Murder Manor III- Game thread [Concluded]

[Secura]

I think I should start by saying something important, and it warrants saying because it forms the springboard for my suspicions today.

My accusation of atheotes, while entirely well-founded, was little more than a feint; atheotes had been acting suspect certainly, but having been absent for two weeks it was highly unlikely that he was mafia. Instead, my post was designed to generate some much-needed discussion and to gauge the responses of each remaining person to the post itself... and one person's response stood out above all others; this is a post that, to me, screams "OH SH-".

Now, it's likely that you're thinking "why leave Secura alive after a post like that?", and you'd be right if you were talking to the average player who wouldn't hesistate to kill me; YLC is not an average player, however, and is as gutsy and calculated as they come... leaving me alive after a post such as my accusation against atheotes was always going to be a risk in the event that I turned to him next, but considering I had been wrong about atheotes and it appeared to be such a stab-in-the-dark accusation, any above-average player would have been feeling pretty comfortable with such odds. We're also talking about a player unlikely to follow through with a kill on me at that point and then shrug it off as WIFOM... so he took a risk, methinks.

Now, observe the posts following my accusation against atheotes; out of the seven players still alive, five of them cast their vote for him (myself, Split, Diana, Winston and Niklas), while Methos fails to respond at all (he's away) and YLC fails to comment beyond his aforementioned post... who will stand out most if I had been killed overnight? More than likely, it's the person who posts the more peculiar response that doesn't contribute anything to the discussion. And why would he need to comment, as we're going to lynch a fellow guest and doing his work for him and he can maintain the veneer of a confused or uninterested townie?

Having seen Renata verily accusing YLC throughout the last few phases and then Niklas' suggestion that YLC would make a good lynch followed by White_eyes:D's pointed-if-a-little-sketchy accusation, I found myself wondering what was the driving force behind their sentiments, and I ended up reading back through the thread to find what it was I had missed; on the exterior there's nothing glaringly obvious about YLC's posts at all, he simply appears to be a helpful and active townie, which is something that you'd expect really, but there's a few things to take note of.

YLC's initial posts don't really tell a great deal until we see him vote for Niklas, citing his target's vote for Methos as reasoning; both Methos and Zack (whom Beefy replaced) follow suit. When it seems as though moving is becoming more favourable and his trap has been sufficiently sprung, he unvotes, choses to move too and then casts an FoS at both of those who followed his vote. Why do this? And then this? Yes, calling people out is part of the townie game, but his posts seem to be purposefully, if subtlely, antagonistic; it is as though he's formulating seeds of doubt at that point that will eventually bloom in the late-game, leading us to tear strips off one another while he passes by.

YLC then engages in a little tête-à-tête with Renata, who had previously taken johnhughthom (whom I replaced) to task about his defense of Niklas; the majority of this is slow-paced and largely building up to a point which it seems too perfect to pass by... YLC calls Renata out. Now, looking at the list of players alive at that point, Renata clearly stands out as the greatest threat to a mafioso for the aggressive, take-no-prisoners manner in which she will chase down her suspicions; she is cleverly baited into saying something out-of-turn which is then used to undermine her actions and cast her in a negative light... your biggest threat walking into a trap such as that is one of those jackpot moments, no? This is made even better when YLC then does a complete u-turn and asks for the collated results that he was all too ready to poke at previously, again striking a chord as the useful townie, something reiterated consistently over the coming phases.

This veneer of a useful townie doesn't shake off; following the events of the second night, YLC posts an edited map of the house and states that the creature will move to the Guest Bathroom the next night... which it does, killing TheFlax. Naturally this would draw alot of attention to YLC if the paranormal deaths continued to follow the trend he helpfully suggested the creature was following; the next victim of the demon, Double A, does not die in the Computer Room as predicted, but the Kitchen instead, thereby throwing potential suspicion away from YLC, which is further alleviated by some light-hearted and humourous posts that I won't link-spam with. Don't forget the ultimate piece of WIFOM too.

I think subsequent posts cover the same argument I've already stated, but things begin to get a little interesting when YLC votes for Methos and is heavily lambasted for doing so by Renata; it is at this point that YLC loses his cool a little and votes Blackadder in order to try to level up the tie and save himself. Again, there's an opportunity for YLC to appear to be the consumate townie; he realises that he can escape the lynch by ensuring that the move votes are equal or greater to the lynch votes (move beating lynch, as it does), and thus appeals to a few players to turn the tide, tie the votes and save himself... this selflessness naturally casts himself as a good guy in the eyes of Blackadder, Split and others; it's a fantastic success as he avoids a vote entirely in the next round.

I'm aware that YLC has been in the Living Room with the majority of players for a few rounds now, but I believe there's reasoning for this; eventually he will be powerful enough to overcome what little light we can muster in this parallel world and snuff us all out at once, rather than preying upon the scattered individuals around the house. With some of us in one room, we're easier to keep track of... it almost feels as though this has been the plan for quite a while. :/

I feel I have to apologise to everyone for how long it took me to see the light; it seems Renata has been prepped to say "I told you so" for half the game, with Niklas also having a gut feeling. I should have been paying this game a greater amount of attention from the beginning. I also apologise for the long-winded post.