The Settlement: Information and Summary thread

[Reenk Roink]

This thread is just to make it easier to get information for the game The Settlement.

Please do not post in this thread.

[Reenk Roink]

The Settlement




Reading the Background story, Gameplay, Mechanics and Rules sections will help you to understand the game. The Acknowledgements section is not necessary to understand the game.

Background story:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Our people are a proud stock and many stories have been told about them! This is the story of the priest-king Reenk Roink and the unusual circumstances of his “tribe” if it can even be called that.

Reenk Roink was a young man of many talents: he honored the gods, he respected his people, he killed many enemy men, he loved many friendly women. He demonstrated his capability in all matters that are important to a priest-king distinguishing himself as a fearless warrior and brilliant tactician against his enemies and a responsible and benevolent ruler to his friends.

However, men like Reenk Roink were becoming increasingly rare in a world where the peoples grew more numerous and the lands grew smaller and the priest kings grew greedier...

The king of kings decided that young priest kings like Reenk Roink would not be able to rule over ever fragmenting pieces of the old lands anymore. They would have to venture out somewhere else, taking the many displaced with them.

And so Reenk Roink prepared himself to leave his palace before he could ever rule from its splendid court. He gathered the only belongings he needed - his sword, his shield, his armor, his horse, and, along with a group of his loyal Bronze Companions, Reenk Roink cut a path through his now dangerous homeland to the shores of the Sea of Wine where a ship waited to carry him to a new chapter of his life.

It was at the sandy beaches that, for the first time, he met the refugee people he was going to make a new life with - his new tribe. They came from all walks of life; what stories they had to tell! And yet Reenk Roink knew nothing about them. After examining their faces, obviously grizzled from the arduous journey they undertook, Reenk Roink asked the gods blessings for them. As he leaned on his sword hilt, watching them board the ship, Reenk Roink could not help but feel a great sense of admiration for these noble folk.

What a misguided sentiment he would soon realize it was!

Gameplay:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This is a game in which all players have some role which gives them some abilities and some goals. Though each role is unique in some way, there may be classes of one of more players who share similar goals.

Note: For the purposes of the story, female players are men. No misogyny intended.

The settlers: Every player is a settler. The settlers are divided into two groups:

The men: The men make up the majority of the people in the settlement. They come from different backgrounds, have different lives, act different ways, and do different things. The one thing that unites them is the pact they made with the priest king Reenk Roink in which they pledged loyalty and obedience to his rule for a degree of influence in decisions.

The good men: The good men make up the minority of the people in the settlement. Like the men, they come from different backgrounds, have different lives, act different ways, and do different things, but they also possess two things in more quantity then the men, status and wealth. They also made a pact with the priest king Reenk Roink in which they pledged loyalty and obedience to his rule for a degree of influence in decisions - a greater degree of influence then the men.

All settlers have two abilities:

Voting: In every day period, the priest king Reenk Roink will hold a council to decide which settler to lynch.

Each settler may decide to vote or not vote (there will be no penalty for not voting).

The priest king Reenk Roink requests that settlers inscribe their vote (or have it inscribed for them) in the manner specified: Vote: [name].

The settlers may change their vote as many times as they wish.

The settlers may not vote no lynch. The settlers may abstain.

In the event of a majority of abstain votes, the matter is wholly up to the discretion of the priest king Reenk Roink.

The men will have a vote rating of 1 (their vote counts as one tally) while the good men will have a vote rating of 2 (their vote counts as two tallies).

The settler with the largest tally count will be executed.

In the event of ties, the matter is wholly up to the discretion of the priest king Reenk Roink.

Dueling: In every day period during the priest king Reenk Roink’s council, a settler may challenge one other settler to a fight to the death for whatever reason.

Each settler may decide to duel or not to duel (there will be no penalty for not dueling).

The priest king Reenk Roink requests that settlers inscribe their challenge (or have it inscribed for them) in the manner specified: Challenge: [name].

The duel proposal may be accepted by the challenged in which case it is added to the list of challenges or rejected in which case it is not added to the list of challenges. The list is handled in first come - first served order.

The list remains throughout the game.

The priest king Reenk Roink requests that settlers accept or reject a challenge by inscribing (or having inscribed for them) Accept: [name] or Reject: [name].

If a challenge is not responded to it will be considered as if it was rejected.

A settler may challenge at most one other settler each day period. A settler may be challenged more than once by several other settlers each day period and he may accept or reject as many of them as he likes.

No redundant challenges will be accepted (if player 1 challenges player 2 then player 2 cannot challenge player 1 while the original challenge remains on the list).

The fight will take place at dusk before the execution. There is only one fight each round.

Each settler will receive a battle rating in his role message based on his role background. The battle ratings of the combatants will decide the outcome of the fight.

If a settler who was to be executed is killed in a duel, then the matter becomes wholly up to the discretion of the priest king Reenk Roink.

If a settler wishes to withdraw a challenge he issued before let him inscribe (or have inscribed for him) Withdraw: [name].

If a settler wishes to reject a challenge he accepted before let him inscribe (or have inscribed for him) Reject [name].

The usurpers: Among the settlers are the usurpers. Very little is known about them aside from the fact that they exist.

The way the roles will be handled is as such. First the players will be grouped into the men and the good men. The list of each settler’s status (as one of the men or one of the good men) will be made public. Then the roles will be assigned. Some roles are only available to men, some roles are only available to good men, and some roles are available to both. Everyone will get a role message.

Mechanics:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The day period will last anywhere from 20 to 30 hours usually. Whenever the day period begins, an announcement will be made as to the exact time of the end of the day period (Eastern Standard Time – military format). Any activity (votes or challenges) will be accepted up to the deadline inclusive (the Org time will be used). I will give an extension if three or more people ask for one. The deadlines will be staggered at different times throughout the day so that it is fairer to people from different time zones.

The night period will last anywhere up to 30 hours (hopefully shorter). I will allow a little more leeway for everyone to get their orders in, though I will end the night without all the orders if I have to. I will end the night as soon as I get all orders and finish the writeup.

There will be a punctuality system in place which will handle interleaving orders. It is thus in your best interest to get your orders in fast.

There is no penalty for inactivity in this game, I’d rather you join up and not be active then not join up at all! I hope the nature of the game will push you to be active in some way. Suicides will be granted only in exceptional cases.

I’m looking for the number of players to be in the mid twenties or more. More people are always easier to accommodate than less people.

Rules:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

You must:
-Obey the rules of the Org and the Gameroom (laws and good manners)
-Have fun

You must not:
-Post screenshots of anything game related (private messages, quicktopics, the game thread itself, chatlogs)
-Quote or forge any game related private messages once dead

You are allowed to do anything else (quote and forge private messages or quicktopics or chatlogs while alive, reveal your role while dead (as long as you don’t quote and or lightly paraphrase private messages), private message other players dead or alive, etc…)

Acknowledgements:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Lastly but most importantly, I would like to mention some of the games (and their hosts) that have been most influential in making this one possible.

Of course, I have to start by mentioning GeneralHankerchief who brought Mafia games here. His original Mafia series had the story base which is the main reason I play and my game is story based.

Gotta have more Mafia by Sasaki Kojiro was the first game where many roles were added (I think). Since then, I have always liked games with a lot of roles and my game has a lot of roles.

Interficio quod Scrupulosa by Sir Moody was a monumental game in influencing me. Before that, I believe most games had similar (though richly detailed) settings based on modern towns. Interficio quod Scrupulosa was then the first uniquely “themed” game which really inspired me to roleplay and get into character. The game itself had a basic setup, but the immersion factor made it my favorite game. After playing Interficio quod Scrupulosa, I first seriously entertained the idea of hosting a game - this game (over two years in the making ).

That special place for Interficio quod Scrupulosa was soon to be joined by another game when Sigurd hosted The Midgard Saga. Sigurd had taken the idea of a themed game and ran with it. The immersion factor of The Midgard Saga was magnificent; every role was crafted in the setting of the game. Sigurd also introduced a new mechanic of dueling, the Holmgang, which I thought was brilliant, and is the clear influence of my own duel system.

Very recently, yet another game has arrived among Interficio quod Scrupulosa and The Midgard Saga – Whispers in the Night by YLC (with some design help from Sigurd). The setting was more modern and typical, but the immersion factor was again top notch. Whispers in the Night had the mechanic of the dead continuing as ghosts which was the first time I had encountered such a thing, and it influenced me as much as it entertained me.

Of course, the fact is, I have been greatly influenced by every game I have played and every player and host. I don’t mention everyone not because of lack of love, but lack of brains and large amounts of laziness.

Please post any questions you might have and thanks for playing.

[Reenk Roink]

How the sea creature's attack led to societal reforms and the revolutionary plot





For much of the trip on the calm sea it was busy yet uneventful for the priest king Reenk Roink. He shuttered himself inside his dimly lit office most days, making plans for the settlement he would lead when the ship reached land. The problems he faced were many and the solutions to them were obscure, but what kept Reenk Roink going was the high esteem in which he held his followers, the settlers. Though he had very little interaction with them, his first impressions of them gave the priest king lofty thoughts of their quality which made him optimistic about the future. Reenk Roink did not pay too much attention to the increasing complaints about them from his Bronze Companions...

After almost a month of peaceful sailing, the ship was violently jarred one night. Everyone on board rushed to the stern to find a large sea creature attached to the hull! The Bronze Companions immediately drew their swords and hacked away at the monster’s tentacles, while most of the settlers fled in cowardice. In their stampede away from the stern, one man even knocked over a drowsy and confused Reenk Roink. This was the start of the rapid loss of respect that the priest king had for the settlers.

After a short but intense period of fighting, the swords of the Bronze Companions had done enough damage to force the sea creature to release its grasp and retreat to the murky sea. It was after this that everyone saw what had attracted the beast. A slightly gnawed corpse hung from a rope on the stern.

Reenk Roink had the body pulled back up on deck and as soon as this was done a wailing woman threw herself on the corpse, her sorrow overpowering her aversion to the ghastly sight and horrid stench. A well groomed man who pushed himself through the Bronze Companions explained to the priest king that the dead man was one of his slaves, his grief coming from the fact that he had lost property rather than over the loss of a life.

The well groomed man callously shoved aside the weeping women, now identified to be the dead slave’s wife, and knelt over to scrutinize the corpse. After several moments of searching for something, he suddenly got up and, with a disgusted look on his face, spit on the dead slave’s wife, exclaiming: “You will have to pay for the bag of coins I gave him!”

The priest king Reenk Roink got very angry at this display and immediately confronted the well groomed man: “How dare you treat even a slave like this? I will not tolerate this as your ruler!”

The well groomed man however seemed unrepentant for his action and instead snapped back at Reenk Roink: “Who do you think you are? Small, petty king! I served real kings before. Kings who had men like you eat from the scraps that fell from the side of their table. You would be unfit to take my slaves’ daughters’ hands in marriage!”

At this affront, the priest king pulled out his sword and struck the well groomed man across his face with the flat side, sending him whimpering to the ground. The crowd that had already gathered around the argument became outraged, but not at the well groomed man for his cruelty or insolence. Rather they began shouting at their priest king: “Brutal Tyrant! Brutal Tyrant!”

Reenk Roink signaled to his Bronze Companions to put down the rebellious settlers, using force if necessary. However, one of the Bronze Companions leaned over to the priest king and whispered: “Perhaps we should consider indulging them. After all, times have changed and the masses are less obedient to the gods much less the priest kings. These are people you have no bond with; their loyalty will be weak and their treachery will be dangerous.”

Heeding the sound advice of his trusted friend, Reenk Roink turned to the chanting mob and attempted to appease them: “Please settlers. I am indeed as much a servant to you as you are to me. However, for a society to function, there needs to be order, and I am the keeper of that order as chosen by the gods!”

One well dressed man from the mob spoke up: “No priest king! Despotism is the reason we are forced to leave our homeland in the first place. You must ensure that the rich among the settlers, being the best in education, temperament, and odor, have a decided influence pertaining to all matters of government. We demand representation!”

Cries of support from the well dressed people of the mob were heard.

Another man, who only wore ordinary clothes, and whose fingers were blackened with dirt despite being away from land for a month interjected: “We also demand equal representation!”

While this drew cheers from a large portion of the mob, the well dressed people were angered at the thought of being seen as equals with those who were just ordinarily dressed. Soon a bitter argument emerged.

An old man wearing clean, elegant, though unextravagant clothes spoke up in a conciliatory tone: “Please my sons, we are all small under the gods, and we all should have a voice. At the same time, there are those among us whom the gods have favored more than others, and they should be given a degree of superiority, as is their right according to our traditional ways."

Such an eloquent appeal brought tears to Reenk Roink’s eyes, but the sentiments of the priest king were not shared by the two groups, who both rushed to beat the old man, and in doing so, began to beat each other.

Soon women and slaves and even children spoke up, demanding representation, and at this, both parties could finally find a common ground: “Never!”

Seeing this agreement, the priest king Reenk Roink quickly had his Bronze Companions to separate the mob and spoke: “It will be done as the old man has said. The good men among you will have the voice of two men among you who will also have a voice. This is what I have decided, and it will not be overturned!”

With this the priest king was about to storm off, the grand opinion of his people broken forever in his mind, when he noticed that the corpse of the dead slave was gone, and a pendant lay in its place! Examining this pendant, Reenk Roink noticed that it bore the symbol of Vode, the god of wars and foreign peoples. The priest king did not know what to make of this omen as the ship sailed on...

Good Men:

GeneralHankerchief
seireikhaan
Captain Blackadder
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Beefy187
TheFlax
Jolt
Yoyoma1910
Tristan de Castelreng

Men:

Sasaki Kojiro
taka
White_eyes:D
Lord Winter
Psychonaut
CountArach
FactionHeir
Andres
boudica
TinCow
Ichigo
pevergreen
Sigurd
shlin28
777Ares777
Askthepizzaguy
LittleGrizzly
Seamus Fermanagh

[Reenk Roink]

How the usupers' plot was uncovered by the priest king only to have the settlers take control of the investigations

In the depths of the night an man slowly limped across the swampy trails surrounded by partially constructed structures of the settlement. He stopped suddenly in a marshy clearing and simply stood there for a few moments until a dark mist descended from the sky. The mist formed itself into a humanoid figure and handed the man a scroll.

Nothing was said, as the man nodded and the misty figure dissipated. The man then limped slowly back to the settlement, towards the temple complex.

Meanwhile the priest king paced along the unfinished halls of his temple complex. It had been a dozen days since the ship was beached on this swampy strip of land that was now his settlement and a dozen more since the attack of the sea creature. The disappearance of the dead slave still weighed heavily on his mind and he examined the amulet of Vode wrapped around his fingers. What could it possibly mean? Why would the god of wars and foreign peoples send such an omen?

Reenk Roink had time to reflect on such questions in the silence the dark brought. During the day, the immense tasks that needed to be completed along with the bickering between the settlers on socio-economic issues scarcely allowed for contemplative thought.

Somewhat jaded that he was in such a situation with such people, the priest king began to walk back to his chambers. At the door he spotted a scroll lying on the floor. Looking around, he reached for a sword placed against the wall with one hand while picking up the scroll with the other.

Breaking the seal, Reenk Roink slowly unraveled the scroll. Written in the most exquisite script were the words:

Disarm your soul

A burst of energy suddenly emanated from the text right onto the priest king's handsome face. He was not even able to let out a sound as he collapsed to the floor.

When light entered the priest king's eyes again, he believed he had went to paradise. Instead he saw the concerned faces of his Bronze Companions and a few priests around him. A feeling of disappointment overcame Reenk Roink as he looked beyond to see a crowd of settlers around him, who were also somewhat disappointed that the one they looked at looked back.

Dismissing the settlers, the priest king then was told by his closest advisers that he was found lying on the ground unconscious. The entire hallway of the temple complex and everything in it was totally scorched. Everything but the priest king and the scroll found next to him that is.

Hesitantly taking the scroll from one of the priests, Reenk Roink examined it again noting that the words had been erased and replaced with the symbol of OsiOsi instead.

The priest king got out of his bed and told his retinue to gather the people in the gathering hall in an hour. He then turned to the priests to get to the bottom of what had happened.

In the Forest of the Gods, the god of wars and foreign peoples watched with a tinge of disappointment as the priest king Reenk Roink continued to walk about the earth. He turned to the god of the sky and questioned: "Why did you save him?"

OsiOsi, the king of the gods replied: "It is not for you to affect a matter that I have forbidden to the gods. You know well enough that you must act through your followers. If you plot anything Vode, know well that I also plot, and I am the best plotter."

[Reenk Roink]

The settlers gathered unenthusiastically in the gathering hall at the time the priest king had issued. Some of the good men burned some incense to drown out the smell of the men.

After some time, Reenk Roink entered the hall, flanked by his retinue of Bronze Companions and some priests. He began to address the crowd: "Settlers, our preliminary investigation has led us to some conclusions. The events on the ship with the sea creature and the attempt on my life last night are related in some way having to do with the god Vode. We do not know why Vode is displeased with us but the guy has always been somewhat of a prick so it is not completely unexpected."

The priest king continued: "The priests have interpreted the signs of the gods and..."

At this point someone in the crowd abruptly interrupted: "lol gods!" However, his insolence went unpunished as he blended away in the mob.

Reenk Roink, after pausing for a few moments, carried on: "The priests have interpreted the signs of the gods and have come to the conclusion that there are usurpers among us who are following the dictates of Vode. Their goal does not stop at taking my life. They want this entire settlement to be destroyed."

"As of now, we have not identified who exactly these usurpers, but I assure you, I will oversee a thorough investigation of everyone's dwellings as well as consult the priests for info..."

The priest king was interrupted yet again, this time by a visible well dressed man: "Now just wait a minute! You agreed that us settlers would have a say in policy, and we want a say in this!"

Reenk Roink replied: "Yes, but we already have gathered much information and are close to unmask..."

An ordinary dressed man interjected: "Yes, it is us who will oversee the investigation. Every day we will gather the evidence and discuss it, and then vote for who we think is the usurper. Then we will execute that man!"

To this suggestion the settlers cheered in unison while the priest king looked at them incredulously. Soon his expression turned to one of disgust and he stormed out of the hall.

Challenge List:


Alive:

GeneralHankerchief
Sasaki Kojiro
taka
White_eyes:D
seireikhaan
Lord Winter
Captain Blackadder
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Beefy187
TheFlax
Psychonaut
CountArach
FactionHeir
Andres
boudica
Jolt
TinCow
Ichigo
Yoyoma1910
Tristan de Castelreng
pevergreen
Sigurd
shlin28
777Ares777
Askthepizzaguy
LittleGrizzly
Seamus Fermanagh

Executed:


Fallen in battle:


Killed:

[Reenk Roink]

Night fell upon the settlement and most everything had become dark and still, but the house of the man they called The Flax had a dim glow emanating from it. Inside The Flax was engrossed in his writing and scribbled away copiously. You see, The Flax was a scribe, and had devoted his life to the noble cause of Writing. He was composing yet another work of polemic against Reading, which scribes considered to be Writing’s arch nemesis.

It was at this moment that a man slipped into the house of The Flax. He was so silent that The Flax could not hear him over the sound of the gentle scratching sound his quill made when striking the papyrus.

Not many moments passed before the man pounced and drove a blade deep into the side of the neck of The Flax. Mortally wounded, The Flax spent his last moments desperately trying to prevent the blood spilling on his work. It was really a useless effort, however, as his killer shoved his now limp body off the desk and proceeded to roll up a sheet of papyrus and smoke it, well pleased with his kill.

In the outskirts of the settlement, a man stood next to an unpitched tent. He seemed to be engaged in a heated argument with an owls. After much hooting and hollering the owl let out a series of howls that those learned in the art of owl interpretation would render as: "How can I checkmate the one who not only refuses to make a move, but doesn’t even know how to play the game?"

Before the man could offer his final thoughts, a large figure, clad in well crafted armor that was dark as obsidian approached. The man turned his attention to the armored figure and cheerfully greeted him: "Hiya!"

The armored figure responded in a cool, deep tone: "What is your name?" What a critical error this warrior of Vode committed as the man opened his mouth...

"They call me pevergreen."

"It's spelled with a small p because my mommy said I was special."

"So what’s that big sword for?"

"It's shiny."

"I think I stepped in something."

"People say I talk a lot."

"Do you think so?"

"You look funny."

"This is the longest conversation I’ve ever had!"

"People sometimes throw rocks at me."

"Are you going to throw rocks at me?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

"How about now?"

Throughout this, the armored man went through a wide range of emotions he thought he had succeeded in suppressing: he was initially bored, then became confused, then became irritated, then became enraged, and finally felt some fear and pity.

He finally shouted: "ENOUGH! I have HAD my FILL of the nonsense that you freaks in this settlement constantly spout that continually tests my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you do not draw your sword RIGHT NOW and take the first swing I will give the world a sight that even the immortal gods in the Divine Forest have never seen. Do I make myself perfectly CLEAR!"

Immediately, pevergreen picked up a stick and began to draw a sword with it in the mud. This action so infuriated the armored man that he did not even wait for pevergreen to initiate the fight as was his custom. He pulled out his mace and pounded pevergreen’s head into the mud, and although the blow instantly killed him, the armored man continued to pound away pevergreen into a bloody pulp, each strike sending pink mist into the air.

As dawn finally woke from her slumber, the two dead bodies were discovered by a slave and the priest king Reenk Roink was quickly notified. The settlers were summoned to the gathering hall and all arrived on time except the one called Yoyoma who was found sleeping in his home with the sacred text of OsiOsi in one hand and an empty bottle of wine with a pretty ribbon in the other.

Finally when all the living settlers had arrived, Reenk Roink announced to the crowd: "The bodies of two of you have been found brutally murdered. Do go and bicker and conjecture in all your futility so that you may have an innocent executed. I'm going to be drink-"

The priest king was interrupted by a slave who barged inside the entrance hall holding a rock that while covered with blood still had an uncanny shine. The slave exclaimed: "I found these on master pevergreen's body, LOOK!"

As all present in the gathering gazed into the palm sized stone, they saw the entire events of pevergreen's last moments being played out. They saw the argument with the owl and they saw the armored man approach and kill him. They even saw who the armored man was. It was the man called Ares!

Reenk Roink immediately gave the order to his Bronze Companions to draw their swords and seize Ares, but amazingly, this drew protestations from the crowd who demanded they vote on the matter.

The priest king angrily stormed out of the gathering hall muttering: "Why did I have to lead such a piss hat bunch..."

Challenge List:


Alive:

GeneralHankerchief
Sasaki Kojiro
taka
White_eyes:D
seireikhaan
Lord Winter
Captain Blackadder
Gaius Scribonius Curio
Beefy187
Psychonaut
CountArach
FactionHeir
Andres
boudica
Jolt
TinCow
Ichigo
Yoyoma1910
Tristan de Castelreng
Sigurd
shlin28
777Ares777
Askthepizzaguy
LittleGrizzly
Seamus Fermanagh

Executed:


Fallen in battle:


Killed:

TheFlax
pevergreen


Day ends on Saturday, March 14 at 20:00 Eastern