The Inquisition [Concluded]

[GeneralHankerchief]

New pet theory: Kage was the neutral-to-evil third party role and had us all fooled. Mafia killing him was a stroke of luck for the town. From what we know of the roles (the only other revealed power role being a likely town-aligned Monty) it makes sense from a balance perspective.

Or, alternatively, Kage was good, the evil third party role is still out there, and we're all about to die.

Head says first scenario, gut says second. For once I'm leaning to my head.

[Zack]

Monty also directly implicated you, so I'm trying not to roll my eyes at your performance here.

[Zack]

posting this PM exchange again, emphasis mine

As you may know by now, I am the scanner role that's been talked about lately.

But I have come to suspect that after dcmort, the Mafia has been interfering with my scans. If so, the likeliest candidate is Myrddraal. He has been around since the beginning, organizing Shahnak. Under his leadership, Kage's PR was killed off early, and I myself was attacked after I revealed to him that I was a scanner. His biggest partner was Pizza, whom I was also working with after scanning as town. But Pizza died the night after I scanned edse as scum.

I don't think he expected me to scan dcmort on the night of Kage's death (on Pizza's suggestion), but afterwards he may have been spoofing my results. After all, how likely is it that I would scan all 3 scum in a row, under such circumstances? Also strange is the change in Myrd's demeanor since dcmort's lynch. At first, he was quite eager to abet and protect me, but suddenly afterwards he has been out for my blood, as though he has not himself been kept well-informed of my role-actions.

So then, I will not reveal yet who it is that I scanned as Mafia last night, the third in a row - but I think Pizza was correct to surmise that the Shahnak group has been completely compromised from the outset.

Right now, we must organize to lynch Myrddraal. Tonight, I will explain who gave me my scan target for last night, and who that target was that flipped Mafia. We will attack the one who gave me the target, as a consolidated group. It will not succeed in killing them, but there will be a useful side-effect.

I will explain more later.


Appendix (Standing Scan Results)
Italicized are the scans I think have been spoofed

1: Visorslash, Shahnak Town, no action
2: Pizza, Firnaz Town, protects Visorslash
3: Kage, Town, protects Montmorency
4: DCMort, Mafia, does nothing, attacked Montmorency previous night
5: Edse, Mafia, Visorslash's killer
6: , Mafia, Pizza's killer

Why did you send this to five people you haven't scanned? Did you just send it to everyone except Myrddraal? If he's mafia why did you redact your scan result, are there more than three?

Well, if my hunch is correct, then the Mafia will simply feed the results that they want to justify mislynches, and when they are satisfied they will get rid of me; this is my countermove. And of course, everyone I have scanned town is dead.

To elaborate on the first message, I think that DCMort was a legitimate scan, and the Mafia just didn't know to interfere with me yet, or didn't think it necessary. The result I got for DCMort was that he was Mafia aligned, had done nothing that night, and had attacked me the previous night. This all makes good sense, and certainly we can see that I was attacked by one person who doesn't seem to have shown up in any other writeups. I believe DCMort was the god Shahnak - god of the skies. Firnaz and Armouz would then be the killers of Kagemusha and Visorslash, and they are the ones I think are fooling me right now.

Look at the mentions of "the sea" and other identifying keywords in the kill writeups. I speculate Ironside was attacked first by Firnaz (god of death) and then by Armouz (god of sea). BSmith was killed by Armouz. In other words, the white-haired attacker should be Armouz.

Besides lynching Myrd, the idea is to mass an attack on the other individual whom I suspect (I will reveal this tonight). The attack will not succeed in killing the target, but that isn't the point. I want them to know that they will be attacked, and that the attack will somehow weaken or incriminate them. Just know that if I die, they will be conclusively shown as scum, and if my whole scenario here is misconceived then no harm, no foul. The target comes to no harm, the scan result I am concealing for now will be widely known, and that individual can be lynched without a problem as probable final-scum.

[Zack]

In other words, Monty seemed to think his death proved GH was scum.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Give me a couple of hours and I'll address this.

[Ituralde]

All hail to Shahnank the Sky God!

Um, I mean all hail to Emperor Kavehir, of course! I repent, I repent....

This has definetly taken an interesting turn. I don't read the statement from Montmorency to implicate GH as being scum, in fact I can't really make sense of it, but GH was always my backup lynch option, so I see no reason not to go throuth with it during the next day phase. If there is one at that!

[El Barto]

So we vote for GeneralHankerchief next phase, amirite?

[Visor]

Okay, senseless panic is over, rationality is kicking in. I don't think khaan would have tipped his hand regarding Sooh's identity and Kavehir's powers like this if the game was still to be ongoing, or at the very least not entering a new phase (and I don't mean night/day). Think we're done after tonight, for better or for worse.

Can't be a scum victory.

3 possible scum alive means that 3:6 is the ratio, 3:5 after the next day so even in the worst case scenario we still dont lose after tonight.

[Montmorency]

Why are you talking about a scenario in which all 3 Mafia are still alive? That's not even on the table.

At any rate, 3 scum:5 vanilla town is so lopsided that its mirror image is like 3 scum:50 vanilla town.

[Visor]

Why are you talking about a scenario in which all 3 Mafia are still alive? That's not even on the table.

At any rate, 3 scum:5 vanilla town is so lopsided that its mirror image is like 3 scum:50 vanilla town.

I'm talking worst case scenario.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Okay, so the Monty thing. First of all, this is what he posted when making his plan public:

If you are scum, there will be a very interesting result, even though you will not be harmed. The nice thing is, it will be evident even if I do not remain alive to elaborate.

If you are not scum, then nothing informative will occur. A wasted night, but if you put so much assurance in Sooh being scum, with or without my scan result, her lynch should follow smoothly anyway.

I recognize that this can be read a couple of different ways and that a PM instruction probably takes precedence over something posted in the public thread, but because it's exasperating to defend myself against something that's not my behavior or my actions, we're rolling with it. Nothing surrounding the attempt on my life appears to be interesting or out of the ordinary. I'm doing my thing, five people show up, they start arguing about their gods, I stay alive. Pretty much what everyone thought was going to happen. Monty's death was a separate action that was completely unrelated to the attempt on my life. My guess is that Sooh was making use of her secondary ability as mafia, as outlined in khaan's OP:

There will be three mafia. The mafia will have the customary power to kill, as well as something additional during the night. There will not be conversion as a mechanic.

Secondly, and I think I made this point in one of Barto's games over the summer, just because Monty's dead doesn't necessarily make him right. He thought Sooh's scan was spoofed. Evidence is pretty strongly pointing towards her being guilty. He went hard after Myrddraal a round ago. This is less apparent, but I still believe Myrddraal was innocent. Scum or not, dead or alive, Monty is human and just as fallible as the rest of us. He chose not to reveal further information and the exact specifications of his role. That's his prerogative and I'm certainly not going to criticize him for it - I probably would have done the same thing in his shoes. But it also means we can't take anything for granted.

[El Barto]

But you haven't told me whether I should vote for you tomorrow or not, GeneralHankerchief.

Also, can someone work out Monty's wonky numbers?

[GeneralHankerchief]

But you haven't told me whether I should vote for you tomorrow or not, GeneralHankerchief.

You should not vote for me tomorrow.

Also, can someone work out Monty's wonky numbers?

I'll look into it if the game is still continuing.

[El Barto]

You should not vote for me tomorrow.

Master Hankerchief, the handwave you forgot.

I'll look into it if the game is still continuing.

Well, the game is still continuing.

…

…

…

I think.

[seireikhaan]

This was the most focused GeneralHankerchief could remember being in quite a while. He was sorting through what remained of Montmorency's quarters, determined to find answers to the questions he sought. He was sure that they were here, he was confident that Montmorency knew more than he let on. At last! This record was what he was looking for! He leafed through the parchment, eyes wide in shock as he discovered the truth of what had been happening. It was not just Shahnak! There were more! He had to warn-

BAM!

The door to the quarters shot off the hinges as the other remaining eight members of the inquisition poured in, weapons raised in hostility.

"Wait, no, I can explain!" GeneralHankerchief protested, the documents in his left hand. "It's all right here, the explanation to everything!"

"Nonsense! You are guilty, General!" A man at the head of the group proclaimed. "We, the inquisition, pass judgment upon you! Prepare to d-"

"Ah, now, now, let us here this evidence," a new voice came in from behind the doorway. All turned in astonishment as Emperor Kavehir strolled through the ruined doorway, a curt frown upon his face. "I am quite eager to see what we have here, actually." He accepted the parchment from GeneralHankerchief, who immediately launched into an explanation of what he discovered.

"My lord, it seems that Shahnak, Armouz, and Firnaz were all here, hidden in the guises of Sooh, Edse, and Dcmort."

"Interesting that this confirms the reports I received earlier today regarding certain... suspicious activities from all three of them, I wonder how he acquired this knowledge..." Kavehir interrupted. He looked upon the gathered inquisition, and a golden flame briefly lit his eyes. "Perhaps it does not matter, for he is gone." Kavehir sighed. "Then we free, at last, finally free. Thank you, thank you all. This realm may be mine, but each of you gathered here has shaped it forever. You and your families will have my eternal gratitude. It is time to disband our Inquisition..." Kavehir paused, and he allowed himself a small smile. "And it is time to celebrate."

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

TOWN VICTORY!

Alive:


Autolycus
El Barto
GeneralHankerchief
Golden1Knight
Ituralde
Johnhughtom
Landlubber
Nightbringer
Zack


Lynched:

Abstain (D1)
Andres (D2)
ACIN (D3)
Dcmort(D4) (Firnaz, God of the Underworld - Mafia)
Edse(D5) (Armouz, God of the Sea - Mafia)
Myrddraal(D6)
Sooh (D7) (Shahnak, God of the Sky - Mafia)

Killed:

Csargo (D1)
Bsmith (N2)
Ironside (N3)
Kagemusha(N4) (Jahandour, Royal Inquisitor - Power Town Role)
Visorslash (N5)
Askthepizzaguy(N6)
Montmorency(N7) (Ardashad, God of Secrets - Third party/Sole Survivor)

Attacked:

Ironside (N1)
Golden1Knight (N2)
Montmorency(N3)
Ituralde(N4)
GeneralHankerchief(N7)



More to come soon from my end.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Huh, I was pretty sure that Kage was the neutral/evil and Monty was the town-aligned role (though you were sketchy as hell near the end, dude).

GG all, I had fun when I wasn't completely fretting that I had it all wrong/utterly exasperated that I was lynchbait. Good effort to the mafia, looks like you guys just had a run of bad luck. And of course, thanks to khaan for hosting this one.

[landlubber]

yooooo

[Visor]

I knew Monty was third party since Day 2. I claimed to keep him alive.

GG all.

[GeneralHankerchief]

I knew Monty was third party since Day 2. I claimed to keep him alive.

Just out of boredom?

[Visor]

Just out of boredom?

Well, I figure Monty could help win the game, plus I could use the break. Monty getting an extra scan would help town.

The game was basically solved at that point. Me and Pizza before that were already discussing that Sooh seemed off.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Me and Pizza before that were already discussing that Sooh seemed off.

Haha, I asked him point blank what he thought of Sooh (around the time edse was lynched IIRC) and he was noncommittal. Dear god did the foursome of me-Pizza-Monty-Myrd not trust each other.

[Visor]

Haha, I asked him point blank what he thought of Sooh (around the time edse was lynched IIRC) and he was noncommittal. Dear god did the foursome of me-Pizza-Monty-Myrd not trust each other.

Myrd getting lynched was a shocker.

Its the character clash. Big name players never trust other big name players. ;)

[Sooh]

Ironically this is probably the most fun I've had as mafia in a game. Thanks guys. :)

[Montmorency]

This was definitely a town victory. Edse was the only person I didn't scan on recommendation.

Sure, Pizza only mentioned DC alongside Golden because they were both working with him - DC probably wasn't on anyone's radar at that point - but I certainly didn't see Sooh coming.

As usual, I got too invested in divining convoluted schemes and setups against me behind the scenes; I actually did believe that Myrd and GH might be spoofing me. In the end, the simplest scenario prevailed. I did what I did my last round knowing it would get me killed, but that regardless I had set things up so that town would almost-certainly lynch correctly based on the details of the outcome. Also, I didn't like the idea of facing up to 10 lynches to get to last-man-standing!

Nevertheless, 3-scan combo - it would have been beautiful had I been town.

[Montmorency]

Also, keeping with 3rd-party tradition, I walked a fine line between deceit and exposure. I told most of what I was, and most of what I said was just so, except for the played-up "scan the Emperor" victory condition I invented to soften the revelation that I was town-hostile in the end. Finally, there is one thing I never revealed, though I don't exactly know the details myself: I could never count towards any group action, and participating in a group would preclude my scanning anyone that night. What I don't know is whether I would appear in the writeup with the other group members if I actually did follow through on a group action.

Here's my role PM:

You are Ardashad, God of Secrets

You are Ardashad, God of Secrets. You are a deity long forgotten by the prominent and wealthy, only remembered in the darkest of places. When Emperor Kavehir’s father declared himself a god, you assumed an avatar and took a place at the court, to observe the events that would unfold. You know the forces that eliminated the emperor’s father were not jealous nobles, but in fact, Shahnak, Armouz, and Firnaz themselves. Their avatars are still present, and will attempt to eliminate the new Emperor. While it would please you greatly to see the pompous, arrogant gods taken down a notch and defeated, you also would greatly like to see the mortal emperor fall as well. This may be your chance to do both.

Unlike the other three gods, you are no valorous fighter. Open conflict has never been your way. While you may participate in night actions disguised as a nominal worshipper of Firnaz, your participation will be of no assistance for the group. Your power, instead, lies in information. Each night, you may investigate one person. Your investigation will reveal their alignment, their night actions that night, and their night actions the previous night. Additionally, your divination will leave a mark on them that will inform you of their night action the following night, should they have one. Lastly, on the night of your divination of a target, should they attempt to attack you, you will receive a forewarning that will assist you in escaping their clutches. Divining a target that attacks you will increase the required number of people to attack you by one for any group assisting them.

Your victory conditions are to eliminate all other forces in the game. To be blunt, your victory condition is to be the last man standing.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In case it is not clear - you are a superpowered detective, but with serial killer's alignment. If the role seems strange and experimental, it's because it is. Good luck.

[Visor]

I did pass along to ATPG that you were not aligned with us, I don't know if he passed it on.

[Montmorency]

Yeah, that's what his transient vote on me was about during the Edse round. I'm pretty sure Myrd also indicated it in-thread somewhere,

[Myrddraal]

As usual, I got too invested in divining convoluted schemes and setups against me behind the scenes; I actually did believe that Myrd and GH might be spoofing me. In the end, the simplest scenario prevailed.

I was also completely convinced that your edse scan was incorrect, and of course that sent me off down the garden path... Unable to accept the spoofing theory, I was utterly convinced that you (Monty) had fabricated the edse result.

I was starting to think that there were two factions of killers. I thought that each religion might have a serial killer role (one of them, dcmort, having attacked Monty), with two mafioso being the white-haired and dark haired duo (which I assumed to be Monty and an accomplice).

It's interesting how one incorrect but tightly-held assumption can lead you off into a complete fabrication. Hat's off for GH for catching Sooh out on the protection failure reason, I was so side tracked by that point that I wouldn't have noticed.

I haven't played a full mafia game in years. That was fun. The highlight of the game has got to be the night of 'Visor's last dance'. Great writing @seireikhaan

[Visor]

I agree with Myrd, I really loved my writeup too, reminded me of the one I had in With Great Sacrifice, another really good writeup.

Damn you Lewwyn! :(

[edse]

I was so close to survive my lynch (and would have if I'd come online half an hour earlier). At least I was right about Monty being the third party, but now I want to know the numbers for the cults.

Thanks for the game! :)