Swords in the Moon [Concluded]

[TinCow]

I believe you believe that, but I don't understand, still. How do/did the killers know the swordmasters? Via investigation? Nightly kill narrative? How would they know how many there were? And why did they waste kill time on peons like me, if they knew who the best targets were?

Gobble survived a hit without someone else protecting him. This happened to other people previously, and was a clear sign that he was a swordmaster. Thus, prior to last night they mafia knew that two swordmasters were dead and knew that Gobble was the last one. This is why Sasaki revealed: he apparently believed he had nothing to lose anyway since his protection was blown.

[AggonyDuck]

I believe you believe that, but I don't understand, still. How do/did the killers know the swordmasters? Via investigation? Nightly kill narrative? How would they know how many there were? And why did they waste kill time on peons like me, if they knew who the best targets were?

I guess that will all be revealed in the game summary and the other forum reveal, but it's stumbling blocks like those that have made a decent town strategy almost impossible to craft.

The role list revealed that there were three of them. Husar was revealed through a random nightly kill.The other two they knew via Banquo's reveal. Banquo had investigated our swordmasters, propably due to CA's suggestion and on his reveal list they stuck out quite badly. The writeups then revealed that they had struck true as they had with Husar. As to your death, it is possible that someone used a one time kill ability on you. Also you need to remember that we have to two hostile factions among us and eventually they need to kill each other as well.

[Yaropolk]

I keep going back to Kukri's death. This is the night that 2 swordmasters and banquo's ghost also got knocked off. We saw 4 kills this night - the usual number, even though the last one occured out of sequence. It's possible that Kukri was the traitor - he got a kill in on one of the high profile targets, and Ninjas offed him. In which case, Andres arranged the kills out of order to allow for Kukri's kill. Another thought is that this is the first time we see the ninja master in play - the kill is very similar to CA's from last night.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

~~~ Swords in the Moon ~~~

Night 7 - Conclusion

Hour of the Rat

Yamamoto Kansuke (Gobbledygook) was guarding the room of his master, as he had done so many times.

While time was passing, he examined his armor. It was perfectly clean, as it should be. The swordmaster was very proud of his clean armor. He looked at the naginata he held in his hands and examined it as well. It was in a perfect condition and, just like his armor, it was clean. While he was busy enjoying the beauty of his weapon and watching it a bit closer, he saw a black mark on it. He started shaking his head in disbelief. He looked again and then realized that it wasn't a mark, but a shadow. Fast as lightning, he turned around and struck at something behind him. He wasn't fast enough to hit his target. The ninja managed to throw a knife at his opponent, causing a severe injury at his left arm.

When the attacker heard the running footsteps of another guard, he quickly disappeared without being recognised.

~~~

Hour of the Rat

Kago Junichiro (glyphz) was guarding the main entrance to the room of his Lord. While he was wiping off some imaginary dust on his armor, he heard sounds of a struggle at the opposite side of the room.

The swordmaster unsheeted his katana, yelled a battlecry and ran towards the noise.

While he was running towards the skirmish, he didn't notice the dark shadow hiding in a corner.

Kago saw his comrade reaching for his upper left arm, an expression of pain visible on his face. He also saw a man dressed in black running away. What he didn't notice, was the sharp katana of the other attacker striking for his neck.

The dark shadow quickly ran away. Yamamoto watched the head of his fallen comrade rolling on the floor, but he was too slow to catch the killer of his fellow swordmaster.

~~~

Hour of the Ox

Matsuura Asuma (Banquo's Ghost) went to his room. He took off his kimono and reached for his chest. He had heard some strange sounds earlier that night and they bothered him. He wondered what had happened.

He calmly prepared himself for the night, his body and spirit in perfect balance and harmony.

While he was reaching for his inner peace, his senses detected that someone was standing behind the door of his room. He quickly unsheeted his wakizashi and jumped forwards, aiming for where he suspected a killer to hide. His blow only destroyed paper and wood.

Matsuura looked puzzled. "I must be getting paranoid," he said to himself. Just as he was about to turn around, a man jumped at him and two strong, dark gloved hands were at his throat. It didn't take too long before Matsuura died. The killer pierced a dagger through his right eyeball, right into his brains, for good measure.

He left the scene unnoticed.

~~~

Day 7 - May the gods be with us.

Hour of the Rabbit

Lord Shingen was thinking about the past. Under his leadership, his clan had fought and won many battles. A lot men had died under his command and many, many others had been slain by his troops. He laughed softly. To think that criminals who murdered one human being got executed while he, being responsable for the death of thousands, got worshipped. Maybe the events of this winter were a punishment of the gods. Or a joke? Would the gods have a sense of humor?

He shaked his head. He shouldn't be thinking like that. The battles and the killings weren't meaningless, they served a purpose. If the gods would allow it, he would one day unite the Empire and become shogun. He would bring peace and the killings would stop. The battles served a higher purpose! Criminals were just criminals, killing for their own personal gain. A daimyo served the noble cause.

With this in mind, he finished his breakfeast and prepared for another exhausting day.

The men standing outside were restless. It was only when Lord Takeda entered the courtyard that they became quiet. The Tiger didn't pay attention to the dead bodies, it was becoming a familiar sight.

Sitting at his platform, he picked up a scroll. He nodded towards Nakamura Kinji (White_Eyes:D) and Midorikawa Kaito (AggonyDuck). Both men bowed for each other and their Lord. A senior officer stepped forward: "No armor, no hidden weapons. Just katana and wakizashi." Both men nodded again.

Nakamura stepped forward; his katana ready in his hand. His opponent unsheeted his sword. Nakamura dealt out the first blow which was blocked by Midorikawa, who immediately counter attacked.

Nakamura stepped aside, avoiding the deadly katana, but not without having it making a cut in his right arm. He quickly pierced his katana forward and allthough Midorikawa managed to avoid it, he twisted his ankle.

Both lightly injured men cirkled around each other, looking for an opening. A drip of sweat fell into Midorikawa's eye and he wiped it away with his left hand. Nakamura took the opportunity and jumped forward, his katana coming down for a fatal blow. Midorikawa looked up, but got blinded by the sun. He couldn't avoid the katana and the dead that it brought with it.

Sitting on his knees, looking at the blood flowing out of his body, he didn't notice the merciful blow which seperated his head from his body.

Nakamura bowed at his master, who nodded back.

Four samurai stepped forward to pick up the body of the fallen warrior. One of them, Gamo Ujisato (Kukrikhan) suddenly reached for his stomach. He fell on his knees and started to throw up. Apparently, he was in pain. Years of training and fighting battles couldn't prevent him from screaming it out in aggony. His comrades kneeled next to him, not knowing what to do. A few minutes later, Gamo Ujisato was dead. He died from an unknown cause...

~~~

edit: added spoiler tag

[Gregoshi]

Argh! I need to put my thoughts down faster. Time wasted on things AD and TC answered before I could submit.

[TinCow]

I keep going back to Kukri's death. This is the night that 2 swordmasters and banquo's ghost also got knocked off. We saw 4 kills this night - the usual number, even though the last one occured out of sequence. It's possible that Kukri was the traitor - he got a kill in on one of the high profile targets, and Ninjas offed him.

I believe this is correct. The traitors are dead and it is reasonable to assume that both Quintus and Kukri were scum of some kind. I have noticed yet another aspect of last night's kills that make it certain that all three were by ninjas: Sasaki's death by firearms. In the intro bit to that night, the ninja master gives out a poisoned bowl of rice and "a long object wrapped in cloth." The rice was used on CA, thus ninja. The long object is almost certainly an arquebus, which was used in Sasaki's death, thus that was also ninja.

There is no way that the ninjas would attack both of these people without first killing off the last remaining swordmaster. Thus Gobble must be ninja as well. Thus, while it remains unclear how many ninjas are left (I still think they'd get 3 kills even if less than 3 were alive), I do think the traitors have been eliminated.

[Gregoshi]

I keep going back to Kukri's death...

My thoughts agree with AD that it might have been a one shot ability of BQ. He was going to die that night and Kukri was prime suspect as the GF, so BQ took a best guess departing shot at him before he died.

[Yoyoma1910]

Vote:Seamus Fermanagh


I actually have no idea
How to pronounce
Properly his name,

So I can't really
Do much with it
In verse.

But, his actions,
His statements:
They are questionable.

And so, his name
Will stand, but alone.

[AggonyDuck]

Yoyo, how about you start contributing with more than just haiku?

[KukriKhan]

The role list revealed that there were three of them. Husar was revealed through a random nightly kill.The other two they knew via Banquo's reveal. Banquo had investigated our swordmasters, propably due to CA's suggestion and on his reveal list they stuck out quite badly. The writeups then revealed that they had struck true as they had with Husar. As to your death, it is possible that someone used a one time kill ability on you. Also you need to remember that we have to two hostile factions among us and eventually they need to kill each other as well.

I see. So my murder by ninja-poisoning (unusual then, but not anymore, with CA's ricebowl) was a "thinking ahead" move by them to eliminate not only town, but also a possible Traitor-faction member.

Good, then. They wasted a kill on me, via my other-than-innocent investigation result. I have served my Lord; though Traitors therefore (by my interpretation) remain in your midst.

[Kagemusha]

I think we are going down pretty fast. The town really needs to stop speculating about possible ninja master amongst the ones investigated by Banguo. If it is indeed the case that the master hides amongst the innocents. He will become a lynch target during final rounds. If we dont get rid of the traitors and ninja henchmen, there will be no final rounds as we will all be dead.

About the last night. Kato Danzo gave a "an old curio from Tanegashima" to his follower. What tanegashima was known was that 1543 Portuguese vessel shipwrecked to that island South from Kyushu. With that event certain weapon was introduced to Japan in large quantity. older designs of that weapon had been imported from China before, but those did not gain so much popularity compared to what the Portuguese had. That weapon was arqubues, or Teppo or Tanegashima teppo like the Japanese called it.

So to me it seems pretty clear that it was the same ninja henchmen that used muskets to kill Sasaki. In that case, it seems that two of our dear ninja friends killed Sasaki. That leaves us with two other kills. Both were not seen Maybe those two kills were conducted by the traitors.

We have 16 players alive and apparently atleast 4 bad guys or maybe even 5 alive. This does not give us very good odds at this point to be honest. In any case Vote : Yoyoma1910. I can stand defeat in hands of mafia, but not if the mafiaoso has not done anything other in the thread during the game then posting haikus.

[Dutch_guy]

The town really needs to stop speculating about possible ninja master amongst the ones investigated by Banguo. If it is indeed the case that the master hides amongst the innocents. He will become a lynch target during final rounds. If we dont get rid of the traitors and ninja henchmen, there will be no final rounds as we will all be dead.

That's putting off the inevitable, but, yes, it would be for the best if we'd concentrate on his henchmen. Even though on the short term that won't do anything to lower the death toll.

It seems FH has been getting a lot of heat because he analyses the kills a little to enthusiastically, but personally I haven't played enough games with him to find this strange or not but it may be the only 'reasonable' argument pro-lynch we have this round. That said I have a gut feeling Caius isn't who he says he is, he's usually more active and should simply post more were this a standard game for him.

Not voting just yet.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Caius, I think, is WoG-bait. I'd only look at him if he resumes activity in the thread.

[Wishazu]

Can someone please post the list`s of suspects and innocents that the late detective posted? It`s probably miles back now but I can`t seem to find it.

[Csargo]

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...postcount=1516

Here's BG's post.

[Wishazu]

Cheers mate.

unvote Beskar

Vote Yoyoma

I feel he is mocking us with his frivolous Haiku!

[Prince Cobra]

I think the traitors, if there are any left, are working for the town now. Nobushige is dead and the Takeda clan is threatened. I think Sasaki recognized a traitor(there were two killers, not one).

I would like to focus on either ajaxfetish or... Kage and even woad&fangs. The enemy is ready even to duel in order to escape from suspcions.

I will make my final vote now...


....

Please welcome my replacement Tiberius of the Drake

[Dutch_guy]

Caius, I think, is WoG-bait. I'd only look at him if he resumes activity in the thread.

Fair enough, we'll see what he does.

I think the traitors, if there are any left, are working for the town now. Nobushige is dead and the Takeda clan is threatened. I think Sasaki recognized a traitor(there were two killers, not one).

I don't think traitors would ever work for the town, if Andres' write ups suggest they're gone, then I think there's only we conclusion we can make.

I feel he is mocking us with his frivolous Haiku!

While they are well thought out, I fail to see how (multiple) three line short sentences benefit the town.

Vote: Yoyoma

[Caius]

I faill to see how Yokoma doesn't help us, he doesnt help us, neither he does help us. The one that went against SA was Beskar, he has been trying to lead the town votes being very active, which is scummy indeed.

Are you innocent, Beskar? What do you have to say?

[Prince Cobra]

Vote:FactionHeir

We have plenty of challenges so we can remove this man from the list. He was too close to Sasaki PoV btw.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Yoyo:

Seamus Fermanagh is pronounced as:

Shay-muss Firm-uh-naw


I suggest lynching:
Factionheir 1st, Yoyo 2nd, Caius 3rd, GH if it still hasn't ended then.

Instead, it'll be generic samurai Seamus 1st, and then Beskar.

[Yoyoma1910]

Since most of my work here isn't in haiku, I can only assume many of you accusing me are not actually reading what I am writing.


I also find those who think they are saying very much, are simply saying very little with many words.



And thank you, Seamus, for the pronunciation guide, I never would have figured it out.

[Andres]

40 minutes until deadline.

[Yoyoma1910]

My theory on the nature of last nights write up:

Hour of Boar:
Ninja Master

Hour of Rat:
Ninja (With log from fire. Did someone loose their weapon at some point?)

Hour of Rat:
Ninja

Hour of Tiger:
Special Ninja Event



Currently I believe we have two ninja and their master.


We had two Wannabes die in one evening early on. As previously stated, I believe one of them was likely one of the traitors. After that, I'm not sure.

[Andres]

Voting concluded. Stand by for execution.

[Andres]

~~~ Swords in the Moon ~~~

Day 8 - Conclusion

Hour of the Cock


“ Snow falls from the sky
“ the white carpet too silent
“ now, the end is near

Fujimoto Takumi (FactionHeir) looked at the scroll. His heart was filled with sorrow and grief. He still couldn’t believe his master had died that night. Or did he?

He watched the snow flocks falling down. Soft and gentle like a loving wife, anxiously waiting for her warrior to come back. Cold like the ice surrounding the heart of the loving wife when she realizes her beloved husband is not coming back. Falling down, like the coin that had decided his fate.

Soon, Fujimoto would be cold too. He wondered if he would join his master. Would he accept his presence? There was only one way to find out.

He reached for the clean, cold knife that was waiting on the white cushions in front of him. Slowly, he opened the belt of his white kimono. For the last time, he looked at the world around him. Soon he would know if life truly was but a dream in a dream.

The knife pierced through skin and flesh. Before he could lose his self control, the katana of his kaishakunin struck mercifully.

Snow kept falling on Fujimoto's body.

Soft, gentle and cold.

~~~

Tally:


FactionHeir: 3 (GeneralHankerchief, Seamus Fermanagh, Stephen Asen)

Yoyoma1910: 3 (Kagemusha, Dutch_guy, Wishazu)
Seamus Fermanagh: 2 (ajaxfetish, Yoyoma1910)
Beskar: 2 (Caius, Ichigo)
Ichigo : 1 (Beskar)
Rhyfelwyr: 1 (woad&fangs)

Not voting: 4 (FactionHeir, Chimpyang, White_Eyes:D, Rhyfelwyr)

~~~

Challenges:

1. Woad&fangs vs. Rhyfelwyr;
2. Wishazu vs. Beskar
3. Caius vs. Beskar
4. Seamus vs. GH

Alive (15):

GeneralHankerchief
Caius
Ichigo
Wishazu
White_Eyes:D
Stephen Assen
Rhyfelwyr
Beskar
Kagemusha
Chimpyang
Yoyoma1910
Seamus Fermanagh
woad&fangs
ajaxfetish
Dutch_guy

Killed (27):
Khazaar
spL1tp3r50nal1ty
Lord Winter
The Spartan
Iskander III
Shinseikhaan
Olavi
Thermal Mercury
Chaotix27
pevergreen
Gregoshi

Reenk Roink
LittleGrizzly
Louis VI the Fat
Crazed Rabbit
A Very Super Market
Glenn
Husar
Death is yonder
Haudegen
Captain Blackadder
glyphz
Banquo's Ghost
Kukrikhan
Sasaki Kojiro
CountArach

Gobbledygook

Fallen in battle (8):
Northnovas
Ignoramus

El Diablo
YLC
Beefy187
AggonyDuck
Yaropolk
atheotes

Lynched (8):

Askthepizzaguy
Sigurd
shlin28

TosaInu
TinCow
Quintus.JC
Peasant Phill
FactionHeir

WoG/Suicide (6):
Xehh II

Jolt
Beaver
Tristan de Castelreng
Psychonaut
taka

~~~

It's now night. PM's please. Night will last for +/- 23 hours. That's until 21.30 (GMT +1)

Note: Tiberius of the Drakewill replace Stephen Asen.

[Kagemusha]

I would be now even sure to vote Yoyoma1910 the next round. First serious consideration for several players to lynch him and suddenly his behaviour changes. Worried of dying are we?

[Gregoshi]

Note: Tiberius Beskar will replace Stephen Asen.

I thought Beskar was Tiberius Beskar. Did we just lose a player that was alive considering that both Stephen and Beskar are both alive? I'm lost.

Kage, Yoyoma changed because of a complaint about his hiaku-only posting - apparently. Not to say you aren't right though.

So, did we miss again? That's the way I read it, but there are a few things in the writeup to ponder some more.

[FactionHeir]

Well, at least of the 15 alive, 27% rather than 25% are scum now. Probably even more after the night phase.

Btw, I was a generic ninja, just like Seamus, which is why I didn't challenge.

Its interesting to note that even though I was tied with yoyo, I got lynched.

FoS everyone that pushed for my lynch.

Oh, and Andres, its Tiberius of the Drake, not Beskar - lest he play 2 characters at once.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Since most of my work here isn't in haiku, I can only assume many of you accusing me are not actually reading what I am writing.


I also find those who think they are saying very much, are simply saying very little with many words.



And thank you, Seamus, for the pronunciation guide, I never would have figured it out.

Yeah right. Tell it to Tee Boudreau for me.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Btw, I was a generic ninja, just like Seamus, which is why I didn't challenge.

Is this the part where I'm supposed to say "oooh what a giveaway" or some such? I said samurai laddie, samurai.


Let GH stamp paid to my account if he wishes.


I say Yoyo next for the beautiful serene gut dumping.