Shadows

And as the day draws to a close, I'd like to thank all of you who legitimately supported the Royal Family today, curse those of you who are assassins and disguised yourselves in with the pack, and hope that this is the beginning of our victory over the scum. Hope to see you all tomorrow.

And if/when I do die, we lose the results of that night and are open to potential misdirection from the scum. Then you say that someone wouldn't have any reason to fear stepping forward after watching my death, when it could have been prevented? Does that really give them any hope for their own life? It is kind of important that as many people stay alive as possible or your allies won't have any difficulty at all killing the Royal Family. Seriously, you make no sense at all, but I do understand your situation and how little you can do now. No, I'm sure they don't need your repeated attempt to manipulate them, yet you keep offering it, which just makes the whole thing more and more obvious. So in summation, you wanted a random kill on day 1, you wanted a random kill today but instead you had the truth revealed about your motives. Since you can't fool/manipulate your way out of it, you want to try to make sure I'm available to be killed so that your scummy allies have a weaker opponent to deal with next time, or just hope that person will be afraid to be killed like I was. Oh, and there is one more twist. I may or may not be a member of the Royal Family, so protecting me may be a double positive. Or it may not, I'm certainly not telling you. Just because you want to learn every possible thing that can be used against us, doesn't mean you're going to get it. I trust in our protector and I know that they will protect the only person they can be sure of right now, especially after your obvious attempt to convince them otherwise. Failure after failure. Well done.

Still the same obvious lies hoping to get me killed so your scummy allies can try to salvage this situation, either through trickery or hoping that my replacement would be afraid to step forward and meet the same fate I would. Lame. Obvious. Desperate. Goodbye.

That would be wonderful if we knew the identity of one of the Royal Family or the investigator, but we don't. If they randomly guess, they could end up protecting an assassin. As it stands, if I live, there won't be any question about who to trust tomorrow, your scummy alignment will insure that the truth is known. If I die, someone new will have to step forward to relay the investigator's results, and I have no doubt that you've already helped your team plan ahead for that situation in an attempt to mislead the Royal party. So yeah, I think it would be good if I lived at this point. I think it's hilariously transparent that you don't want me protected since it screws up your scummy plans so much.

Do I? I value my life, naturally, what kind of fool doesn't? Maybe the whole concept doesn't make sense to an assassin like you, but every member of the Royal party needs to live so that we can do our duty, another concept you may not understand. Whatever the case, I gave your suggestion a try and it led nowhere, not much I can do about that. Do you have any other ideas? The rest of the party seems to.

Everything has been said. Oh, and no word from any supposed blocker, so add that to Ruben's list of pointless distractions. Vote: Ruben Castleton (Rick) Twit.

Just as an update, to this point no one has contacted me claiming to be either blocker or protector. Given the risk I've taken, I'm inclined to believe that the person who contacted you may have been attempting some form of trickery. Why would they choose to contact you prior to any results being presented, yet not contact me when I clearly have nothing to gain by lying? Of course, they could be otherwise occupied, so I will reserve judgment and hope to hear from them. I honestly think this is the major drawback to this situation. On the one hand, it's a little more secure for the investigator, but on the other it's complicated to explain. Obviously, the investigator could be killed at any time and I'm sure they could be blocked if targeted randomly (or found through some kind of scum investigation), so it has many of the same risks as a normal investigation, it's just a little easier to report results. And even that comes at the risk of my life, so all of the nonsense about it being overpowered is just that, nonsense. Agreed.

Actually, we'll be losing one assassin (you), and if there is a blocker, I'd like to ask them to do what they did last night. If the reason for no scum kill is, as some want to believe, due to this blocker (who we don't even know exists), then we should be safe again. I'm not sold on this theory, but it would be lovely if it was true. As for noon, I really hope not, but this particular god has employed this method before and when dealing with assassins, I wouldn't be even slightly surprised if it was possible. Like I said, I'm not going to continue to argue this with you. You approached me privately, we discussed it, I even went so far as to attempt to contact a blocker who may not exist. I can't be more fair, and saying that I haven't considered all options is just a flat out lie. I've considered a lot of options and presented them along the way. I fully admit that this is an unusual game of life, but that doesn't change the fact that unless we have the cruelest god known to man, you are an assassin and won't survive the day.

I have been privately asked to seek out the blocker (if there is one) and listen to their story to try to determine what happened last night in regards to the scum not killing anyone. By extension, that would also require hearing from any form of protector (again, if there is one). Honestly, I'm not convinced that I can expect that kind of trust until after the results of this investigation are shown to be correct, but I'm putting the offer out. If you wish to contact me, you may share as much or as little as you wish, and anything you want kept private will be. If you have even the slightest doubt, don't contact me. That said, I don't trust this idea very much and will be wary of anything I'm told. I'm also not convinced that even if someone was blocked or protected, that it was the right person. What are the odds, really? It would be hilarious if one blocked and/or protected the other.

If it is wrong, I will make no excuses and I will commit some kind of violation to gain a penalty to insure I can't survive. Fair enough?

Twisted like the mind of god. The assassins must be able to investigate and kill, so if I was simply trying to get him killed for that reason, it wouldn't be done like this. Capable, maybe, but it's pointless, if it's wrong I'm dead and that won't reveal any of the Royal Family, so as scum, it would be an idiotic move with no gain. Yeah, if I was an assassin, I wouldn't have gotten stuck in the middle of something this complicated, I'd just keep looking for the family and kill them, but thanks for being inclined to believe that I'm not scum. The downside would be the investigator being killed, while at the same time a member of the party is put at risk daily to reveal his results AND having to keep dealing with the credibility issue while trying to explain a system that is complicated, thus hard to make people believe. You know how day 1 lynchings work as well as anyone, they usually kill a member of the town and everyone says "oh darn" and nothing is learned. You wanted one anyway, you can admit that, even some loyal members of the Royal party did, you just had a different reason for wanting it. It's entirely possible that nothing happens, I just wasn't going to take the risk of the first results dying with me. To be honest, I think you're planning to find all of the Royal Family and strike in the same night, to reduce your odds of exposure along the way. Would you like to confess your true plans, so we can stop guessing, or shall we just take you down, one by one? We know the answer to that. We've already covered that the investigator can't choose to lie to me because they aren't the one kicking the pigeon. It is accurate. You know it, too. So here's where this ends. I am not going to spend hour after hour debating points that don't change the results, Ruben is scum. I will be voting the next chance I get after voting opens. I hope you all will. I also hope I survive the day/night to continue to try to serve the Royal Family. If not, someone will step up.

The delivery is certainly the most off-putting part. I pray/pigeon/potato my requested target and I get the results back the same way, but not from the investigator. That's why I have no doubt of it's accuracy, and no idea who the investigator is. If I understand this type of situation correctly, they don't get the result, they simply act as the physical body that collects it. As such, they could probably be blocked since they do the action, and I would get no result. It seems to add a level of protection to their role, since it can be reported without them being exposed. Even I'm a little confused there. I think she's confirming that I have privately explained the situation to her, but as far as I know, no one is in direct contact with the investigator and I'm the only one who is capable of contacting them right now (with that changing if I die).

I'm trying to account for all possibilities. Oddly, it was our friendly green assassin who got me thinking about ways that they could kill us that we might not expect, to account for the lack of one last night. I know this god, he's a cruel mistress, and he's allowed our enemies to use poison on us before. I'm not 110% certain that it will happen, nor am I paranoid, I'm just not risking it. It would be a shame for this information to die before it can be used to help our Royal Family.

With a sudden surge of insight, I've come to the conclusion that there is one more possible reason for the lack of a night kill ... poison/daytime assassination. That said, I have a funny feeling I could be a target, and given the importance of what I know, waiting to say it once voting is open would be foolish. I've certainly hinted at it enough that the time for subtlety has passed. Beneath that otherwise normal looking exteriour, Ruben Castleton is a slimy green-skinned scum sucking Kensmy Assassin. Naturally, I'll explain how I came to know this. I am privileged to be in indirect but irrefutable contact with the head of security for the Royal Family. He is privately working to uncover the assassins amongst us. I kick a pigeon or toss a potato towards the heavens and in the morning it is returned with the results of my request. Those results identify the alignment of the person investigated. This morning, I received the aforementioned results that I bring you now. If I should die, contact will transfer to another trusted member of the Royal party. If the investigator should die, however, we would lose a valuable weapon. I do not know his alternate identity, which is the major reason I am against random lynchings, we could do even more harm to ourselves than I had previously indicated. The longer we can place absolute votes, like today, the less chance of his loss. I call all of you to take this first opportunity to strike back at the assassins that have put all of us in danger. Now for a bit of a reminder. We are here to save our Royal Family, not ourselves. I know that revealing this information paints a target on me, but I am doing my duty and my survival isn't the most important issue. I only ask that each of you do the same. Don't make claims about being or not being part of the Royal Family. You'll notice that I haven't. Doing so only helps the assassins find their targets more quickly. Right now, they will scratch their heads wondering whether or not to kill me (assuming they haven't already). That's exactly what each of us needs to do. I would prefer not to die. If there is a means of preventing that, I would appreciate it. As long as I am receiving the information, I know it will be conveyed, as it has been today. I am, however, making arrangements in the event that I don't survive the day/night. I should be able to insure that if a replacement steps forward with information, you'll know it's legitimate. Naturally, if you aren't sure and end up being wrong, kill them the next day, just as I would expect you to kill me tomorrow if I'm wrong (which I can't be, so yes, I can say it with absolute certainty). Thank you for your time and continued support of the Royal Family. It is said that the Queen has the moistest, tastiest pie in all the land, but I jest.

Unfortunately, a day 1 conviction usually ends up a bad indicator. If it's a member of the town, everyone says "oh no!" and it's impossible to tell if it's sincere regret or not. If it ends up right, it's just as possible that the scum sacrificed one of their own to end up on the right side of the vote. To be fair, that's pretty much the case every day when we don't have solid evidence. Thankfully, that won't be the case today. Well, "I'm a member of the Royal Family" would be a particularly bad defense as well. This is why I keep repeating that we're in an unusual situation here. Normally, the scum knows who is town and who isn't, and in the end, it doesn't matter who they kill, as long as they do it. In this situation, they need very specific targets and unless those targets are idiots, they won't reveal themselves unless they can be absolutely guaranteed protection every night until the end, something hard to expect. No point distracting the conversation any further, as I said, there will be solid evidence today, I'm absolutely certain of it.

Not quite. Not lynching meant we didn't accidentally kill a member of the Royal Family or a member of the royal party, which would have been much more likely, so I can't really call them even.

I can think of a few ways that could work, especially in a weird situation like this. 1. The assassins can only kill 3 times (or some other low limit), total, thus preventing them the luxury of guessing. 2. They can investigate to try to find the Royal Family, but not at the same time as a kill. 3. They really want us to wonder what the hell they are doing. I'm not placing bets on any one of those, but I wouldn't be surprised. Thank you for adding to the discussion, that's so helpful.

A few seemed awfully invested in the idea of killing randomly yesterday, knowing they could say "oops, oh well" when it went wrong. Yet none of those people had the strength of conviction to change their vote to cause it to happen. Believe me, a lot can be learned from yesterday. I find a few things absolutely fascinating upon mental review of the day and hope to see how they play out today. How do those chances increase? Wouldn't they decrease if we accidentally killed anyone but one of the assassins? Makes you wonder if, as someone has privately suggested to me, the scum can't kill if we don't reach a conviction. Given the lack of any evidence of a blocked action, it's just as likely a possibility, but a hard one to test. Then again, someone may have suggested that so we would test it by not convicting, hoping to get a kill tonight, then railroad us into stupid decisions later. It's all just theories. I wouldn't worry much, I'm sure evidence will turn up today. It has to, or we wouldn't stand a chance.

Ok, I'm officially confused. The Queen and the Jester return to their normal forms for a midnight horny pie show, then back in disguise by morning? Well, whatever the case, not lynching yesterday clearly didn't cause the disaster that a few loud voices wanted to make us think it would, we've all awakened to a new day. Congratulations to a few of you for making what appears to have been a wise decision. And now that brings us to the ugly part... anyone have any evidence? Do you mean the pie to Lord Whateverthefuckhisnameis? He's clearly identified as an NPC, nothing done by anyone here is responsible for stopping him, it was all part of the show. On the other hand, if someone else was blocked, you're right, that should be looked into. It was a shockingly quiet night, aside from all the pie play.

Good job, everyone! You too, Hinck.

You may want to review your claims before making them. It would be hard to say that I jumped to anything when I placed the last vote, and made it clear that I did so in an effort to tie things since none of our votes are based on anything real. I was hoping that people would realise that we're not in a traditional situation here and act with a tiny bit of intelligence as opposed to the usual disregard given to day 1 deaths. I'm glad to see that a few of you understand this. I will cast a wary eye on those who have argued to risk killing a member of our Royal Family to satisfy their need for 'action'. No, let's just randomly kill someone and hope for the best! That always goes so well. (I'd love to see the statistics on that, then factor in this type of situation, I bet no one would be for trying this). I don't have a clue either way, which is enough reason not to risk killing one. Put your clothes back on.

Those past situations were different. If we were wrong, we hurt ourselves, but not critically, we still had a drastic advantage in numbers. It might go from 19 vs 5 to 18 vs 5. If we're wrong here and actually take out a member of the royal family it's much worse, they are more limited and more important. It could literally be going from 3 vs 3 to 2 vs 3, based on something that isn't even as strong as a hunch. Do you see the difference? Has anyone else considered this situation fully, or is it just the usual, "oh well, day 1, we might screw up but who cares, we have lots of time to correct it." We don't have that luxury this time, do we?

I just don't feel comfortable lynching when statistically we're most likely to kill one of our own (and that could be a member of the royal family, even), which benefits no one but the scum. If anyone feels differently, all they have to do is change their vote, I just don't see any basis for doing so given the lack of any apparent penalty for not lynching and the great risk involved in doing it. Tomorrow will be another story, however. If something doesn't come up then, we'll have no choice but to start randomly guessing.

Day 1 never makes sense, but there's no point splitting the vote even further by selecting a third party, and I'm kind of curious what happens in a tie. Vote: Charles Pleasance (CallMePieOrDie) Ah, I see what happens, it's like rules magically appear. In case of a tie, there will be no lynch. So now we're at a standoff. If either side feels strongly enough about their vote, they should make a case for it and try to get the opposition to change their vote, otherwise there will be no lynch. Given the lack of any real evidence, that's probably how it should end, but it will be interesting to see if anyone disagrees enough to change their vote.

Wow, I hadn't even thought about that. Where's the potty?