Steampunk Mafia: Day Three

[MetroiD]

Funny how you two seem hellbent on not seeing something that I'm sure is plain for everyone else to see on board this ship. I even suggested that thing to you on a number of occasions in private, Shanalon, but probably the "scum or stupid" conundrum needs to be asked yet once again here. It seems very appropriate for you to keep stating the same pointless observations again and again till eternity if you really want a crucial member of the Royals offed, but if you are indeed a defender of the Royal family, as I am, this will definitely backfire on you tomorrow. Once again, I urge you to review the information you have at your disposal and get back to me with the very little info I requested. Obviously, it's very simple - I want to share my info with more than one person; and if you have indeed confirmed a "Bargie", I'd have no problem in speaking to both of you. If, however, you don't and you're just weaving some elaborate schemes, you can continue threating me as you've done all day; that won't make me spill any more beans.

As to you, Fairon - your comments really struck a nerve with me. My contribution has indeed been dubious and I've made little to actually help form a hub of loyal Royal supporters, which provides a huge dent in any defence I put up. And while I'd be more than happy to work with you, your keen desire to help Shan here with her pointless lynch is making me feel quite wary of it all.

[Fugazi]

I'm trying hard to follow but I actually didn't hear anything from you that would explain why you don't trust Shanalon. So until I understand that part, the rest of your arguing is only striking me as an attempt to avoid answering the real question.

[Shadows]

Funny how you two seem hellbent on not seeing something that I'm sure is plain for everyone else to see on board this ship.

I think we did see something that is plain for everyone else to see. It's why I voted the way I did, I know that much.

OH! This is that point in the story where you say, "but I'm the protector, I was trying to be subtle" yet contradict yourself by saying it's "plain for everyone else to see", thus meaning that you were trying to avoid directly telling me, but didn't mind hinting at it to the entire group including the scum. That's even lame compared to Ruben's lame defense.

I even suggested that thing to you on a number of occasions in private, Shanalon

Which is it, "suggested that thing to you on a number of occasions" or "Considering how little I've told you", you can't have it both ways.

Once again, I urge you to review the information you have at your disposal and get back to me with the very little info I requested.

Again, you yourself admit to having told me little, do you really want to contradict your own claim so soon?

Obviously, it's very simple - I want to share my info with more than one person; and if you have indeed confirmed a "Bargie", I'd have no problem in speaking to both of you.

I see, what you want is for me to do the scum's job and reveal someone who isn't a member of the Royal Family to you, so that saves one investigation.

Brilliant.

Drop dead.

You still have time to come clean about this situation. If you actually care about the Royal Family, you will do so, privately. If you don't, carry on with the way you're behaving and I assure you, the Royal party will see that you are appropriately dealt with.

And seriously, if you turn out to be a member of the Royal party, you will only have yourself to blame.

[MetroiD]

OH! This is that point in the story where you say, "...".

OH! But nope, it isn't.

Which is it, "suggested that thing to you on a number of occasions" or "Considering how little I've told you", you can't have it both ways.

I was talking about the protector claims you've already received in private by someone else on this ship. You know very well what it was that I meant, and if you've now decided to play the "oh look at him, he's so scummy he even contradicts himself all the time" card, it really tends to reek of helplessness. I'm starting to ask myself who it is that you're actually trying to convince here.

And seriously, if you turn out to be a member of the Royal party, you will only have yourself to blame.

Getting ready for tomorrow this early on? Come on, you still have time to solidify your defence for tomorrow. Besides, aren't you a bit too quick here - my fate is far from being sealed, your persistence has so far only been shared by someone I'm pretty sure you're working with behind the scenes anyway. I have reasons for acting as I did, and I'm actually convinced that at least some of our shipmates will have understood those. Weird why you'd continue to insist on not understanding a thing but please, be my guest. I'm safe in the knowledge that, regardless of your allegiance, Town will be aided greatly even if I do end up being lynched today. Although, to be quite honest, I have much more faith in these people's common sense.

[Zepher]

Listen. Shanalon is clearly a member of the royal court, so you're not helping yourself by attacking her. I'm not fully convinced your scum though - with only three of scum, I don't know how readily they'd defend each other. Please give us another target, or we will be forced to vote you off. I don't want to do that, but I won't vote for Shanalon, who is the other person you're offering us, and we can't afford to not lynch, so choose another target and try to tell us why it should be them over you. I'm willing to at least listen.

[Bob]

I haven't really trusted you since you lead a crusade to get me thrown overboard on both Day One, but also on Day Two when we actually had sufficient evidence against Ruben. I've talked with you in private and even still you've been after me. I'm not sure why your conquest against me is so overbearing, but it's clouding your judgement and you're dangerous to keep around.

Vote: Meahon Doughal (MetroiD)

You were the first to vote for me, mostly for no real logical reason. Plus, you got Ruben on the bandwagon immediately after that. Since Ruben was found out to be a scummy scum, I'm willing to believe that you were simply distracting attention away from Charles in order to vote for me. Is Charles scum too? Were you saving his green megablocks from the silver plank?

[MetroiD]

I don't want to do that, but I won't vote for Shanalon, who is the other person you're offering us...

That's not true, I am not claiming that Shanalon is scum. I returned some of the "scum or stupid" tongue-in-cheek banter with more of the same, but, as a few of our shipmates could tell you, up until a few hours ago I was convinced that there was no way Shan would be scum. I'm just arguing that her intuition / conviction / however you call it regarding my allegiance is wrong in this case.

However, are you really waiting for me to point out someone else and say "Lynch them instead"? I've spent half the day discussing things with other people on this ship and wracking my brain to see if my worries about their allegiance are justified or not. I'm no closer to being certain about anyone's allegiance than I was when this day started. For example, there have been some voting patterns and observations in terms of contribution that I found curious, but I need to hear more from those people before I can actually place a vote against them.

Bess here might say that I didn't take so long to place a vote against her and she'd be right. What worried me about her behaviour is what's troubling me once again with some of our shipmates - one minute she's saying one thing, and the next minute she's totally changed her mind. "I have no job. / Your innuendo-filled rants are not helping. / Let me defend someone before he has the chance to speak up." was a very hard pattern to follow, which is why I was convinced I needed to hear from Bess, by voting against her. If this Day also progresses as quietly as the previous ones have though, and without more contribution from the people I'm wary of, I'll share my concerns with the rest of you.

Well, I notice that Bess has just spoken up as I was making my feelings known. I understand her point of view, and her decision to act as she has, but it only helps emphasize what I suggested earlier. To answer your question - I don't know whether Charles' voice is green-tinted or not. Just as I don't know whether you're really scum or not. I just found your initial contributions harder to understand, and I kept it up after that because your defence didn't persuade me I was wrong. If you are indeed a protector of the Royal family and feel offended, I will go against my unapologetic nature in saying I'm sorry if you found my aggressive behaviour irritating. But bearing a grudge about it would be the same as me being mad with Shanalon for trying to lynch me today. I'd much rather have such things happen, and then ensure contingencies are in place so that our Barge members can have more info on the next day based on which to get the rest of the Assassins, then just stay silent throughout the day and wait for the Scum to make their next move.

[Shadows]

For a moment, let's step away from the day and just think quietly about our situation.

This is so simple that I feel like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner.

There are 10 of us left: 2 Royal Family members, 2 assassins and 6 members of the Royal party.

Eight of us are good, honest people. Two are green scum.

If everyone had to admit their identity right now, no one would admit to being scum. Right? Right!

Send me your real identity. You do not need to tell me if you have an action, though I have a pretty good understanding of how most of them work, so it might narrow things down further without complications. To be honest, if you're revealing your identity, revealing your action shouldn't bother you much.

Yes, I know what I'm asking here, but here's how it works: Those two scum will be forced to lie and claim to be two of you. At that point, I'll only have 4 suspects (as long as every member of the Royal Court agrees to do this and tells the truth). If they claim to be a member of the Royal Family and then the real one is killed, they reveal themselves automatically. They won't even know if they're claiming that or not, so I'm sure they won't want to agree to this plan. Actually, they might, hoping that some of you won't and they'll be able to claim your identities. It really is vital that the entire Royal Court does this for it to work.

If everyone did it, the second I knew the 4 (2 sets of 2 people claiming the same identity), I could investigate 1 and clear 1 automatically for as long as I live. At the same time, they'll be investigating, but we vote one off and it'll take them twice as long to investigate and kill, meaning that no matter how it goes, even if they got lucky every day, they still lose before they can kill both remaining members of the Royal Family.

It's so brilliant, no one will want to do it. I don't blame you. It's less a real offer and more designed to get all of you thinking about this situation from a new angle, because someone should have already figured this out, even if it is a bit unusual.

I now return you to your usual bickering, already in progress.

Oh, and I am following up on some things that might make this easier. No promises.

That's not true, I am not claiming that Shanalon is scum.

To be fair, the first thing you said when I told you that it was either the seemingly fake scum protector or you, was that you would no longer consider me 'town', so that is a bit of a lie.

[Zepher]

I actually thought of that plan of action earlier today. I am, however, a little scared to see you suggest it. It is the only thing that would make selling one of your own out. If you sacrificed Ruben to get us to send you our information, that right there is the only reason I can think of the scum giving up one of their own... I trust you almost entirely, but this is still quite a leap.

If everyone else thinks its a good idea, I'll go with the masses, but it's such a leap of faith...

[Shadows]

I trust you almost entirely, but this is still quite a leap.

I agree, and I hesitated to even present it, I'm just hoping it will trigger some thought about our problem and maybe someone can find a less invasive way to do it.

If I was scum, I'd have tried it privately. Three people have revealed themselves to me already (I never asked), but I can't be sure of any of them, naturally.

If one of the fake claims was my actual identity, think how amazing that would be.

[MetroiD]

It's so brilliant...

That you really need to buy me a steambeer. Or a steamship. Whichever is cheaper around here. But thanks for the high praise.

And - I said I'd no longer consider you "Town", but that doesn't exclude you having some Neutral role and going with whichever side seems to be prevalent...

[Fugazi]

Meahon, I hope you realise that your obsessing about Bess is misplaced. Ruben's vote for Bess on day 1 put her in the lead 4-3. No scum would have done that to one of their own, right?

[Shadows]

That you really need to buy me a steambeer. Or a steamship. Whichever is cheaper around here. But thanks for the high praise.

Huh?

You didn't suggest this idea, I literally came up with it as I was reviewing the various messages I'd gotten from other members of the party, messages in which they claimed to be specific people, etc. How is that giving you any kind of praise? If you ever said anything like this during one of the days, I must have just scanned right past it, and I think I'd have noticed this. I also think others would have and comments would have been made.

A quick review also indicates that you never said anything like it in private either.

Are you losing your mind now?

[CMP]

So...Meahon's refusing to give Shanalon (who's essentially lynched an assassin on her own) the identity of his protector on grounds that he's constantly avoiding explaining properly, and making contradictory statements in doing so? I don't know what the hell you're playing at, but this is certainly the best lead we have today. Vote: Meahon Doughal (MetroiD)

Mr. Meahon's Protector, if you A. exist, B. aren't Meahon, C. aren't scum, and D. want to be an actual help to the town, contact Shanalon. All of which I can't help but doubt, in that order from most to least.

[Hinckley]

vote tally

Meahon Doughal (MetroiD): 4 votes (Fugazi, Shadows, Bob, CallMePieOrDie)

[Pandora]

I've found a lot of your behaviour confusing Meahon, and I don't understand what's going on with you and the protector, especially as Shanalon says she's been contacted by someone else who claims to be the protector.

I've also spoken to someone who has claimed the role. They've never spoken to you. They had no reason to trust you, but they did have reason to trust and approach me on their own. That is a lot more logical than going to you when you had no reason to be trusted. They have described their role in a way that makes more sense than anything you've told me. They could still be lying, I'd like to be sure.

I am concerned that you are succeeding in confusing us, though. We need to get to the bottom of this, so I Vote: Meahon Doughal (MetroiD).

[Cecilie]

I'm a bit ambivalent about lynching Meahon today. On one hand, he's seemed to be sensible and hasn't given me any scummy vibes in my personal conversations with him, but the way he's acting in public leaves me with doubts about him. This whole protector business is confusing to say the least... I need to think things over a bit more before I cast my vote (not that I have any better lynch candidates for today...)

[MetroiD]

Great, I see that the regulars who only turn up twice per day have already managed to cast their vote, using little reasoning of their own, no less. Yes, Charles, Polly, I'm referring to you... among others.

I hope that the ones among you who are still wondering what's going on here will find comfort in knowing that as of this moment, there are a number of people who possess the full information which I am also privy to. If this lynch is successful, then I expect Shanalon to take the necessary measures in order to ensure that at least one more Assassin meets their fate on Day Four. If, however, she is, after all, a greenie in disguise, I believe the people present on board the H.M.S. Brutal should know what to do upon seeing the results from my lynch. I've done my best to get people talking every day so far - by starting a vote against Bess on Day One, and then by publically sharing my background info on Ruben's protection on Day Two. The way I see things, even though I might admittedly not have been the best of Royal Family defenders and even if I've been wrong, my work as a decoy will hopefully not go amiss and my "confusing behaviour" should provide the remaining Royal Family loyalists on board this barge with enough food for thought with regard to the remaining Assassins.

In the meantime though, don't expect me to just drop dead like a good mislead Townie should.

There was talk of other potential targets earlier today. Despite realizing that some of you will surely take the chance to fire another broadside at me for "scummily" stating my concerns yet once again, here's what I've been thinking. Polly was quick to vote on Day One, yet stated that she was keen on keeping it "nice and even three votes all". Then, just seconds later, she said that she "certainly wouldn't want the day to end in a tie and without lynch", even though throughout Day 1 she never seemed fully convinced in either of our "suspects"' affiliation... Obviously, that didn't stop her from voting very early on, which however was not the case on Day 2. Was she then actually trying to protect a fellow greenie and busy trying to mitigate the damage -- or was she just too perplexed to act on Shan's claims, like the rest of us? And if the latter is true, then I wonder why she never opted to voice her observations and concerns? Then, with little deliberation, she decides to once again follow suit today and conveniently place a vote against me while I'm still hot property. Apparently, no qualms there whatsoever.

Of course, I've done my best to discuss most of the above issues with Polly before speaking out before the rest of my shipmates here. The thing is, up until now I was more worried that, just like myself, she might be another person who's very anxious about this situation we're in. However, Polly was incredibly quick to call me out for being overeager to randomly lynch someone just because earlier today I was asking her in private what she thought about the Bess vs Charles situation from Day One and whether we should think it over once more. Obviously though, she's having no problems with being eager to vote without voicing any actual concerns of her own out in public.

I'm sorry, Polly, I've tried very hard, but I don't feel I can trust you. I was looking forward to much more contribution from you and your weird behaviour throughout all three days so far has left me very confused.

Vote: Polly Altamont (Pandora)

[CorneliusMurdock]

I actually thought of that plan of action earlier today. I am, however, a little scared to see you suggest it. It is the only thing that would make selling one of your own out. If you sacrificed Ruben to get us to send you our information, that right there is the only reason I can think of the scum giving up one of their own... I trust you almost entirely, but this is still quite a leap.

If everyone else thinks its a good idea, I'll go with the masses, but it's such a leap of faith...

I have to agree with Zerard. I was with Shananana all the way until that. I'd like to still trust her since otherwise she's been making a lot of sense but her asking everyone to reveal such information is standing in the way right now.

I do agree with Shannana, though, that Meahan is acting suspicious. I don't see any reason for him to have come forward yesterday with a protector claim unless he was either trying to deflect suspicion from Ruben or trying to weasel his way into a trusted town group.

Vote: Meahon Doughal (MetroiD)

[Hinckley]

Mod note:

5. You may not quote or pretend to quote anything sent to you by the game host via PM. This includes all the details and pictures of your character and role, as well as any night action results. Role claims and reporting of night action results are acceptable, but in your own words only. Do not attempt to use the structure of your role PM to your advantage. (Due to the concept role-claiming should be done with great caution. Another reason the roles have all been laid out is because verification by role-claiming is incredibly hard and extremely risky for the Town.)

The reason the text "all details and pictures" is in bold is to stop you from claiming your alter egos to each other. The details I was referring to in that statement are the identities of your alter egos. Perhaps it should be worded more clearly, but let me be clear that this is against the rules and will be dealt with by rule #12: Violation of the above rules will result in automatic death.

This game is designed for you to figure out affiliations without blatantly claiming your alter egos.

Tomorrow the rule will read like this:

5. You may not quote or pretend to quote anything sent to you by the game host via PM. This includes all the details and pictures of your character and role, as well as any night action results. As such, claiming your alter ego is also a violation of this rule. Claiming to be a member of the Royal Family does not violate that as that is part of role-claiming. Saying you're the King, Queen or Prince is allowed. Saying you're Barag (or whatever alter ego) is not. Role claims and reporting of night action results are acceptable, but in your own words only. Do not attempt to use the structure of your role PM to your advantage. (Due to the concept role-claiming should be done with great caution. Another reason the roles have all been laid out is because verification by role-claiming is incredibly hard and extremely risky for the Town.)

vote tally

Meahon Doughal (MetroiD): 6 votes (Fugazi, Shadows, Bob, CallMePieOrDie, Pandora, CorneliusMurdock)

Polly Altamont (Pandora): 1 vote (MetroiD)

[JimBee]

It's no secret - I've been suspicious of you, Meahon, since Day 1. On that day, you were quick to hide behind Fairon and cast a quick vote, based on little reason. And when that didn't work, you pushed and pushed for lynch. Come Day 2, you magically have someone who happens to be the protector claiming to you. Conveniently enough, this happens to provide evidence for the late cap'n's "innocence".

And now, when your life is on the line, no one is claiming to the all-but-confirmed Royalist Shanalon. You can see why it's easy to think you made this person up, yes?

Vote: Meahon Doughal (MetroiD)

[Shadows]

Mod note:

And that pretty much shoots my chances at confirming or denying the guilt of Meahan with absolute certainty. It also makes the entire situation more complicated since it removes one potential source of information, the ability to compare identity claims. I understand it, given the game-of-life breaking potential consequences for the scum, but that doesn't make me any more thrilled.

So on that note, my vote stands, but to be fair and clear, I will say that it isn't as conclusive as I had hoped it would be. Many of you have been expressing suspicion over his actions for days, so I still think it's a fair case, just not a sure thing like Ruben.

I will also repeat that my earlier suggestion, the one that was clearly so good that it required changing the rules, was never intended to happen. I said it then, I'm repeating that now. It was just designed to get us thinking a new way, because far too many of you are still approaching this as a normal game-of-life, and it is far from that. So stop sending me messages saying "I trusted you, and I think I still do, but that idea ..." If you're going to read part of what I say, read all of it. Thank you.

[Hinckley]

As the day wore on, Zerard Wolfe played a solemn tune on the bagpipes.

"Wow, I'm a good bagpipes player," Charles Pleasance sighs as he listens to the beautiful song.

"Hey! You're not me, you're you!" Zerard Wolfe shouts.

"Oh, sorry!" Charles Pleasance answers, "I thought I was playing the bagpipes..."

vote tally

Meahon Doughal (MetroiD): 7 votes (Fugazi, Shadows, Bob, CallMePieOrDie, Pandora, CorneliusMurdock, JimButcher)

Polly Altamont (Pandora): 1 vote (MetroiD)

Mod note: As a majority has been reached for some time, I will close this thread in about 10 hours, barring any drastic changes. If you are set with your vote, please think about your Night Action and get them in ASAP. If I get them in quickly, I can start the Day Four thread in about 24 hours. Let's plan to make the deadline for Night Actions 20 hours from the time of this post. With everyone's help, we can keep this game moving swiftly. Thanks!

[MetroiD]

How very appropriate to now say that you've got all the info, Shanalon, but heavens are forbidding you from putting it to good use. Devious indeed. Way to go throwing me to the lions... but I guess that's that.

Well done, shipmates, you've gone and lynched someone you know could have been vital to our sucessful defence of the Royal Family. Once again though, I've been busy making sure people have enough info at their disposal to hopefully get back to lynching Assassins tomorrow - so my death should hopefully be very useful. And because I know that tomorrow quite a few of you will still go with the obviously lame excuse "Ah, but he was so outspokenly inadequate in the Day threads!"... I thought I'd present you with a brief overview of why I've been doing what I've been doing before I go.

Day 1. I initiated a vote against someone other than Charles based on my observations thus far. It was curious to see what would happen and I was surprised by how many people were eager to jump on a bandwagon which hardly had any solid proof whatsoever. I pursued with my vote aggressively to see where that would lead us, and also due to the fact that her defence didn't convince me Bess was innocent. (No, brother, I'm not obsessing about her. But even if I were, can you blame me...) The stand-off that resulted at the end of the day though was also a curious thing to witness - along with people's general reactions. Fairon also tried to employ some reverse psychology tactics there, by obviously switching his vote to see if that might help make a sudden change - which it didn't, so he naturally changed his vote back to Charles since that's the person he was initially wary of. His move was unsuccessful - as was mine, after all. We didn't find out anything about the potential scumsters based on their reactions, but tomorrow you can still go back and see how they voted to hopefully get your facts straight.

Day 2. The odds were stacked against Ruben, who had unfortunately been protected on the previous night. Considering the info I was aware of, I though that it might be a good time to once again try and give us something to talk about, and at the same time see how people would react to openly sharing so much information this early in the game. I was hoping for one of the following:

a) The Town investigator would investigate me the following night and we'd be able to work together from Day 3 onward.

b) The Scum would jump at the opportunity to defend their fellow greenie. I wasn't really holding my breath over that possibility though.

c) The Scum would see right through but still be desperate enough to kill or (preferably) block me that night.

With c), I was hoping that there'd either be someone there to see who was actually blocking me; or that this block would be somewhat of a wasted move for the Scum which would allow the investigator and the rest of Town's power roles to act without the danger of being blocked. As it turns out, my fine beard and eyebrows do indeed seem to have been blocked on Night 2.

Day 3. I started off by stating the obvious - which is, Zerard's left glove did turn grey for just an instant. Metasteaming or not - you be the judge, but I was trying to get a discussion of sorts going. My observation was completely ignored. Then we had the usual "Oh, our Queen is dead" stuff going on, after which Shanalon got started with her lynch against me. Throughout the ordeal, we were in contact via PMs and she basically told me the following:

a) There's another person who's claimed to be the protector to her, with said person not being in contact with me;

b) My claims of having been blocked on night 2 could not be true since the person who claimed to be the blocker had remained inactive;

c) She tried to investigate me (or have me investigated, if that's more correct) - and failed. Not due to a block though.

d) I need to reveal to her my identity, my alter ago, everyone I'd been in contact with, as well as every other single thing, and also, if possible, measure the size of any sausages lying around and report it to her.

I didn't measure the sausages. I did, however, supply her with sufficient information based on which she could cross-reference the claims that had been made to her so far. How she decides to use that info will hopefully give the rest of you a good indication on what you should do next. Once again, do not forget that all the alleged direct claiming and indirect investigating that's been going on is admittedly weird, but at least I'm not coming up with crazily convoluted theories about it all. And if you people think I'm suspicious / scummy for not wanting to share with you the name of the protector and/or shout out from atop the mast that I'm them, well think again (and listen to the voice in the sky while you're at it). This situation we're in most probably can't and won't be handled with a swift mass show of faith, so perhaps being anxious to the point of almost being paranoid was not such a bad move on my part, after all.

I guess that about sums it up. Today's lynch is a bad move, Barge, but please make the most of it by taking care of those slimy greenies. Ta ta!

[Shadows]

How very appropriate to now say that you've got all the info, Shanalon, but heavens are forbidding you from putting it to good use. Devious indeed.

Where did I say that, could you please point me to that post? I said I had a plan that I knew wouldn't happen, and then a rule was made to prevent it, how does that mean I have all the info?

I guess that about sums it up. Today's lynch is a bad move, Barge, but please make the most of it by taking care of those slimy greenies. Ta ta!

We may be wrong, I certainly hope we aren't, but if we are it's because from day 1 you've looked like scum. You've played games, contradicted yourself, lied and twisted things to the point that I can't figure out half of what you're even claiming here.

I really don't know what game you've been playing, but I do know that nothing you've done has even vaguely helped the Royal party, and in fact, you've done a lot of harm through your scummy or incredibly bad tactics.