.

Speaking of Sasaki, the Republicans also made incredibly good use of the conversion ability. They ended up converting both Consuls, one Praetor, and Sasaki. This allowed them to form a trustworthy group to direct the town discussion without exposing themselves. It also guaranteed them protection if needed, though it turned out to be unnecessary, since neither were ever attacked. Sasaki deserves the runner-up MVP award. His skill in organizing the town was instrumental in pinning down the mafia and preventing them from operating. The multiple groups attacking and protecting the same targets was inspired, and Sasaki’s instincts alone were responsible for the lynch of Drizzt. LittleGrizzly wasn’t able to hold Sasaki’s townie groups together, but he performed very well as the mouthpiece for the Orators. With Sasaki’s blessing, he was able to continue covering for them through the end of the game.

The Pompeians seem to have been undone by their lack of experience. In the first few phases, they seemed disorganized and without any long-term strategy. This eventually started to appear and they grew more sophisticated, but by that point Drizzt was oozing classic mafia tells which resulted in his lynch. Tratorix and atheotes did well as lurkers for a bit, and they did both mafia groups a huge favor by going after Sasaki… luckily on a night when GSC used his one-time kill on Sasaki as well. However, after atheotes was lynched Tratorix made major blunders by spending the next 2 nights killing solo and protecting in a group respectively. He should have been recruiting immediately and his failure to do so doomed not only the Pompeians, but probably also the Caesarians. If an Optimates Senator had been converted, the final stages of the game would probably have been far more difficult for the Republicans to figure out.

The Caesarians were undone mainly by pure bad luck. Andres did a superb job laying the ground work for a long-term strategy, but Glenn’s failure to ever even pick up his role PM was a major blow. Then navarro was spotted by a seemingly random investigation and went out on Day 2. This made Andres essentially a solo mafia family. He managed to get things together, but then more bad luck followed with the Pompeians coincidentally hitting him and Glenn on the same night. Glenn died 24 hours before his role would have been given to a replacement player, which would have greatly helped Andres. As if that wasn’t bad enough luck, Andres immediately submitted orders to recruit GH. This would have been a perfect move… except that GH was killed that night. Andres then turned to the only other person he knew was Populares (johnhughthom) for recruiting on the next night, which coincided with his death.

johnhughthom instantly went from Populares Senator to Caesarian Dictator because he became a Legate at the same time that Andres died, thus prompting the Legate promotion ability. john then immediately recruited Iskander, who he knew and trusted, and this popped the Caesarians right back into contention. Both players did a fabulous job concealing their activities and continuing with Andres’ style of propaganda posting, which convinced the Republicans that Caesar was still alive right through the end of the game. In the end, the Caesarians, like the Pompeians, were simply undone by the failure to take out either Caius or Jolt. The final nail in their coffin was the error of providing a fake investigation result to LG which showed Aggony as a Populares. This was a careless error, since they already knew from Andres’ investigation that he was Optimates. Since the write-up clearly showed Aggony as an Optimates, the Republic group instantly turned on them. Without this error they probably would have survived another round or two, and would have still had a shot at victory.

As noted in the beginning, this game was something of an experiment to see how well the split town system worked. I am satisfied with the results, though in hindsight I did a few things wrong. First, the Orator roles were a bit over-powered. True, things would have turned out very different if just one of them had been killed off early, but in the end they did operate as intended. The balance problem I saw was in the conversion ability. It was too powerful to allow the Orators to convert the Praetors and the Consuls. I intended those roles to be potential mafia-aligned doctors, and instead they became free bodyguards for the Orators. If I could redo the game, I would give the Orators only 2 conversions each, not 3, and limit them to plain Senators, with Praetors and Consuls immune. The Orators had plenty of power at their fingertips with the vote shifting ability: the doctor conversions were simply too much.

On the mafia side, I would have made a couple minor changes. First, I would let the mafia self-protect, like the Praetors and Consuls. Second, I would have allowed the recruitment ability to be used when 2 mafioso were still alive, instead of restricting it to when the Dictator was solo. Still, even if these changes had been made to the Orators and mafia roles, I do not think it would have changed the outcome in this game. Neither Jolt nor Caius were ever attacked, so their doctor conversions only provided them with extra votes in the Senate which would have been no different from a converted Senator.

The main disappointment I had was that nearly everyone remained focused on the Republic victory until very late in the game. In hindsight this makes sense, since going for a faction victory requires survival until late game, so people aren’t going to start looking at that until they think they may live through the end. There are several aspects of the 30 Years War draft that I cut out of Rubicon which would likely have resulted in factional splits occurring far earlier in the game. I will not talk about some of these since I do plan on running the 30 Years game eventually, but one thing that will help will be allowing at least some ‘townie’ players to only be able to win by a faction victory after they are dead. In any case, Rubicon was just the test-run, I think the real version will be more interesting. Now I just need to figure out how to get 50-60 players and how to prevent the forum from imploding multiple times while I host.

(Thanks to Andres for saying several times that this thing is easier to produce when you write it while the game is going rather than after it is done.)

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Rubicon Information and Summary Thread

Prologue

Prelude

Night I

Day I

Night II

Day II

Night III

Day III

Night IV

Day IV

Night V

Re: Rubicon Information and Summary Thread

Night VI

Day VI

Night VII

Day VII

Night VIII

Day VIII

Night IX

Day IX

Night X

Day X

Night XI

Day XI

Complete Role PMs

Game Commentary

Bookmarks

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