Since that is lynch, then the day has ended and it's now twilight, which means I am most likely thawed. So, I will say that I will jail either Krackenor or Othero tonight. Also, I really want people to look closely at who did what, and to the fact that, if, as I suspect, we have 4 Mafia, then killing one, then getting a Town person converted would make us have 4/9. If Krackenor freezes someone again, which he can since Articuno has been prepping people to be frozen all game long (or he could just freeze me again), then it becomes 4/8, which is enough for the Mafia to block any vote they want.
In other words, if Krackenor is Mafia, we'll probably lose.
It's a good thing I'm not! Also, I just got Articuno in the past day... The only one I've primed with him is possibly Ileein, though who really knows if that went through
Well, Articuno has been used to prep people all game. I don't know if that switching users invalidates all the prepwork already done. And regardless, even if he hasn't prepped people, he could still freeze someone whose Pokemon is weak to Ice, like me.
The mysterious writing on the windows is perhaps what causes Ileein to choose to buy an ice heal, inspired by the dropping temperature of the room after Articuno's appearance. Perhaps it is Melali, frozen in place with only her eyes able to follow the conversation. Perhaps it is simply precaution, but she clings to it tightly as Alec hands her the only one in his possession.
There is a bright light as Sylveon emerges from her pokeball, smiling sweetly at those around her as she rests on her haunches. After a spoken command from Portius, the ribbons decorating her body rise in a serpentine motion through the air, and she makes direct eye contact with Cen before firing a scalding blast of heated silver light at her face, knocking the woman to the feet with the fae power of moonlight.
The heat is enough to melt the ghostly writing on the window, and it seems that each of you has come to the conclusion that Phoebus is not what she appears to be. As Portius moves towards her threateningly, however, Othero steps between him and the woman, glaring daggers at the other man. "You don't touch her. None of you get to. Alec!" The champion looks over from his position, perched like some strange bird on a nearby table sorting books, and turns his head in confusion, "The boat has a jail-type thing, right?"
"You mean the brig?"
Othero rolls his eyes almost audibly, and nods, "Yes, I mean the brig. We can detain her until we reach Alola, and then..." He trails off as he realises no one is looking at him, before turning to see the door to the library is wide open and his beloved is gone. "PHOEBUS!" His roar seems to surprise even him, but a moment later he is a blur as he races down the hallway.
Some of you give chase before Sylandra appears from behind the shelves, beckoning to Alec and those remaining. "Come, she's headed to the main deck." A sick twisting motion fills the guts of the remaining trainers, and when it clears a heartbeat later you can see Phoebus standing at the railing to the ship, hair plastered to her face as she looks up at the clouds. The rain parts in the air before it can hit Sylandra or Alec, but as those who left to follow Othero and Othero himself catch up with Phoebus, you all quickly become soaked through.
"Phoebus, get away from there," Othero calls over the steady drum of rain against the wooden deck of the boat. "Come on, we'll take you down to the brig and we can settle this reasonably."
Phoebus takes hold of rigging nearby and uses the sturdy rope to hoist herself up to stand on the railing, where she turns around to face everyone. "It's all been so dramatic, and everything's so..." She pauses for a moment before squeezing the rope tightly and digging her free hand into her pocket. "It's all so wrong. People are dying, and I...I killed someone. Twice. I don't know who I am, I don't know what I"m doing...I was raised like a Joy, but I'm not, I'm just..."
She shakes her head bitterly, and before anyone can react the pill bottle she pulls out of her pocket has lost its lid and poured its contents into her mouth. "Sleeping pills," she says simply, and continues looking down at everyone. "I don't want to go out in pain, or have to make any of you kill me. And if you try..." She leans backwards, only her tight grip on the rope and her non-slip shoes keeping her from falling over the rail. "You won't."
Othero raises his hands in the universal gesture of peace and unintended harm. "Okay. I won't let them, just...come down, please." His voice trembles as he says it, and the desperation within is clear. A forked tongue of lightning illuminates the sky and thunder nearly cracks your eardrums, and you remember the last time you saw Phoebus in these conditions. For an instant, the insane murderess who worked her cruel deeds on Vivet is visible, but as soon as the harsh lightning fades the dark bags under her eyes are visible, the way her limbs shake with exhaustion.
She nods and leans forward, letting go of the rope and falling towards Othero, who catches her in his arms and gently settles himself to the floor, cradling her. The scene is beautiful and tragic, and no one dares interrupt, but after a few minutes Alec walks over carefully and crouches down next to Othero. The man looks up warningly, but Alec simply presses two fingers against Phoebus' neck and waits. He whispers into Othero's ear and retreats to those gathered around Sylandra like goslings to their mother goose. "Her pulse is nearly gone. Maybe a minute of life left. Whatever she took is...is strong."
Though you cannot hear, it is easy to see Othero's words move as he whispers to Phoebus, and you can even see her lips move slightly to return but a few. Almost precisely a minute later, Othero bows his head over her body and reaches to close her eyes with one hand.
Her body is taken to the medical cabin, and it is only once everyone has gathered in the galley does Alec bring out a bag with Phoebus' name monogrammed on it in a loving hand stitch. Othero reaches for it and opens it before turning it on his head, dumping a vast assortment of medical tools and supplies onto the nearest table. "Phoebus was my personal invitation," Alec says quietly, his hand dropping to his side. "She was a medical professional trained by the Joy Academy."
He pulls his pokegear out and dials in a number before he and Sylandra Disappear with the harsh scent of burning ozone in their wake, leaving your gasps of surprise unheard.
"Oh yeah, you're a naughty mayor, aren't you? Misfile that Form MA631-D. Comptroller Shevat's got a nice gemstone disc for you, but yer gonna have to beg for it."
This is ruining Pokemon for me. I'm not going to be able to play Sun/Moon without waiting for harpoon throws, zombies, and a terrifically captured and absurdly brutal cinematic of someone from Team Skull beating someone from the other faction until they're unrecognizable.
For once, it is not the hammering of a furious storm against the window that wakes you, or the turbulent rocking of the ship. What wakes you this morning, at long last...is silence. Hesitantly you rise from your bed, and no matter how intensely you concentrate, you cannot pull the fleeting images of your dream into a coherent thought. You know it was the same maritime nightmare that has plagued the ship for the past few nights, but try as you might you cannot seem to fathom anything more terrible than the shipwrecks you've seen in cartoons or on the history channel.
Outside, the full moon slowly sinks closer to the horizon, and you realise that something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong. As quickly as you can you make yourself up, getting dressed and dealing with your morning routine as early as possible, the floating smell of coffee from other cabins and the sharp hiss of water against tile from a shower easily detectable without the eternal backdrop of torrential rain.
As you hurry out of your cabin, you see your fellow trainers do the same, and without speaking you begin to move as one towards the deck. There, you see the Champion sitting without Sylandra hovering at his side for once, his back to you as he sits with back erect under the light fall of summer rain. Two bodies lay before him, and kneeling directly across from him are the ghostly outlines of Vivet and Lehki, each limned in silver and gold light respectively.
You cautiously approach, and Alec turns to smile softly at each of you in turn before finally saying, "It's over."
As you gather around, the rain continuing to lessen around you, Vivet's voice can be heard saying, "Should the things we discussed come to term, Champion, I will intervene on your behalf to my Lady. She will not forget the blood-oath I owe you, and I will not forget how you placed your life before mine when I returned to the world of the living."
Lehki nods in agreement, "My Lord and His Sister may be at odds, but if She is content to let you wander Their sacred lands, then His Cult and Her Following will no longer impede you. You will keep your promises?" Though his tone is a question, a combination of his eyebrows and the frown suddenly on his face assures you that there is only one acceptable answer.
"I am only as good as my word. Once our dead are burned and scattered on the beach of our landing, we will use the ship as our base until we discover a suitable environment to build our first town in." He looks down at Cen's body, her face calm and free of all emotion as she lays with hands over her chest, and then turns his head to Portius, laid out in the same manner. "Town Centius. It will appear on no map and it will be hidden from those who would seek to do harm to Alolan lands."
The ghosts nod approvingly before Lehki's image burns away as though he were made of paper, the harsh smell of anise present for all of a moment before Vivet's image turns and walks towards the moon, sinking into the distant horizon. She holds out her hand, and Cen appears at her side, taking it and walking with her over thin air towards the distant satellite. Just as you begin to turn away do you hear the mighty roar of a Gyarados, who surges from underneath the water and trails after Cen with pitiful cries.
The pair turn, their forms only barely visible and diminishing with every passing second as the moon sinks further and further, and with pleading eyes Cen asks a question that no one can here. Alec stands and nods, an empty Dive Ball appearing in his hand. "Poit! Come here Poit!" The name appears in your mind without your knowledge, and you all begin to call after the behemoth, who turns between the ship and Cen in clear confusion.
The last thing Cen's ghostly image does is embrace Poit around the neck, mouth moving in words unheard. As she finally disappears entirely and the sun's first rays peak out behind you, Gyarados turns and silently swims towards the ship. He slowly moves closer as he turns and begins swimming alongside until he comes into contact with Alec's outstretched hand, and the plaintive rumble that escapes his mouth is nearly enough to burst your eardrum. The Champion smiles softly and presses the ball against his head, the Pokemon disappearing in a flash of ruby light into the ball, which shakes three times before finally stilling.
"What do you think she said?" Thul's voice, no longer haggard and weary with exertion, rises above the steady patter of warm rain, and Alec shrugs shaking his head. No one else seems to know either, until behind you a familiar voice can be heard, causing the Champion to gasp and turn on his heel.
"That she'll see him again." Luce stands with a soft smile on his face, which is tinged the same light blue as Vivet's had been, but his skin is free of suture, and as the sun begins to press against his skin the tinge begins to fade away. Alec's arms are around him before anyone can move, sobbing into his shoulder and repeating himself over and over again.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry." Luce waves you all away before he returns the Champion's embrace, quietly murmuring under his breath.
"Well, we're still a day or two out," Sylandra's voice calls your attention, and you turn to see her standing with umbrella open over her head, walking towards Kiradawea'5, "You're all lucky, if Cen had gotten to gather power for one more day, she'd have created a rift that a still-angry Lunala could channel power through, and eventually she'd have overwhelmed me and destroyed the ship.
"Still, though," she closes the umbrella and shakes it off as she steps under the awning, the rain slowing to a small drizzle, "I'm confident you'd have found a way to overcome." She raps her knuckles against the bar and Kiradawea appears with a tea set, smoke wisping away from the ceramic pot's spout and coiling into the air.
"Why didn't you stop this sooner?" Othero's angry question cuts to the heart of a question that was on everyone's mind, and Sylandra stops her motion of pouring her tea to turn on the barstool, the lightest of bags underneath her eyes. "You knew. You knew the entire time who they were and what they could do. Why didn't you stop them?"
"Because I knew the entire time who they were and what they could do." Sylandra reaches behind her and holds up a sugar cube, rolling it back into her palm and and stretching her hand so you can all see it. "The past and the present are always the easiest to see. They make a connected whole, and if you wish to see what could have been, you simply need to take another past from the sugar bowl. When you look into the future, though..." The cube floats up and breaks apart granule by granule, a small cloud of sugar quickly forming over her hand. "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and nearly every reaction creates a new timeline that could be."
The cloud coils and churns before moving to sink into her cup as she turns to pour her tea again. "It was all I could do to make sure that Alec stayed safe, and to keep some semblance of normalcy. Each one of you was invited by him, or was close friends or even mentored by someone he invited. Some people won tournaments, won beauty contests, won once-in-a-lifetime sweepstakes to be here. He tried to meet with everyone who came on this trip, but it was impossible for him to do and coordinate it at the same time. You're all strangers to each other, but not to him.
"To see the people he knew and trusted turn on each other, to see them kill with little to no hesitation..." She sips from her cup and the realisation dawns on each of you in turn. Sylandra nods in silent agreement before quietly continuing, "Every bond you make as a trainer is important, and ties you together as a person. They help make you into what you are. What if death shook each one of those bonds in turn, and caused you to question which would be next?"
"And who gives you the right to decide that he's more important than the rest of us?" Melali's hands shake as they ball into fists, "I learned that everyone has a right to be protected, to be safe and live in the law. What gives you the right to decide some people's lives are worth more than others?"
Without missing a beat, Sylandra replies, "Why don't you ask Lehki?"
The statement stops Melali's rage cold, and his face pales in colour. "Th-that's different, he wa--"
"There were futures where Phoebus never healed a person and turned into an insane killer on the fifth day of travel. There were futures were Rolsand outlived the majority of you. There were futures where I died despite all odds, but in each future Alec tried to keep everyone together and reignite the spirit of the journey." The soft clink of porcelain against itself sounds as she places her cup down on its saucer, and she turns back with much less stress present on her face than when she sat, "That's why I chose him and why I tried to make this timeline come around. Of all that could have yet happened, this is the least tragic with what has already happened.
"You don't have to forgive what I've done, but none of you will ever speak of my powers, or what you've seen me do to protect Alec. There's someone like me out there protecting every Champion, watching over every region, and if the world saw what you saw on this trip, they'd kill us." The sorrow on her face is old, much older than her, and she says, "They've tried before. I'll trust each of you to take this secret to your graves, because after all you've been through I don't think it fair to take away those memories."
As the sun warms your skin you realise the rain has finally stopped, and the deckhands begin to appear from below to swab the deck and take care of the ship. Portius and Cen's bodies are taken away, and the pool is untarped. Coloured lights flash on Kiradawea'5 sign, and music begins to play over the speakers. "Enjoy your cruise," Sylandra says as she steps past you with umbrella tucked under her arm. "We've work to do when we arrive." She walks over to Alec and Luce, laying an arm over each of their shoulders before escorting them towards the innards of the ship.
When you finally arrive in Alola, the paradise seeming to glisten before your eyes as new Pokemon scuttle about the shore looking at the ship in earnest, the bodies within the ship are taken to the beach. The Pokemon have long scattered by the time the deckhands have pulled long logs of wood from the ship and stacked them into a pyre, and as the moon begins to rise on your first night in Alola, it is met with flickering flames drifting up from the burning bodies of the deceased.
As you all watch the dancing flames, the smell of gracidea flowers fills the air, and Luce smiles mischievously, whispering into Alec's ear. "No way. You should hear what they came up with," the Champion replies.
Cen, the Chosen, was killed at Night, and all cultists reverted to Town status.
With no remaining forces against them, the Expedition was a success! Congratulations to the surviving winners!
If you would like, please share your backstories, Pokemon, and night messages with each other. I would greatly appreciate your feedback, since I plan on hosting later mafia games with more balanced powers that will let us play with more fun mechanics than just cults and mafia v. town. Each one of you has made this game into the success I feel it was, and though there were frustrating times, I'm glad to have seen it through. 134 pages, nineteen deaths, and two victories. Thank you all for taking this journey with me, and I hope each of you looks forward to the next one as much as I do.
Hmm! So it all comes to a close. Ah, I had so much fun with this, you wouldn't believe. I still have some unanswered questions myself, but, well, and I have an awful lot to say. More than I can say before I go to work. I'm not sure this will quite answer for you yet, @Thul, but I have time enough to share...
-Vivet's Role PMs-
My child...
Yes, it is I, Lunala, the Beast that Calls the Moon. You have been given a chance to aid in my Following's rise to power, and you will be rewarded should you succeed. However, there is an irritation in My side. The Champion who controls the Shaymin beast must not make it to My realm. You must do whatever it takes to prevent him and his following from reaching Me, else My power will not come to fruition. I fear, however, that besides the Champion that my Brother, the Beast that Devours the Sun, will also be taking this chance to seize power. You must do whatever you can to prevent this equally disastrous outcome.
Among those journeying, however, I sense that there is one Chosen by the Pokemon. Should you woo him to My influence, he will show my Brother's cult that they have no hope, and they will fall under your service. The Chosen will replace you, but remember that under My auspice all are but a tool to bring about the glory of the Moon.
You are the Godfather of the Following of Lunala! While the rest of the Following may squabble on who to kill, only your direct contact with Lunala may decide action. Every other night, you may harness the power of Lunala to send a message to the Chosen, tempting them to join you. You win when you assure Lunala's power. You have a three-shot immunity to death AT NIGHT.
I have called forth a Pokemon to aid you in this process, My child.
Your Pokemon is Munna, a Psychic type. It knows the move 'Hypnosis'. Once every other day, you may activate your power during the day or night phase by saying, "Munna, use Hypnosis!" to put a target trainer to sleep. They cannot post or act until they wake up, on a 10-30 post timer. Your pokemon may EVOLVE.
<><><>
After some consideration: "Greetings, blessed trainer. I am pleased to inform you that glorious Lunala, the Beast that Calls the Moon, has found great interest in your service. Your rise to prominence is all but assured within the following, for should you elect to join us, you would even replace I, who serve as their voice. Know that there is another who may seek you - to what end, I cannot say with certainty. We that adhere great Lunala shall act as we can to assist your ends in kind. Know, however, that though these words reach you, I do not yet know your full identity. You may contemplate as you need, and I may speak to you again in due time."
<><><>
Another long vibration on your Pokegear draws your attention, and you excuse yourself once more. The same stranger is on the other end, but it is obvious your Lady's grip on them is fading.
Your Munna floats to your side at your command, just outside of Othero's car. It was easy to find him from his signal on your pokegear, and just as easy to disable yours from transmitting. Without arousing him, you give the order to your Pokemon, and her eyes begin to glow a pale pink colour. Through the window, you see Othero stumble and rub his eyes, making his way to a nearby seat before passing out. Quickly, you and Munna make your escape, not even looking back to see who the footsteps gently walking towards the car behind you belong to.
You make your report to your faithful Admin on your pokegear, speaking in hushed tones that no one will be able to hear. As soon as you hang up, you are stopped by Cyndarin, who quips, "Someone missing you?"
You whirl around, ready to strike someone down, but when you recognise him you feign alarm and relief, placing a hand over your chest. You lie and say it was your mother, congratulating yourself for the careful play on words, and allow him to scan your Munna when asked, the joy on his face when his Pokedex recites off your Munna's affiliation to dreams in its robotic voice sending a rush of pleasure through you.
You part ways, heading back towards the car. When you get off the train later and spot Alec heading towards you with Silvanus, you mentally prepare to deny ever knowing him, but then the Champion asks you to hold your Admin still. You do, of course, and then Alec wrenches his arm back into socket, causing Silvanus to grip your arm tightly in pain. You pat his hand soothingly, forgiving the transgression and mentally congratulating the both of you for passing suspicion for at least one night.
<><><>
(When I first read that, my first thought was "why am I congratulating myself? That sounds kind of dumb, and kind of suspicious.". So right then and there I made plans based on whether I had been successfully investigated...)
<><><>
You make your order to your subordinates and trust it to be carried out as you go your separate ways. You walk down the hall towards the dining car, hoping to catch a bite to eat, when you are waylayed into a dark, empty car. Before you can strike back, a cord wraps around your neck and tightens severely. You struggle for air and claw towards your attacker, but the lack of oxegyn soon becomes prevalent and your vision clouds. A haze fills the air and you fall down dead, a shaft of moonlight illuminating your face as you gaze up towards your Mother with eyes that do not see. Suddenly the moonlight becomes much stronger though, and the glow envelops your body, spreading along it and burning away the ties around your neck, returning life to you as your attacker flees. You look down at the ground as you rub your neck, mildly irritated but no worse for the wear. A hair dryer shaped like a Jolteon lays on the ground, and its power cord has been burned away by your Lady's power.
<><><>
(This was my last night before I got lynched in the day, you might recall. Soooooo...)
<><><>
As you lay in the water of the lagoon under the moonlight, you hear gentle footsteps approaching you. You do not move, though you are aware you are entirely nude as you bathe in the soft light of the heavenly body and the millions of stars scattered around Her. "I am wroth to ask more of you, My Child, but I am afraid I must." You open your eyes and tilt your body forward, feet touching the smooth, round rocks that make up the floor of the small pool as you stand and face the vaguely effeminite forme of your Mother. Here in Her paradise, Lunala is comprised entirely of the moonlight that is Her power in a humanoid form. She has no lips, or eyes, yet Her gaze rests fully upon you and Her voice resounds still. "I have bested My Brother, yet Our common enemy remains."
You step forward towards Her, a raiment of immaculate silver settling about your shoulders as you do. "I understand, Mother. What must I do?"
"The Champion-Boy," She turns as you come to Her and you begin walking side-by-side, moving leagues and centimetres in the same stride, crossing through the astral nothingness that Her realm is composed of, "My rise to dominance is only hindered by him. I would have you, My child, return and aid My Chosen Following in growing and end this insolent child's quest of trespass on My sacred lands." You are suddenly aware that you are standing in the medical car of the CCL: Expedition, before a body bag with a neatly written tag that bears your name. "Should he or his Shaymin enter into My lands, all My planning will be lost. You must ensure this does not happen, but even I cannot directly place you in the hands of My Chosen Following. They will send for you, and you may only reject them once, so strong is the link between Me and My Chosen."
She leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to your forehead, and you see a woman walk into the medical car and go to your car. Akin to an umbilical cord, a trail of sterling silver light connects her to your Mother and stretches out towards the physical manifestation of Her power in the sky. You know her, yet you cannot recognise her face as she approaches your bag and opens it. She extends her hand and whispers under her breath, repeating a mantra you recognise as the Moonlit Maiden's Mantra, the holy prayer of your cult. Silver begins to flow across your old body as she takes her leave, and you feel yourself inexplicably drawn to lay in it.
When you open your eyes next, you feel a small headache and the rough fabric of the body bag against your bare skin. The chill of the room sends goose pimples across your skin as you stand, and your Mother's form presses Her lips to your brow as She fades from your sight, drawn back to Her aether. Once she has gone, you make your way unseen to the front of the train and rap quietly on the Champion's door.
In the reflective steel stretched his door, marking it as his own, you realise how dreadfully frightening you look; sunken eyes, blood-matted hair, and lightly blue-tinged skin making you appear quite frightening. He opens the door in nothing but an oversized T-shirt, hair sticking out in every direction as he rubs a closed eye with his fist before sleep clears from his eyes and he yelps, falling back onto the floor and scrambling into the safety of his (much more nicely decorated) quarters. You step in and crouch, taking a small amount of pleasure in the flush creeping over his face as he covers his lower regions with his shirt and then averts his gaze from yours.
"Hello again, Alec."
After he forces you into another oversized shirt from his wardrobe and pulls on a pair of boxers (orange with yellow Pikachu dotting them) he studies you intently as you dig into the remnants of his dinner, absolutely famished. By the time morning comes, he promises you his protection at least for a little while once everyone else sees you, and you assure him that (for now) you are with him.
You are a passenger on the CCL: Expedition. Newly returned from the dead, you win with the Champion.
<><><>
You sit in your cabin, strangely not feeling the need to sleep. You haven't found much of an appetite yet, and you hope it's one of the things that comes back with time. The mirror across the room holds much of your attention, and you gingerly poke at your skin, wondering if the blue tinge will ever fade.
As you watch, though, the mirror becomes clouded with a silver mist, and a powerful Voice, reminiscent of your Mother's yet not Hers exactly, begins to speak.
"Hello! I know, you're shocked to hear from us. To business...
We both know you're too good for town. Where's the fun in letting the good guys win? A vanilla role is a complete waste of your talents, and that's why it was only ever temporary. Lunala is in your blood, babe. That you'll return to us is assured; the only question is when.
If you choose to join us tonight, we'll be able to protect and conceal you from all detection. If you delay, tomorrow night, there will be no choice, and you'll find yourself back where you belong but with no guarantee of safety.
We're still working on our gameplan for tomorrow's dayphase and could use the extra brainpower. Surely you're itching to have powers restored to you, to have an active hand in the outcome of the game, and to scheme and plot with the finesse we all know you're capable of?
Join tonight or be made to join tomorrow night in less felicitous circumstances. Let me know!"
The mist lingers around the mirror, and you know that if you wanted, you could return a message.
<><><>
Respond:
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who enjoys suffering most of all? I've technically died twice now, you might recall - just the first time, was nary a delay from the fall. By the will of Lunaala, I am as I am. And in this position, I can yet brew plans. If I died as a town, would my words not ring true? Despite what deceit I may with them infuse? You must know I am sowing, waiting to till. While rejoining so soon would sure be a thrill, I can play dangerously now and be a real shrill.
Granted, I know not what numbers the cult yet survives by. If it is urgent, hoist me away. Else I elect to linger, and respect my place as a pawn with high risk."
<><><>
You hear a knock at your door and open it to reveal Krackenor, who invites himself in and sits on the couch. You think for a moment about fussing at him, or even inviting him to join you in the carbonera you're cooking for yourself, but think both would end as well as the other, so you set about preparing and eating your meal. After, you sit in the easy chair across from him with your favourite detective novel and lose yourself, glancing surreptitiously at the mirror you pried from the wall and placed closer to see if you can intercept a message before he notices, touching a stitch, suture, or pulling at your skin each time to further the vanity about yourself you've been attempting to spread. Still, there is no message magically written on the mirror, but after dawn is near and Krackenor has left, shadows congeal at the corner of your room, rising up out of the floor and wrapping together into a humanoid figure with a cowled face and a silvery gleam shining through its ribs. "Do not target that one again," the shade hisses. "It was one of ours, and Lehki would have lived but for your mistake. No matter. Portius is taken care of tonight. It would please us if Ileein, Othero or Ssaliss were to die this night." Message delivered, the figure vanishes in an inky cloud, and a moment later, it's as though it had never existed.
You blink in confusion and wonder who exactly is making decisions in what used to be your Following.
<><><>
(Suffice to say, before I get a chance to really explain the meta that went on in the background and all the other PMs with Tremula, I really and truly was everyone's friend and everyone's enemy for a time. Was very fun.)
I targeted her with my nightkill. But it also looks like I died on the last night? Not in the bold on top, but in the end fiction. So maybe me, maybe someone else.
Any sufficiently advanced pun is indistinguishable from comedy.
SylandraJoin Queue for Mafia GamesThe Last Mafia Game
So this was a funky game for me with pros and cons. I didn't want to share 100% of what my role entailed lest anyone read too much into my posts post-victory, but now the game is over and I can share my role in its entirety.
Fair warning: I am pretty sure my role is highly imbalanced and my win condition was the easiest to achieve in this game.
1) I waslaughablyunkillable. -I didn't just have five immunities from the Honedge. Those immunities refreshed every time my Pokemon evolved. So if those five immunities got whittled down, they could come right back up. -On top of this, I was also Lynchproof! I suggested to Tremula we remove the Lynchproof aspect considering my Pokemon, but in the end it stayed. I tried very hard to be upfront about immunities to prevent frustration, Lehki-style, but that could have easily happened and upset the game. -The only way to kill me would have been to neutralize my Pokemon at night AND target me; alternatively all six killers would have had to target me at once.
2) When Tremula said I knew everything, I actually knew everything. -As of Night 1 I knew the entire game setup. I knew the mafia members and the entire town and the entire third party roles and who played which. I do not recommend doing this in future mafia games for several reasons that I'll outline in a second, but mostly, it's more fun to figure the game out like everyone else. -I made Tremula promise to modkill me if I even so much as pushed a lynch train on a scum without in-game evidence to back it up. The temptation to completely break the game had to be totally squashed--because I could break it. Horribly. -This made guessing lynches easier, which I think was the point, but I think I could have fulfilled my win condition without this. -Caveat: I didn't know secondary powers or Pokemon. -I sincerely hope I succeeded in not letting this information affect the game in any negative way, but I worry this kind of knowledge is too powerful in anyone's hands besides the mod. I would not recommend it in future games.
3) ...except I honestly didn't know about the psychic bit. -This really surprised me! I might not have shared my Night 1 results if I realized that the watcher wouldn't pick up my killer; was a quick way to help foil my plans to kill Rolsand ASAP. -I never lied about any psychic intuitions. -I really did get a message about Vivet being vanilla townie but man, that would have been a killer bluff, wouldn't it?
4) When I first got the role PM, I was both capable of a town and third party victory. -Considering I was an unkillable monster who knew all the mafia members, I mentioned it would probably be a terrible idea to make me in any way pro-town and Tremula agreed. So I became pure third party. -This is the main reason I think why my character role and my actual alignment didn't match up perfectly.
So there are all my dirty little secrets laid bare! I think if I wanted to use a Warlock role in a future game, and I wanted to use similar mechanics, I would limit the immunities (perhaps just Lynchproof?), pure third party, and if I wanted to share the setup I'd do so without also sharing who was playing what role. I did enjoy the dynamic of the Warlock's win condition and how it made me look at lynch trains more closely, though.
"Oh yeah, you're a naughty mayor, aren't you? Misfile that Form MA631-D. Comptroller Shevat's got a nice gemstone disc for you, but yer gonna have to beg for it."
though on second thought, I think I would have been incredibly frustrated with this game had I continued to be in it, and I don't get frustrated easily. It was much better to watch it from the sidelines.
Gonna have to wait until I'm home to give a full run-down, but a quick summary of what happened.
So, I was converted to cult the night after I roleclaimed. First I got an invitation, and then I got forcibly drafted due to a power expenditure from Allyrianne. This was not a standard cult, as invitations had to be accepted... except for this one instance, that went straight through my shield.
I was a little annoyed about that, but I ran with it.
Perhaps to compensate for the invitation aspect of the cult, we got some new powers, courtesy of Cen. We also retained killing power.
Lehki got the ability to mass-redirect all actions taken on the cult to him once per game. It pulled Melali onto him as expected that night, but then he still inexplicably died. >_> I thought it was Vivet with a strongman kill, and I thought I was next, which is why that weird message happened. Still don't know what Lehki died from.
My personal power was once per game per person, I could have Tremula send a message to that person in the night, with the exception of no bold text.
Well,
that's actually the gravitational force exterted on the planet by the
Sun in addition to its forward trajectory from previous rotations,
altered by the tilt of the Earth's axis, but love is next. You're
friends with Champion Alec from back before he was Champion, and simply
known as Shaymin's Chosen. He was an adorable little kid with no manners
who ate everything with his hands, and you made it your mission in life
to find him his true love. Of course, you then made it your mission in
life to become the best ice dancer in the world, which was quickly
replaced by your mission in life to grow a rose in every front yard,
which was then replaced by your mission in life to prevent terrible
hairdos from existing.
That's not the point, though. The point is that when the suddenly spiffy and LOADED Champion
calls you up and gives you an invitation to see a new region, you don't
turn it down. After all, with the colonisation going on, he'll be
needing your matchmaking expertise to help with...population rises.
You
are the Mistletoe. You may choose two people and make them fall
hopelessly in love with each other if their alignments are the same. You
win when everyone alive is in love, independently of everyone else.
A
soft purr comes from your lap, and you look down to see your Pokemon
snuggling closer to you. You coo and fuss over him before you realis
he's still tightly gripping your Trainer Card in his mouth. What a
helpful little guy!
Your Pokemon is
Cyndaquil, a fire type. He knows the move 'Ember'. By activating this
move, you may set the field ablaze, preventing all Pokemon who are weak
to fire from standing on the field. Your Pokemon can EVOLVE.
@}~~~~
Well, let's get this love train a rockin'! Iosion, Thul! The Red Strings of Destiny choose YOU!
Having gotten sufficiently
bored with watching the desert roar past at sufficiently high speeds,
you pull out your matchbooking binder and list of passengers, picking
out two at random. You look at them and pull up their Chatotter
accounts, where they reveal their deepest secrets in 200 characters or
less. You build up a surprising case to coerce them into falling in
love, but stop short when you make surprising political discoveries. It
turns out that where Iosion leans heavily towards the right, Thul is an
independent platformist! You scowl in frustration and cross their names
out. There's no way in bloody hell that those two could ever fall in
love.
@}~~~~
Well, Destiny knot, bind Dylara to Sylandra.
Your binder in hand, you draw
on your knowledge of Dylara and Sylandra, working on a convincing
reason for the two to fall desperately in love. However, Sylandra's love
of Victorian architecture while Dylara's fascination of Persian wells
clash so terribly you throw your binder across the car and open the
window, blancing out of it dramatically for the world to know of your
dissatisfaction. A sparkle passes by, crystalline blue, but it is gone
before you can track it down particularly. You close the window, a
pleasant chill left on your skin that doesn't seem to vanish through the
night. When you wake in the morning, you're delighted to find that your
skin is still feeling remarkably cool, and you're certain you'll be
safe from the desert heat today.
~~~~{@ trading day
Your NEW Pokemon is
Pumpkaboo, a Ghost/Grass type! It knows Confuse Ray. Once a night you
may target a trainer. If they would perform a night action, they do not,
and if they would not (and have one available) then they do. How
confusing! Your Pokemon can EVOLVE. You are immune to Normal and Ghost.
@}~~~~
Red String of Destiny! Bind Lehki and Ushaara, because why not!
Pumpkaboo! You do you Bae! Go Confuse Ray Lehki more than he already is!
You chew
the cap of your pen somewhat nervously as you look through the
passenger manifest once again, picking two names that stuck out to you
yesterday. You think it's a long shot, but as you begin comparing
Ushaara and Lehki, it becomes surprisingly obvious that the two should
be together! You take to all social media platforms you can, and before
long everyone knows that the two are madly in love, even if they might
not.
Satisfied,
you look at Pumpkaboo and say, "Go do you, Pumpkaboo. Confuse Lehki!"
It chirps happily before vanishing as if it were never there. A few
minutes later it reappears and smiles happily, perching next to you and
staring out the window until you eventually fall asleep with it until
morning.
@}~~~~ Plot! Two Alecs! Mysteryyyyy!
Why didn't Bae evolve when he was traded, Alecs?
1 - ...I'm not sure. It could be any number of reasons, especially since
we're travelling through unfamiliar territory and Pumpkaboo was out of
its natural habitat.
2 - I'm actually not sure. The
trading machine that the Elder let us use was old, so maybe there is a
problem with that machine? I know a work-around, so at the very least
tonight we can fix it...if you want.
~~~~{@ The Evolution Solution!
As you return to your car, the Champion approaches you and beckons you
to follow him. You trail him to his car, where a private trading machine
sits. He asks you if you're sure you want your Pumpkaboo to evolve,
holding up a ball from his belt with a raised eyebrow.
@}~~~~
Pumpkaboo is cute, but we need more than cute to keep this thing going.
As Alec takes your Pumpkaboo's pokeball, he places it on one half of his
machine and places his ball on the other side. As he rapidly types at
the machine, you watch the screen and see your Pumpkaboo swap places
with a Virizion before swapping back, and Pumpkaboo emerges from its
pokeball at the return, body morphing and changing while washed in a
brilliant white light to emerge as your new Gourgeist! It knows the move
Hypnosis, which will put a player to sleep for the rest of the current
phase of the turn (day/night). Only being hit will wake them, rendering
them unable to act, speak, or vote. You may only use this move once
every other turn.
@}~~~~
Bae, put Lekhi to sleep as damage control.
Red String of Destiny, bind Othero to Phoebus?
Long after you send Gourgeist out and it returns, you pick another
couple, and spend all night on your Pokegear chatting up Phoebus,
extolling Othero and how perfect the two of them would be together.
After a while she stops responding and you worry that you may have
pressed your boundaries, but when she messages you a photo of the two
sitting side-by-side with a small smile on her face, you are certain
that you made the PERFECT couple once again.
@}~~~~
Red String of Destiny!, Bind Ssaliss and Krackenor
You frown at your hands as you think to yourself how perfect it would
have been to work your magic on you and Alec ages ago, but you didn't
even know you had magic like this! You dig about and it is as if the
gods themselves had sent you the signal to match Ssaliss and Krackenor.
Gods above and below, their mentors are Misty and Brock! They've already
got synergy, so you pull a few strings on social media and it is not
long before everyone is certain that they've been meant to be for
*years*.
A knock at your door brings you to your feet, and you
are delighted to see Cen. "Oh, I knew you'd be around for me eventually,
I've been waiting to have a playdate with you and Gourgeist since I
heard what you were doing!" You babble excitedly as you turn and fetch
your pokeball, and then feel the words die abruptly in your throat as
the ball drops from your hand and thuds to the floor. Silver light
envelops your vision, and you see a pale woman standing before you. Her
dark hair is flecked with starlight, and her skin positively glows with
the light of the moon; her hand on your shoulder. "You are home, My
child." You faintly feel your physical body drop to the floor behind
you, but you have already taken Her hand in yours and begun your trip to
the afterlife.
You have died.
Red String of Destiny! Allyrianne and Melali! I guess? Oh wait.
DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART, LUCE.
(Alec was a terrible person
and was hoping to keep you on the side as a certain relationship he knew
he'd be happy with, even if it wasn't true love, while he searched for
true love. He realises it now that you're dead and you saw the
terrifying result it had on him)
Are you secretly Shaymin?
That might make the whole 'side piece' thing a bit more awkward, but who
am I to judge? Luce's practically a pokémon anyway.
Cen killed you by
stripping your aura from your body, effectively taking your lifeforce
away. That aura was later used to reanimate Vivet, which is why when she
came back Alec trusted her.
Wellp. And now I know I can't come back, since that's
entirely too much OOC info T_T. Still, I was killed to resurrect Vivet,
and Cen is one sneaky so-and-so.
So this was a funky game for me with pros and cons. I didn't want to share 100% of what my role entailed lest anyone read too much into my posts post-victory, but now the game is over and I can share my role in its entirety.
Fair warning: I am pretty sure my role is highly imbalanced and my win condition was the easiest to achieve in this game.
1) I waslaughablyunkillable. -I didn't just have five immunities from the Honedge. Those immunities refreshed every time my Pokemon evolved. So if those five immunities got whittled down, they could come right back up. -On top of this, I was also Lynchproof! I suggested to Tremula we remove the Lynchproof aspect considering my Pokemon, but in the end it stayed. I tried very hard to be upfront about immunities to prevent frustration, Lehki-style, but that could have easily happened and upset the game. -The only way to kill me would have been to neutralize my Pokemon at night AND target me; alternatively all six killers would have had to target me at once.
2) When Tremula said I knew everything, I actually knew everything. -As of Night 1 I knew the entire game setup. I knew the mafia members and the entire town and the entire third party roles and who played which. I do not recommend doing this in future mafia games for several reasons that I'll outline in a second, but mostly, it's more fun to figure the game out like everyone else. -I made Tremula promise to modkill me if I even so much as pushed a lynch train on a scum without in-game evidence to back it up. The temptation to completely break the game had to be totally squashed--because I could break it. Horribly. -This made guessing lynches easier, which I think was the point, but I think I could have fulfilled my win condition without this. -Caveat: I didn't know secondary powers or Pokemon. -I sincerely hope I succeeded in not letting this information affect the game in any negative way, but I worry this kind of knowledge is too powerful in anyone's hands besides the mod. I would not recommend it in future games.
3) ...except I honestly didn't know about the psychic bit. -This really surprised me! I might not have shared my Night 1 results if I realized that the watcher wouldn't pick up my killer; was a quick way to help foil my plans to kill Rolsand ASAP. -I never lied about any psychic intuitions. -I really did get a message about Vivet being vanilla townie but man, that would have been a killer bluff, wouldn't it?
4) When I first got the role PM, I was both capable of a town and third party victory. -Considering I was an unkillable monster who knew all the mafia members, I mentioned it would probably be a terrible idea to make me in any way pro-town and Tremula agreed. So I became pure third party. -This is the main reason I think why my character role and my actual alignment didn't match up perfectly.
So there are all my dirty little secrets laid bare! I think if I wanted to use a Warlock role in a future game, and I wanted to use similar mechanics, I would limit the immunities (perhaps just Lynchproof?), pure third party, and if I wanted to share the setup I'd do so without also sharing who was playing what role. I did enjoy the dynamic of the Warlock's win condition and how it made me look at lynch trains more closely, though.
#TheseAreMyConfessions
My biggest problem with your role is that the town and mafia had no reason to kill you. A 3rd party role needs some antagonism to it or it is too easy to skate by and win. Survivor's are a threat because their strategy is going to make them flip between teams. Serial killers are an obvious threat. I guess the psychic stuff was meant to give you that because it let you give info potentially making you a threat to the mafia. But you could of just shut up about that. There just were not enough reasons to want you dead and even if we tried you'd survive.
Gonna have to wait until I'm home to give a full run-down, but a quick summary of what happened.
So, I was converted to cult the night after I roleclaimed. First I got an invitation, and then I got forcibly drafted due to a power expenditure from Allyrianne. This was not a standard cult, as invitations had to be accepted... except for this one instance, that went straight through my shield.
I was a little annoyed about that, but I ran with it.
Perhaps to compensate for the invitation aspect of the cult, we got some new powers, courtesy of Cen. We also retained killing power.
Lehki got the ability to mass-redirect all actions taken on the cult to him once per game. It pulled Melali onto him as expected that night, but then he still inexplicably died. >_> I thought it was Vivet with a strongman kill, and I thought I was next, which is why that weird message happened. Still don't know what Lehki died from.
My personal power was once per game per person, I could have Tremula send a message to that person in the night, with the exception of no bold text.
I think I killed Lehki. Toxicroak could attack a player with poison and they would die 3 days later if they never received medical help. My messages were never super clear but I think it's my poison that killed him.
I had a lot of fun in this game. I knew that with a two week family vacation, I wouldn't be able to keep up if it went on for too long, so was just focusing on extracting as much information as possible when it was clear I was going down. Should have made it clear to @Lehki that if our plan was backfiring, that I was fine with leaving early, but he did try save me with his Day immunities and it led to the glorious @Weiwae chaos.
I'm sad I didn't get a bit more time though, as did have more shenanigans planned for my last day phase that would have hopefully been sufficient to knock @Silvanus out before I went, (since I actually did investigate @Phoebus), but just being traveling and without internet for a few days meant I missed my window, but que sera...
Biggest balance gripe other than @Sylandra's immunities (and now role, wow!) was that our Strongman kill failed twice, which to me goes against the point of having a Strongman. Phoebus doctoring Othero I can live with if you make it clear that Strongman just means bypassing roleblocks/redirects, but unless @Melali's jailer role had some subtleties to it, I'd also say that it afforded him too much protection. Our strongman kill against him failed, but my earlier investigation didn't? What what was going on there?
And since plays off suggestive mod messages were my downfall, here were mine
NIGHT 1: INVESTIGATE MELALI
You make your way quietly towards Melali's car in the dead of night. When he is not there, you quickly turn and attempt to track him down, finally finding him deep in discussion with someone whose profile you don't recognise. Whatever is going on, he seems to be interrogating the stranger. Whoever he is, he must be able to pull someone aside and talk to them at night.
Satisfied with the information you've gleaned, you return to your car knowing a little more than you did before.
NIGHT 2: INVESTIGATE WEIWAE & VICTINI VICTORY STAR
You peek in through Weiwae's car window as he rests, completely unaware of your standing there as he fiddles with something in his lap. He rests a hand on his stomach and sighs before wincing in pain, as though something were lodged within. Something like...a bomb. You smile softly to yourself as you escape back to your car, and call your Victini out of his pokeball. "Victory Star, just like we practised," you state, and he holds up his first two fingers at you in a symbol of victory, a blazing V striking you in the chest with a gentle warmth. You're sure that no matter what, you'll make it through this night.
NIGHT 3: INVESTIGATE PHOEBUS, INVESTIGATED BY CYNDARIN, POKECUPID'd WITH LEHKI
You wait until some time has passed before you make your way to Phoebus' car, finding it empty. You snoop around, and find a bloodstained towel. You figure that she must be someone who sees a lot of blood, and make your way back to your car satisfied that you knew more than you did. The night passes with only two interruptions. The first is Cyndarin knocking at your door, all easy smiles and flirtatious giggles as he begs to see your Pokemon. Who's to argue with a pretty face like that? He scans your Victini and winks at you before sauntering off. The second is later in the evening, as a spray of bubbles covers you and Victini before popping noisily and annoying. Still, everything seems fine after they are gone, and you are content to return Victini to his pokeball and spend the night resting.
As you step off of the train in the morning, you are surprised to see that Lehki keeps drawing your eye. Has the light always caught his hair like that?
(Oh, and bubblebeam'd too, but had no clue what that did to me)
I would post my role PMs, but to be quite honest I've been perfectly straightforward about everything the entire time! I know people didn't trust me for a while, and neither would I have-- my claim, while honest, seemed a little underpowered and unverifiable. Hopefully the use of Sunny Day helped to verify my trustworthiness.
Question for @Tremula-- did the Sunny Day actually help in any way, or did the cult get a conversion in anyway?
I did not see Thul's conversion coming-- but in retrospect having a oneshot power to overcome an immunity fits in this nuts game. Cen being the Chosen does make total sense to me.
Jadice, the Frost Queen says to you, "Constant vigilance."
Comments
In other words, if Krackenor is Mafia, we'll probably lose.
Either the reading comprehension of this thread has really dropped or a few people are now intentionally trying to spread disinformation.
There is a bright light as Sylveon emerges from her pokeball, smiling sweetly at those around her as she rests on her haunches. After a spoken command from Portius, the ribbons decorating her body rise in a serpentine motion through the air, and she makes direct eye contact with Cen before firing a scalding blast of heated silver light at her face, knocking the woman to the feet with the fae power of moonlight.
The heat is enough to melt the ghostly writing on the window, and it seems that each of you has come to the conclusion that Phoebus is not what she appears to be. As Portius moves towards her threateningly, however, Othero steps between him and the woman, glaring daggers at the other man. "You don't touch her. None of you get to. Alec!" The champion looks over from his position, perched like some strange bird on a nearby table sorting books, and turns his head in confusion, "The boat has a jail-type thing, right?"
"You mean the brig?"
Othero rolls his eyes almost audibly, and nods, "Yes, I mean the brig. We can detain her until we reach Alola, and then..." He trails off as he realises no one is looking at him, before turning to see the door to the library is wide open and his beloved is gone. "PHOEBUS!" His roar seems to surprise even him, but a moment later he is a blur as he races down the hallway.
Some of you give chase before Sylandra appears from behind the shelves, beckoning to Alec and those remaining. "Come, she's headed to the main deck." A sick twisting motion fills the guts of the remaining trainers, and when it clears a heartbeat later you can see Phoebus standing at the railing to the ship, hair plastered to her face as she looks up at the clouds. The rain parts in the air before it can hit Sylandra or Alec, but as those who left to follow Othero and Othero himself catch up with Phoebus, you all quickly become soaked through.
"Phoebus, get away from there," Othero calls over the steady drum of rain against the wooden deck of the boat. "Come on, we'll take you down to the brig and we can settle this reasonably."
Phoebus takes hold of rigging nearby and uses the sturdy rope to hoist herself up to stand on the railing, where she turns around to face everyone. "It's all been so dramatic, and everything's so..." She pauses for a moment before squeezing the rope tightly and digging her free hand into her pocket. "It's all so wrong. People are dying, and I...I killed someone. Twice. I don't know who I am, I don't know what I"m doing...I was raised like a Joy, but I'm not, I'm just..."
She shakes her head bitterly, and before anyone can react the pill bottle she pulls out of her pocket has lost its lid and poured its contents into her mouth. "Sleeping pills," she says simply, and continues looking down at everyone. "I don't want to go out in pain, or have to make any of you kill me. And if you try..." She leans backwards, only her tight grip on the rope and her non-slip shoes keeping her from falling over the rail. "You won't."
Othero raises his hands in the universal gesture of peace and unintended harm. "Okay. I won't let them, just...come down, please." His voice trembles as he says it, and the desperation within is clear. A forked tongue of lightning illuminates the sky and thunder nearly cracks your eardrums, and you remember the last time you saw Phoebus in these conditions. For an instant, the insane murderess who worked her cruel deeds on Vivet is visible, but as soon as the harsh lightning fades the dark bags under her eyes are visible, the way her limbs shake with exhaustion.
She nods and leans forward, letting go of the rope and falling towards Othero, who catches her in his arms and gently settles himself to the floor, cradling her. The scene is beautiful and tragic, and no one dares interrupt, but after a few minutes Alec walks over carefully and crouches down next to Othero. The man looks up warningly, but Alec simply presses two fingers against Phoebus' neck and waits. He whispers into Othero's ear and retreats to those gathered around Sylandra like goslings to their mother goose. "Her pulse is nearly gone. Maybe a minute of life left. Whatever she took is...is strong."
Though you cannot hear, it is easy to see Othero's words move as he whispers to Phoebus, and you can even see her lips move slightly to return but a few. Almost precisely a minute later, Othero bows his head over her body and reaches to close her eyes with one hand.
Her body is taken to the medical cabin, and it is only once everyone has gathered in the galley does Alec bring out a bag with Phoebus' name monogrammed on it in a loving hand stitch. Othero reaches for it and opens it before turning it on his head, dumping a vast assortment of medical tools and supplies onto the nearest table. "Phoebus was my personal invitation," Alec says quietly, his hand dropping to his side. "She was a medical professional trained by the Joy Academy."
He pulls his pokegear out and dials in a number before he and Sylandra Disappear with the harsh scent of burning ozone in their wake, leaving your gasps of surprise unheard.
Ixion tells you, "// I don't think anyone else had a clue, amazing form."
You have 96 hours to submit your Night Actions.
Ixion tells you, "// I don't think anyone else had a clue, amazing form."
Ixion tells you, "// I don't think anyone else had a clue, amazing form."
Plis Nintendo.
For once, it is not the hammering of a furious storm against the window that wakes you, or the turbulent rocking of the ship. What wakes you this morning, at long last...is silence. Hesitantly you rise from your bed, and no matter how intensely you concentrate, you cannot pull the fleeting images of your dream into a coherent thought. You know it was the same maritime nightmare that has plagued the ship for the past few nights, but try as you might you cannot seem to fathom anything more terrible than the shipwrecks you've seen in cartoons or on the history channel.
Outside, the full moon slowly sinks closer to the horizon, and you realise that something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong. As quickly as you can you make yourself up, getting dressed and dealing with your morning routine as early as possible, the floating smell of coffee from other cabins and the sharp hiss of water against tile from a shower easily detectable without the eternal backdrop of torrential rain.
As you hurry out of your cabin, you see your fellow trainers do the same, and without speaking you begin to move as one towards the deck. There, you see the Champion sitting without Sylandra hovering at his side for once, his back to you as he sits with back erect under the light fall of summer rain. Two bodies lay before him, and kneeling directly across from him are the ghostly outlines of Vivet and Lehki, each limned in silver and gold light respectively.
You cautiously approach, and Alec turns to smile softly at each of you in turn before finally saying, "It's over."
As you gather around, the rain continuing to lessen around you, Vivet's voice can be heard saying, "Should the things we discussed come to term, Champion, I will intervene on your behalf to my Lady. She will not forget the blood-oath I owe you, and I will not forget how you placed your life before mine when I returned to the world of the living."
Lehki nods in agreement, "My Lord and His Sister may be at odds, but if She is content to let you wander Their sacred lands, then His Cult and Her Following will no longer impede you. You will keep your promises?" Though his tone is a question, a combination of his eyebrows and the frown suddenly on his face assures you that there is only one acceptable answer.
"I am only as good as my word. Once our dead are burned and scattered on the beach of our landing, we will use the ship as our base until we discover a suitable environment to build our first town in." He looks down at Cen's body, her face calm and free of all emotion as she lays with hands over her chest, and then turns his head to Portius, laid out in the same manner. "Town Centius. It will appear on no map and it will be hidden from those who would seek to do harm to Alolan lands."
The ghosts nod approvingly before Lehki's image burns away as though he were made of paper, the harsh smell of anise present for all of a moment before Vivet's image turns and walks towards the moon, sinking into the distant horizon. She holds out her hand, and Cen appears at her side, taking it and walking with her over thin air towards the distant satellite. Just as you begin to turn away do you hear the mighty roar of a Gyarados, who surges from underneath the water and trails after Cen with pitiful cries.
The pair turn, their forms only barely visible and diminishing with every passing second as the moon sinks further and further, and with pleading eyes Cen asks a question that no one can here. Alec stands and nods, an empty Dive Ball appearing in his hand. "Poit! Come here Poit!" The name appears in your mind without your knowledge, and you all begin to call after the behemoth, who turns between the ship and Cen in clear confusion.
The last thing Cen's ghostly image does is embrace Poit around the neck, mouth moving in words unheard. As she finally disappears entirely and the sun's first rays peak out behind you, Gyarados turns and silently swims towards the ship. He slowly moves closer as he turns and begins swimming alongside until he comes into contact with Alec's outstretched hand, and the plaintive rumble that escapes his mouth is nearly enough to burst your eardrum. The Champion smiles softly and presses the ball against his head, the Pokemon disappearing in a flash of ruby light into the ball, which shakes three times before finally stilling.
"What do you think she said?" Thul's voice, no longer haggard and weary with exertion, rises above the steady patter of warm rain, and Alec shrugs shaking his head. No one else seems to know either, until behind you a familiar voice can be heard, causing the Champion to gasp and turn on his heel.
"That she'll see him again." Luce stands with a soft smile on his face, which is tinged the same light blue as Vivet's had been, but his skin is free of suture, and as the sun begins to press against his skin the tinge begins to fade away. Alec's arms are around him before anyone can move, sobbing into his shoulder and repeating himself over and over again.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry." Luce waves you all away before he returns the Champion's embrace, quietly murmuring under his breath.
"Well, we're still a day or two out," Sylandra's voice calls your attention, and you turn to see her standing with umbrella open over her head, walking towards Kiradawea'5, "You're all lucky, if Cen had gotten to gather power for one more day, she'd have created a rift that a still-angry Lunala could channel power through, and eventually she'd have overwhelmed me and destroyed the ship.
"Still, though," she closes the umbrella and shakes it off as she steps under the awning, the rain slowing to a small drizzle, "I'm confident you'd have found a way to overcome." She raps her knuckles against the bar and Kiradawea appears with a tea set, smoke wisping away from the ceramic pot's spout and coiling into the air.
"Why didn't you stop this sooner?" Othero's angry question cuts to the heart of a question that was on everyone's mind, and Sylandra stops her motion of pouring her tea to turn on the barstool, the lightest of bags underneath her eyes. "You knew. You knew the entire time who they were and what they could do. Why didn't you stop them?"
"Because I knew the entire time who they were and what they could do." Sylandra reaches behind her and holds up a sugar cube, rolling it back into her palm and and stretching her hand so you can all see it. "The past and the present are always the easiest to see. They make a connected whole, and if you wish to see what could have been, you simply need to take another past from the sugar bowl. When you look into the future, though..." The cube floats up and breaks apart granule by granule, a small cloud of sugar quickly forming over her hand. "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and nearly every reaction creates a new timeline that could be."
The cloud coils and churns before moving to sink into her cup as she turns to pour her tea again. "It was all I could do to make sure that Alec stayed safe, and to keep some semblance of normalcy. Each one of you was invited by him, or was close friends or even mentored by someone he invited. Some people won tournaments, won beauty contests, won once-in-a-lifetime sweepstakes to be here. He tried to meet with everyone who came on this trip, but it was impossible for him to do and coordinate it at the same time. You're all strangers to each other, but not to him.
"To see the people he knew and trusted turn on each other, to see them kill with little to no hesitation..." She sips from her cup and the realisation dawns on each of you in turn. Sylandra nods in silent agreement before quietly continuing, "Every bond you make as a trainer is important, and ties you together as a person. They help make you into what you are. What if death shook each one of those bonds in turn, and caused you to question which would be next?"
"And who gives you the right to decide that he's more important than the rest of us?" Melali's hands shake as they ball into fists, "I learned that everyone has a right to be protected, to be safe and live in the law. What gives you the right to decide some people's lives are worth more than others?"
Without missing a beat, Sylandra replies, "Why don't you ask Lehki?"
The statement stops Melali's rage cold, and his face pales in colour. "Th-that's different, he wa--"
"There were futures where Phoebus never healed a person and turned into an insane killer on the fifth day of travel. There were futures were Rolsand outlived the majority of you. There were futures where I died despite all odds, but in each future Alec tried to keep everyone together and reignite the spirit of the journey." The soft clink of porcelain against itself sounds as she places her cup down on its saucer, and she turns back with much less stress present on her face than when she sat, "That's why I chose him and why I tried to make this timeline come around. Of all that could have yet happened, this is the least tragic with what has already happened.
"You don't have to forgive what I've done, but none of you will ever speak of my powers, or what you've seen me do to protect Alec. There's someone like me out there protecting every Champion, watching over every region, and if the world saw what you saw on this trip, they'd kill us." The sorrow on her face is old, much older than her, and she says, "They've tried before. I'll trust each of you to take this secret to your graves, because after all you've been through I don't think it fair to take away those memories."
As the sun warms your skin you realise the rain has finally stopped, and the deckhands begin to appear from below to swab the deck and take care of the ship. Portius and Cen's bodies are taken away, and the pool is untarped. Coloured lights flash on Kiradawea'5 sign, and music begins to play over the speakers. "Enjoy your cruise," Sylandra says as she steps past you with umbrella tucked under her arm. "We've work to do when we arrive." She walks over to Alec and Luce, laying an arm over each of their shoulders before escorting them towards the innards of the ship.
When you finally arrive in Alola, the paradise seeming to glisten before your eyes as new Pokemon scuttle about the shore looking at the ship in earnest, the bodies within the ship are taken to the beach. The Pokemon have long scattered by the time the deckhands have pulled long logs of wood from the ship and stacked them into a pyre, and as the moon begins to rise on your first night in Alola, it is met with flickering flames drifting up from the burning bodies of the deceased.
As you all watch the dancing flames, the smell of gracidea flowers fills the air, and Luce smiles mischievously, whispering into Alec's ear. "No way. You should hear what they came up with," the Champion replies.
Ixion tells you, "// I don't think anyone else had a clue, amazing form."
With no remaining forces against them, the Expedition was a success! Congratulations to the surviving winners!
If you would like, please share your backstories, Pokemon, and night messages with each other. I would greatly appreciate your feedback, since I plan on hosting later mafia games with more balanced powers that will let us play with more fun mechanics than just cults and mafia v. town. Each one of you has made this game into the success I feel it was, and though there were frustrating times, I'm glad to have seen it through. 134 pages, nineteen deaths, and two victories.
Thank you all for taking this journey with me, and I hope each of you looks forward to the next one as much as I do.
Ixion tells you, "// I don't think anyone else had a clue, amazing form."
So before anything else, @Vivet, whose side were you on? >_<
You all are going to be so hilariously pissed off when the actual cult powers are explained to you.
-Vivet's Role PMs-
(When I first read that, my first thought was "why am I congratulating myself? That sounds kind of dumb, and kind of suspicious.". So right then and there I made plans based on whether I had been successfully investigated...)
<><><>
(Suffice to say, before I get a chance to really explain the meta that went on in the background and all the other PMs with Tremula, I really and truly was everyone's friend and everyone's enemy for a time. Was very fun.)
Fair warning: I am pretty sure my role is highly imbalanced and my win condition was the easiest to achieve in this game.
1) I was laughably unkillable.
-I didn't just have five immunities from the Honedge. Those immunities refreshed every time my Pokemon evolved. So if those five immunities got whittled down, they could come right back up.
-On top of this, I was also Lynchproof! I suggested to Tremula we remove the Lynchproof aspect considering my Pokemon, but in the end it stayed. I tried very hard to be upfront about immunities to prevent frustration, Lehki-style, but that could have easily happened and upset the game.
-The only way to kill me would have been to neutralize my Pokemon at night AND target me; alternatively all six killers would have had to target me at once.
2) When Tremula said I knew everything, I actually knew everything.
-As of Night 1 I knew the entire game setup. I knew the mafia members and the entire town and the entire third party roles and who played which. I do not recommend doing this in future mafia games for several reasons that I'll outline in a second, but mostly, it's more fun to figure the game out like everyone else.
-I made Tremula promise to modkill me if I even so much as pushed a lynch train on a scum without in-game evidence to back it up. The temptation to completely break the game had to be totally squashed--because I could break it. Horribly.
-This made guessing lynches easier, which I think was the point, but I think I could have fulfilled my win condition without this.
-Caveat: I didn't know secondary powers or Pokemon.
-I sincerely hope I succeeded in not letting this information affect the game in any negative way, but I worry this kind of knowledge is too powerful in anyone's hands besides the mod. I would not recommend it in future games.
3) ...except I honestly didn't know about the psychic bit.
-This really surprised me! I might not have shared my Night 1 results if I realized that the watcher wouldn't pick up my killer; was a quick way to help foil my plans to kill Rolsand ASAP.
-I never lied about any psychic intuitions.
-I really did get a message about Vivet being vanilla townie but man, that would have been a killer bluff, wouldn't it?
4) When I first got the role PM, I was both capable of a town and third party victory.
-Considering I was an unkillable monster who knew all the mafia members, I mentioned it would probably be a terrible idea to make me in any way pro-town and Tremula agreed. So I became pure third party.
-This is the main reason I think why my character role and my actual alignment didn't match up perfectly.
So there are all my dirty little secrets laid bare! I think if I wanted to use a Warlock role in a future game, and I wanted to use similar mechanics, I would limit the immunities (perhaps just Lynchproof?), pure third party, and if I wanted to share the setup I'd do so without also sharing who was playing what role. I did enjoy the dynamic of the Warlock's win condition and how it made me look at lynch trains more closely, though.
#TheseAreMyConfessions
though on second thought, I think I would have been incredibly frustrated with this game had I continued to be in it, and I don't get frustrated easily. It was much better to watch it from the sidelines.
So, I was converted to cult the night after I roleclaimed. First I got an invitation, and then I got forcibly drafted due to a power expenditure from Allyrianne. This was not a standard cult, as invitations had to be accepted... except for this one instance, that went straight through my shield.
I was a little annoyed about that, but I ran with it.
Perhaps to compensate for the invitation aspect of the cult, we got some new powers, courtesy of Cen. We also retained killing power.
Lehki got the ability to mass-redirect all actions taken on the cult to him once per game. It pulled Melali onto him as expected that night, but then he still inexplicably died. >_> I thought it was Vivet with a strongman kill, and I thought I was next, which is why that weird message happened. Still don't know what Lehki died from.
My personal power was once per game per person, I could have Tremula send a message to that person in the night, with the exception of no bold text.
And here's this!
@}~~~~
Well, let's get this love train a rockin'!
Iosion, Thul! The Red Strings of Destiny choose YOU!
Having gotten sufficiently bored with watching the desert roar past at sufficiently high speeds, you pull out your matchbooking binder and list of passengers, picking out two at random. You look at them and pull up their Chatotter accounts, where they reveal their deepest secrets in 200 characters or less. You build up a surprising case to coerce them into falling in love, but stop short when you make surprising political discoveries. It turns out that where Iosion leans heavily towards the right, Thul is an independent platformist! You scowl in frustration and cross their names out. There's no way in bloody hell that those two could ever fall in love.
@}~~~~
Well, Destiny knot, bind Dylara to Sylandra.
Your binder in hand, you draw on your knowledge of Dylara and Sylandra, working on a convincing reason for the two to fall desperately in love. However, Sylandra's love of Victorian architecture while Dylara's fascination of Persian wells clash so terribly you throw your binder across the car and open the window, blancing out of it dramatically for the world to know of your dissatisfaction. A sparkle passes by, crystalline blue, but it is gone before you can track it down particularly. You close the window, a pleasant chill left on your skin that doesn't seem to vanish through the night. When you wake in the morning, you're delighted to find that your skin is still feeling remarkably cool, and you're certain you'll be safe from the desert heat today.
~~~~{@ trading day
Your NEW Pokemon is Pumpkaboo, a Ghost/Grass type! It knows Confuse Ray. Once a night you may target a trainer. If they would perform a night action, they do not, and if they would not (and have one available) then they do. How confusing! Your Pokemon can EVOLVE. You are immune to Normal and Ghost.
Red String of Destiny! Bind Lehki and Ushaara, because why not!
Pumpkaboo! You do you Bae! Go Confuse Ray Lehki more than he already is!
@}~~~~ Plot! Two Alecs! Mysteryyyyy!
Why didn't Bae evolve when he was traded, Alecs?
1 - ...I'm not sure. It could be any number of reasons, especially since we're travelling through unfamiliar territory and Pumpkaboo was out of its natural habitat.
~~~~{@ The Evolution Solution!
As you return to your car, the Champion approaches you and beckons you to follow him. You trail him to his car, where a private trading machine sits. He asks you if you're sure you want your Pumpkaboo to evolve, holding up a ball from his belt with a raised eyebrow.
@}~~~~
Pumpkaboo is cute, but we need more than cute to keep this thing going.
As Alec takes your Pumpkaboo's pokeball, he places it on one half of his machine and places his ball on the other side. As he rapidly types at the machine, you watch the screen and see your Pumpkaboo swap places with a Virizion before swapping back, and Pumpkaboo emerges from its pokeball at the return, body morphing and changing while washed in a brilliant white light to emerge as your new Gourgeist! It knows the move Hypnosis, which will put a player to sleep for the rest of the current phase of the turn (day/night). Only being hit will wake them, rendering them unable to act, speak, or vote. You may only use this move once every other turn.
@}~~~~
Bae, put Lekhi to sleep as damage control.
Red String of Destiny, bind Othero to Phoebus?
Long after you send Gourgeist out and it returns, you pick another couple, and spend all night on your Pokegear chatting up Phoebus, extolling Othero and how perfect the two of them would be together. After a while she stops responding and you worry that you may have pressed your boundaries, but when she messages you a photo of the two sitting side-by-side with a small smile on her face, you are certain that you made the PERFECT couple once again.
@}~~~~
Red String of Destiny!, Bind Ssaliss and Krackenor
You frown at your hands as you think to yourself how perfect it would have been to work your magic on you and Alec ages ago, but you didn't even know you had magic like this! You dig about and it is as if the gods themselves had sent you the signal to match Ssaliss and Krackenor. Gods above and below, their mentors are Misty and Brock! They've already got synergy, so you pull a few strings on social media and it is not long before everyone is certain that they've been meant to be for *years*.
A knock at your door brings you to your feet, and you are delighted to see Cen. "Oh, I knew you'd be around for me eventually, I've been waiting to have a playdate with you and Gourgeist since I heard what you were doing!" You babble excitedly as you turn and fetch your pokeball, and then feel the words die abruptly in your throat as the ball drops from your hand and thuds to the floor. Silver light envelops your vision, and you see a pale woman standing before you. Her dark hair is flecked with starlight, and her skin positively glows with the light of the moon; her hand on your shoulder. "You are home, My child." You faintly feel your physical body drop to the floor behind you, but you have already taken Her hand in yours and begun your trip to the afterlife.
You have died.
Red String of Destiny! Allyrianne and Melali! I guess? Oh wait.
DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART, LUCE.
(Alec was a terrible person and was hoping to keep you on the side as a certain relationship he knew he'd be happy with, even if it wasn't true love, while he searched for true love. He realises it now that you're dead and you saw the terrifying result it had on him)
Are you secretly Shaymin?
That might make the whole 'side piece' thing a bit more awkward, but who am I to judge? Luce's practically a pokémon anyway.
And finally!
I'm sad I didn't get a bit more time though, as did have more shenanigans planned for my last day phase that would have hopefully been sufficient to knock @Silvanus out before I went, (since I actually did investigate @Phoebus), but just being traveling and without internet for a few days meant I missed my window, but que sera...
Biggest balance gripe other than @Sylandra's immunities (and now role, wow!) was that our Strongman kill failed twice, which to me goes against the point of having a Strongman. Phoebus doctoring Othero I can live with if you make it clear that Strongman just means bypassing roleblocks/redirects, but unless @Melali's jailer role had some subtleties to it, I'd also say that it afforded him too much protection. Our strongman kill against him failed, but my earlier investigation didn't? What what was going on there?
NIGHT 1: INVESTIGATE MELALI
You make your way quietly towards Melali's car in the dead of night. When he is not there, you quickly turn and attempt to track him down, finally finding him deep in discussion with someone whose profile you don't recognise. Whatever is going on, he seems to be interrogating the stranger. Whoever he is, he must be able to pull someone aside and talk to them at night.
Satisfied with the information you've gleaned, you return to your car knowing a little more than you did before.
NIGHT 2: INVESTIGATE WEIWAE & VICTINI VICTORY STAR
You peek in through Weiwae's car window as he rests, completely unaware of your standing there as he fiddles with something in his lap. He rests a hand on his stomach and sighs before wincing in pain, as though something were lodged within. Something like...a bomb. You smile softly to yourself as you escape back to your car, and call your Victini out of his pokeball. "Victory Star, just like we practised," you state, and he holds up his first two fingers at you in a symbol of victory, a blazing V striking you in the chest with a gentle warmth. You're sure that no matter what, you'll make it through this night.
NIGHT 3: INVESTIGATE PHOEBUS, INVESTIGATED BY CYNDARIN, POKECUPID'd WITH LEHKI
You wait until some time has passed before you make your way to Phoebus' car, finding it empty. You snoop around, and find a bloodstained towel. You figure that she must be someone who sees a lot of blood, and make your way back to your car satisfied that you knew more than you did. The night passes with only two interruptions. The first is Cyndarin knocking at your door, all easy smiles and flirtatious giggles as he begs to see your Pokemon. Who's to argue with a pretty face like that? He scans your Victini and winks at you before sauntering off. The second is later in the evening, as a spray of bubbles covers you and Victini before popping noisily and annoying. Still, everything seems fine after they are gone, and you are content to return Victini to his pokeball and spend the night resting.
As you step off of the train in the morning, you are surprised to see that Lehki keeps drawing your eye. Has the light always caught his hair like that?
(Oh, and bubblebeam'd too, but had no clue what that did to me)
Question for @Tremula-- did the Sunny Day actually help in any way, or did the cult get a conversion in anyway?
I did not see Thul's conversion coming-- but in retrospect having a oneshot power to overcome an immunity fits in this nuts game. Cen being the Chosen does make total sense to me.