The Scourge of Ephesus [Concluded]

[GeneralHankerchief]

All right, time to play my trump card. I've been holding on to this one for a long time.

I've been playing Mafia for over two and a half years now on the .Org. In that time, I've played a lot of games, and had a lot of roles, with a lot of different overall outcomes. I've been mafia-killed, serial-killed, vig-killed, killed then brought back by host error, first killed, final killed, lynched as mafioso, survived as mafioso, survived as townie.

But, in all my time on the .Org, I have never been lynched as a pro-town player in a Large game. Ever.

Oh sure, I've come close more times than I can count. But I've always clawed through it, escaping the lynch and then either falling off the radar or killed. The hammer has never come down upon me.

I realized this little bit of trivia quite a while ago, probably sometime in 2007. I realized that, for whatever reason, I always escaped the noose as a townie or an aligned role. I figured that sometime down the line I'd bring this up when the chips were down and the votes on me were piling up, and hopefully people would realize the significance of me finally divulging this secret and unvoting me. God knows I've been tempted over the years - Midgard (I think both of them), Chicago Soiree, heck, even Capo II, but I always ended up keeping my cards to my chest.

Well, no longer. The votes on me are in. The chips are down. And I'm playing my hand.

Guys, I know the evidence against me looks bad. Every time somebody points out something else in the Andres writeups that seems to point to my guilt I cringe. Every time somebody asks me a question that I desperately wish I could answer but I can't, I cringe. I realize that there have been a steady drumbeat of posts calling for my lynch for almost a week, game-time, now, a drumbeat that has recently picked up into a crescendo. Heaven knows if the roles were reversed, I'd be screaming for my head too.

I don't have a defense to many of your accusations. I truly wish I did, but I don't. And I do realize how truly scummy I must look to you. But, I say to you here and now, that I am pro-town.

I know this may go against every single instinct in your body, every single unbreakable truth this game has ever taught you, but you guys need to trust me. I am on your side.

If any of you guys haven't totally lost your souls to the complete loss of belief in the goodness of mankind that this game provides, you need to trust me. If any of you guys have ever experienced in your lives the feeling when every single person around you has laughed at you and mocked you for being wrong about something, but you knew in your heart of hearts that you were right, you need to trust me. If any of you guys have ever enjoyed playing with me or in one of my games even one measly iota... you need to trust me on this. I am innocent. I am pro-town. I am nothing more than I have ever claimed to be. I know nothing more than I ever claimed to know. I swear this to be true.

If the game ends and it turns out I'm lying, feel free to ostracize me. Never believe me about anything again. Ban me from your games. Heck, Andres, ban me from the entire Gameroom. But you won't have to do that. Because I am telling the truth.

I am on your side. I am probably about to be lynched. And I firmly believe that my lynching will result in the loss of the entire game for the town. And I really want to win this one.

I have just divulged my deepest Gameroom secret for the sake of a town victory in this game. You guys just need to trust me on this.

[seireikhaan]

Bah. I've known about that little streak for a long time.

[Chaotix]

That's a lot to bet on there, GH. But do you honestly think anyone will try to kick you out of the gameroom for lying in a game about concealing lies?

While you sound really earnest, and I would love to believe you right now, this is one of those times where the whole mafia game is hanging in the balance- and I know myself to have been gullible enough to believe someone and lost a game for it.

If you can provide a really solid case for YLC, or whoever you really believe is the mafia, then I will take my vote off you and support your vote. And then, if it turns out you are wrong, or perhaps lying, and then another townie is lynched, and then at least one more killed by the mafia, I'm going to have to lead the next lynch on you for it.

[GeneralHankerchief]

That's a lot to bet on there, GH. But do you honestly think anyone will try to kick you out of the gameroom for lying in a game about concealing lies?

While you sound really earnest, and I would love to believe you right now, this is one of those times where the whole mafia game is hanging in the balance- and I know myself to have been gullible enough to believe someone and lost a game for it.

I know, I have too. And it stings. You kick yourself for days.

If you can provide a really solid case for YLC, or whoever you really believe is the mafia, then I will take my vote off you and support your vote. And then, if it turns out you are wrong, or perhaps lying, and then another townie is lynched, and then at least one more killed by the mafia, I'm going to have to lead the next lynch on you for it.

My case against YLC is twofold: First, there is an extremely good chance that not all the drops in the night actions between yesterday and today can be accounted for by CA's lynch. Since my blocking of YLC was the only other variable, I have to look at him.

Secondly, there was the little PM exchange we had that I posted a couple of pages back in which he tried to influence who I blocked. I found this consistent with his risk-taking personality that I know from LotR.

Now, he's mentioned there being a ton of kills that night when I first blocked him a while ago. And truth be told, it may be an ironclad defense. But I'm waiting for Seamus's analysis on that aspect of the game.

Finally, even if we lynch YLC and he's guilty, the game will still continue on. The cigarette killer struck again last night, meaning that he is not YLC. Now, I will try to block him, or at the very least prevent him from killing anyone, but this game is far from over.

[Chaotix]

Oh, I just know I am going to regret this, now...

You sound too earnest for me to disbelieve you here. Perhaps I am just too gullible, perhaps you are too good of a liar, and perhaps both are true but you're telling the truth anyway. The logic is sound here, we're just shady on the facts...

In any case, I will Unvote: GH and Vote: YLC.

This is either the biggest mistake or the best decision of the game so far. (Or my vote won't be the deciding one at all )
If town loses, they know they can blame me, then, at least.

EDIT:
To seireikhaan: First off, I apologize for not being there to hear your response- probably sounding like a broken record here, but I've been very busy. Nevertheless, I doubt I would have changed my vote. Plus, why single me out when there were two others who could have unvoted, too, but didn't?
Second, you just admitted your whole accusation was a farce. What, pray tell, was the point of it, then? Seamus and TinCow as well have even built on it to form a stronger case against GH. If you mix facts into your plausible lies, people tend to believe everything.

As for boudica, I definitely also find it odd that she's active in Chicago Soiree but completely inactive here

[Seamus Fermanagh]

You know, S'khaan, your summary got me to thinking again. Both of them jangled me, but of the two it was Chaotix I've been drifting back to in my thoughts.

Vote: Chaotix27


I believe that the entire game hinges on GH. His role is a unique power focus. I am reasonably sure he is NOT mafia -- but I have many jitters about whether or not he is pro-town, or in it for his own supernatural reasons.

[ULC]

Oh, GH, such a wonderful monologue (that I didn't bother to read). I can't say whether or not that is OOC of you, but to assume I am a risktaker is something else all together - I am serendipitously gifted in my unknowing ability to be calculating, doing things that set a series of events into motion I do not foresee but play in my favor. That's not taking a risk, that's just being blind. Be truthful next time

Chaotix, may I ask why you just suddenly jumped on me? You concur with SK, but in defiance of him suggesting I am innocent, you instead vote for me? Why, pray tell, so interested in living? I really don't care whether I live or die, it's the thrill of the game that keeps me playing - what keeps you playing?

Hmmmm...I am sorry, but I will vote:abstain, until I can hear further from TC on the current matter. The more I can see different sides of the argument, the more inclined I will be to actually vote - and please, actually argue the facts, not with each other.

[boudica]

You know, S'khaan, your summary got me to thinking again. Both of them jangled me, but of the two it was Chaotix I've been drifting back to in my thoughts.

Vote: Chaotix27


I believe that the entire game hinges on GH. His role is a unique power focus. I am reasonably sure he is NOT mafia -- but I have many jitters about whether or not he is pro-town, or in it for his own supernatural reasons.

@Chaotix - I have been just as active on this thread as I have in Chicago - ie. equally poor contributions in both.

@Khaan - I have to agree that your assesment of me as a bit green is accurate enough. I think there have been so many options for twists in this game that most of the detailed analysis has taken a leap of imaginary faith at some point.

The only thing I feel fairly sure of is GH's innocence. That has nothing to do with his 'trump' pulling, and everything to do with his behaviour throughout the game. (I may not have contributed much, but at least I've actually read everything YLC ;)

Not having much of a clue what to do, I was going to vote YLC until Chaotix27 made his last few 'mistakes' following Seireikhaans' analysis. You can read it as bandwagonning if you like, but hopefully history will justify it as a good lynch vote:

vote: Chaotix27

[seireikhaan]

Alright... Time to pull the ace, I guess...

So, do you guys remembering me launching some kind of tirade against GH, trying to get him lynched because I found all these reasons for his guiltiness? Well...

By this point, I feel kinda bad. The whole thing was an act. Pure and simple. I never intended to actually get GH lynched. So, let's get down to business, folks. We got one kill. Seamus and YLC were blocked. YLC clearly has no interest in defending himself because he knows people will just use it as a reason to attack him, much like he did to me. Hence, I believe he is innocent, as I was. Seamus, however, cannot be crossed off in my mind totally.

What I find interesting is the departure of the shovel-men. Why did they stop appearing? The cold wind... That, I believe, is a host gimmick to let the town know we're getting very close to the end. I personally take this as meaning there is, in some form or another, two allied mafioso left. This could mean there is still the potential, one way or another, for two kills after this lynch, meaning we very well may only have 2 lynches left. In other words, we really need to make this one count.

My suspicion is... Boudica.

Reason? Here. 3rd on the bandwagon. Ridiculuous? Not quite- my first game in mafia, when I was a scum, I got caught red handed by the very thing. Additionally, reasoning is quite poor. Suicides are inherently bad for the town- a scum won't do it, hence suicides just thin out town numbers unnecessarily. Boudica's a smart gal, and has, I believe, read a few games prior to this one. This was unexcusably poor reasoning for a bandwagon. Further, Seamus makes a good case here against her.

My second suspect... Chaotix. Here he blatantly ignores the ridiculousness of voting for a man who leaves his fate to a coin flip, admits I made a good argument against GH, but accuses me of not "defending myself". I proceed to point out the obvious once more, and despite 6 hours passing, Chaotix does not change his vote, nor even make a post. Maybe he wasn't online, maybe he was, but either way its now impossible to know because he hid. Instead of confronting truth when it took but one "unvote" to stop my absurd lynch, he wasn't there to hear my response to his "challenge". Why do you challenge a person when you won't even acknowledge they made a response to it? Or how about after my lynch when killings continued? Nope... just headed onwards with the game and ignored the previous absurdity.

Actually, you know what... Make Chaotix number one, and Boudica number two. I urge the town to examine Chaotix as the man on the grassy knoll.

[Reenk Roink]

All right, time to play my trump card. I've been holding on to this one for a long time.

I've been playing Mafia for over two and a half years now on the .Org. In that time, I've played a lot of games, and had a lot of roles, with a lot of different overall outcomes. I've been mafia-killed, serial-killed, vig-killed, killed then brought back by host error, first killed, final killed, lynched as mafioso, survived as mafioso, survived as townie.

But, in all my time on the .Org, I have never been lynched as a pro-town player in a Large game. Ever.

Oh sure, I've come close more times than I can count. But I've always clawed through it, escaping the lynch and then either falling off the radar or killed. The hammer has never come down upon me.

I realized this little bit of trivia quite a while ago, probably sometime in 2007. I realized that, for whatever reason, I always escaped the noose as a townie or an aligned role. I figured that sometime down the line I'd bring this up when the chips were down and the votes on me were piling up, and hopefully people would realize the significance of me finally divulging this secret and unvoting me. God knows I've been tempted over the years - Midgard (I think both of them), Chicago Soiree, heck, even Capo II, but I always ended up keeping my cards to my chest.

Well, no longer. The votes on me are in. The chips are down. And I'm playing my hand.

Guys, I know the evidence against me looks bad. Every time somebody points out something else in the Andres writeups that seems to point to my guilt I cringe. Every time somebody asks me a question that I desperately wish I could answer but I can't, I cringe. I realize that there have been a steady drumbeat of posts calling for my lynch for almost a week, game-time, now, a drumbeat that has recently picked up into a crescendo. Heaven knows if the roles were reversed, I'd be screaming for my head too.

I don't have a defense to many of your accusations. I truly wish I did, but I don't. And I do realize how truly scummy I must look to you. But, I say to you here and now, that I am pro-town.

I know this may go against every single instinct in your body, every single unbreakable truth this game has ever taught you, but you guys need to trust me. I am on your side.

If any of you guys haven't totally lost your souls to the complete loss of belief in the goodness of mankind that this game provides, you need to trust me. If any of you guys have ever experienced in your lives the feeling when every single person around you has laughed at you and mocked you for being wrong about something, but you knew in your heart of hearts that you were right, you need to trust me. If any of you guys have ever enjoyed playing with me or in one of my games even one measly iota... you need to trust me on this. I am innocent. I am pro-town. I am nothing more than I have ever claimed to be. I know nothing more than I ever claimed to know. I swear this to be true.

If the game ends and it turns out I'm lying, feel free to ostracize me. Never believe me about anything again. Ban me from your games. Heck, Andres, ban me from the entire Gameroom. But you won't have to do that. Because I am telling the truth.

I am on your side. I am probably about to be lynched. And I firmly believe that my lynching will result in the loss of the entire game for the town. And I really want to win this one.

I have just divulged my deepest Gameroom secret for the sake of a town victory in this game. You guys just need to trust me on this.

[ULC]

Thats how I felt too Reenkmiester, but I want to hear from TC first.