SAU VIII: Inquisition

[Tylarion]

OOC: What the Hell, normally people who are removed do still count on the day they are removed, and sleek, why the hell did you choose me out of the 8 silents...

[Tarbo]

OOC: What the Hell, normally people who are removed do still count on the day they are removed, and sleek, why the hell did you choose me out of the 8 silents...

The rules are the same as for the 6th installment, namely that inactive people are removed before the end of the Day. This is to cancel out the effect they leave:

20 players, 4 inactive:
- "normal": majority requires 11/16 participating;
- quick removal: 9/16 participating.

I believe the quick removal rule more accurately captures the spirit of the game. I'm sorry if this came as a surprise to you.

The specific rule was covered in the SAU VI OOC thread.

[Tylarion]

OOC: Yea It was as a suprise for me, and sorry to edit my message, but I changed my mind on it. Don't mention names in ghost post, also sorry for second post.

Still why me why me...

[Morvai]

“well who would have thought, random guessing does work.” Said Morvai with a grin as he left the council chamber.

[Sleekdd]

Sleek Doral looked in growing amazement as Tylarion openly admitted being the leader of a Cult of Slaanesh. Once the unfortunate victim was forcably removed, Sleek lifted his eyebrows quickly.

"This certainly puts the day in a different perspective."

Scratching the back of his head and looking perplexed, he retreated to his chambers. Sleek wasn't sure he heard all of that right.

"Goodnight."

[The liger]

"Ah, well then Darmort and other doubters, it seems that our reasoning did luckily pay off. And who said a random vote would never get us anywhere, eh?

"Thank you and goodnight..."

[Malevion]

Malevia raised her eyebrows in suprise

"The Slaaneshii leader captured on the first day!? Who would've thought it? Amazing... Surely Khaine himself has taken an active hand in rooting out these vile heretics! But where there is one Slaaneshii, surely there is a whole nest .May we be as fortunate tommorrow..."

[Darmort]

"Khaine's wrath! Now that is luck! Shame it's not going to happen everyday, however..."

"Well, good night... you'll probably have one, anyway; I don't expect to survive the night... It'll take too long to explain now, but I will in the morning... If I live..."

[Spire]

Spire gave a small laugh of amazement.
"Well, it appears I was mistaken," he said lightly, "That was a most fortunate decision. I salute you Sleek, we seem to have made some real progress."
The tall elf straightened up, tossing his long pale hair back as he did so.
"But stil, thee are no doubt other scum around. I suggest that we all guard ourselves this night, but I whish you all fond sleep nonetheless."

[Ilokir lúinwë]

'that's a start. This shows some perspective.. With their leader dead, we might be able to rout the whole bunch. It seems Khaine granted us a first victory. With his help, we can win the war.'

[Xtremenl]

"Now if i was a dwarf, I would have suggested all of you join me to drink lots of ale over this. Fact is though that I'm not from a lower race, so i'll instead congratulate us all on this victory, and stay sober for tomorrow, so I can actually function."

[Drakhan]

Drakhan grinded. "What a shame I would have liked some Ale. Well Ill make do I suppose."

[Tarbo]

(The first and before-last parts are "masked" in that the target is simply "he". Just so there's less confusion about who's referred to. Also, both subjects are referred to as males, this doesn't mean that they are, in fact, male.)

It was hauntingly dark in the corridors. The defensive architecture of the structure wasn't designed for comfort, but surely they could've found a more light-efficient way to make the fortress impenetrable? He pondered on that for a moment while walking on.

°°°

There he was...

The cloaked figure conjured a face-splitting grin that was sure to give his position away if there were more light to reflect of his sparkling white teeth. Oh, he would pay, he most certainly would pay. Blood, hurt, agony... pain... lots and lots of pain...

The plan was flawless, however compromised to the casual observer. In all its irony, the best place to strike was dangerously close to the armoury, where a guardpost was incessantly manned. It was one of the few places were guards did not patrol as actively—probably because of the proximity of a guardpost—giving this child of the night his chance to strike.

The armoury far, far ahead of him was wide open. Guards were walking in and out, and the captain of the guard, Anleth, seemed to be taking an inventory. Well, she would find a few things missing. He grinned again. Oh, life was good when you had the skill to get away with these things.

But on to the plan. The effectiveness lied in its simplicity: run as fast as you can through the hallway, intercept the target, cut his throat, and run on. It was a simple plan, as he mentioned before, but it would be surprisingly effective. No tracks, no trails, no witnesses.

His target would appear in only a few seconds, and so the would-be assassin took his start.

Running through the narrow corridor that branched from the broader hallway his target was walking in, the assassin made speed and bent over precariously far to allow for even greater velocity.

Unsupectedly, he would be given a “helping hand”...

A gloved hand appeared from the shadows, dropping a surreptitiously small object no larger than a hand. With such velocity, the assassin could not come to a halt, and instead was forced to put his foot squarely on the hard, slippery cut of soap laid in front of him.

In a show of questionable elegance but superlative balancing skills, the black-clad figure skated soundlessly through the corridor at breakneck speed.

°°°

There was a sudden draft behind the unsuspecting target as he walked through the hallway. His brow rised as much as frowned, and he peeked over his shoulder. Nothing. Strange, he thought he had heard something. He walked on, opened the door to his quarters, and stepped in.

An incredibly loud cacophony of crashing metal slipped through the cracks of the door before it closed.

°°°

Mioralynthia appears surprised when she enters so very early in the morning, and finds a few dignitaries already on location. She believes herself an early bird, and is not used to being stood up by people that are being investigated for “laxity.”

“Early fellows,” she exchanges with Anleth before taking a seat. She puts down some heavy study material to keep her occupied for the day. “You'd think they haven't slept.”

“It was a... strange night,” Anleth replies with a frown on her face. “I was inventorying the armoury when suddenly an entire section just... collapsed.” She seems puzzled still. The fact they found a trail of soap isn't exactly making it any easier on her to understand what happened.

“Heavy equipment lying on shelves for a long time,” Miora trails with a shrug. There are more important things than the nightly meanderings of a captain inventorying the armoury.

“Goodmorning, everyone,” Miora finally greets the assembled dignitaries. “I'm afraid yesterday's success has only strengthened the belief that there is indeed weed to be rooted out, so unless I'm mistaken,” and she spares Anleth a look to confirm her facts, “the inquisition continues, which means that we all continue.”

Well, we... Mioralynthia turns to her books and scrolls with the morning freshness, hoping to pick up where she had left two days ago.
_____________________

Players

1. Ilokir
2. Morvai
3. Drakhan
4. Raziel02
5. The Liger
6. rankrath
7. Ashnari Doomsong
8. Malevion
9. Darmort
10. Spire
11. SleekDD
12. XtremeNL
13. Mel'Reyna
14. Telrunya

"Deaths"
1. Lamehk the Slavemaster (removed on request) - Day 1
2. Tylarion (Cult Leader) - Day 1

It is now Day. You may again post and vote at leisure.

The Day is set to end on Tuesday, at 12h00 GMT.

[Sleekdd]

Sleek skipped his eyes towards Mioralynthia, ready to give her an earful about showing respect and proper attitude when presiding on a meeting of this importance. But it registered as a bad idea to draw attention to this detail when the lives of the councillors – not to mention himself – lay in the balance today. Of course, it would require ‘supreme’ amounts of concentration for the sorceress to keep track of her study during heated debates so the problem would most likely resolve itself.

A slight smile formed on Sleek’s lips and the success of yesterday or the lack of bloodshed last night were only in part responsible for that. It was odd since on every occasion when Slaaneshi were involved blood was spilled in varying and disturbing degrees of creativity.

“Goodmorning, councillors. I believe that we will have our work laid out for us today. Luckily, unlike yesterday, we have some clues to go by thanks to our successful intervention. In my humble opinion, we can already begin to form ideas on who to suspect and who to trust. I therefore suggest we match our notes and see if we can reach a consensus on the next votes.”

Sleek rose from his seat, the sign for yet again one of his famous or infamous speeches, and began to stroll around the table.

“A few councillors have gotten on my good side because of their actions yesterday. First of all, Drakhan. As ill-mannered he may be, I am strengthened in my view that he is innocent. My reason for believing so is his quarrel with Morvai when he voted for the absent Lamenkh. Drakhan urged Morvai not to spread out the votes, hinting that Tylarion should instead be chosen if he was indeed to place a vote. No assassin would at that time nudge others to vote off the ring leader, especially since it looked like Tylarion might have survived the voting process until the very last minute.”

“Then there’s Darmort who chose to side with the cautious. His high-profile defence and the manner in which he executed it, leaves little doubt to his allegiance to the council. If you are hoping to dodge the attention of the council votes, it is not advisable to address virtually every councillor and dispute their votes. Yet, this is exactly what he did. Ruling out any suicidal tendencies, he is obviously a devout follower of Khaine, a true herald of his greatness.”

“Next, the Liger. I must admit I found his quick support suspicious myself but the guilt of Tylarion largely absolved him in my eyes. Who would, in their right mind, support a random vote for his leader this early on the day? And by doing so, look extremely suspicious as others pointed out. I believe he was just anxious not to waste the day, hardly a bad trait this early into the investigations.

Of course, he could just be overly ruthless, giving up on Tylarion the moment a vote – no matter how random – was placed on him. But how likely could we judge this?
I see it possible for them to follow the herd when it looks like one of their own is doomed anyway, but this early, a random vote is just as annoying as a mosquito. It means little and with the proper amount of ignorance, it means even less.”

“And finally, Telrunya supported my idea on a critical moment. I doubt anything would have been accomplished had he not pledged his symbolic support when he did.”


Sleek was now standing behind Mioralynthia and frowned when seeing her study material. He cocked his head but was unable to decipher the arcane text and gave up. He continued his stroll around the table and came close to his seat. Undoubtedly, some councillors would be more than happy to see him sit down and –more importantly – shut up.

“Yesterday did not only hand me a few trustees but also brought a few suspects to my attention, either by action or inaction.

Ilokir urged people not to vote until solid evidence was presented even though anyone has to agree that no such thing exists during the first day of such investigations. He waited until the very last moment to place his vote and with it, sealed the fate of Tylarion. Did he believe Tylarion to be doomed or did he merely prefer action – no matter how random – over inactivity? This question has played in my mind a few times and I haven’t got an answer on that.”

“And what about Rankrath, who launched an attack on myself mere moments before nightfall? Did he try to block a majority by dividing attention? Was this a last-ditch attempt to save his master? From where I’m standing, he is not worthy of my trust.”

The old elf took his seat again and looked at those gathered in the council room.

“Of course, I’m leaving out a large group of councillors but my thoughts on them are less conclusive. I have showed my insights to the council. Who is going to follow?”

[Spire]

Spire leant back in his chair, calmly listening to the other elf's speech. His black eyes drifted slowly from each of the other council members in turn, watching their reactions Sleek's monologue with an air of detatched mild interest, running his long fingers through his flowing hair.

When the more senior Druchii finished his speech, the tall elf straightened up.
"I would share what I have to offer," he stated, in that same neither loud nor quiet voice " although I must appologise for my experience is not as great in this as some others. However, I find myself agreeing with many of Sleek's words, there seems to be good reason behind them and we certainlyknow that he himself can be trusted; after all, only a fool would select someone they knew to ba an ally as the target of a random vote. Likewise, I would argue that those who followed his lead are probably loyal. Although I must admit that I was suspicious of Telrunya. Critical his vote may have been, but was it intentionally so? Might he not be just covering his own hide? That is what I have been asking myself. In his favour, though, he did argue for his course of action, and that is not something i would expect one of our foes to do.

"Darmot was certainly highly vocal in his arguements against voting, and I will freely admit that I am not averse to his logic either. However, we canoot rule-out the possibility that he was 'hiding in plain sight' as I believe the practice is refered to; banking on people thinking, like Sleek, that an assassin would not attempt that tactic."

"The Liger however, i believe to be pure of intention. He was both first to follow sleek's lead and a strong advocate of it. I find it extremely unlikely that he could be an enemy."
"I also would agree with his verdict on Drakhan, again for the reason of persuasion."

"Rankrath's actions certainly place a great deal of suspicion on him. However, we must also consider his reason for choosing Sleek as a target. If he was an assassin, would not The Liger have made a better choice? After all, Darmot had already voted against him and a second vote might have sparked a trend, certainly the Liger was not being held in terribly high regard by many of us.
That said, however, he may well have lost control, either panicing or becoming enraged. I would still view him with suspicion."

"Then we have Ilokir, his last-minute desicion was rather unuasual and rather at odds with his ealier reasoning, but he could well have, as Sleek has mentioned, simply prefered action over inaction."
"Another person who I view as being in a similar position is Ashnari Doomsong. He too claimed to want evidence yet then voted against Tylarion when it appeared several others were also doing so. It is possible that he was convinced by their reasoning, but reasoning is not the same as evidence, no matter how you look at it."

"There is one other I am curious about; XtremeNL. While he was an early voter against Tylarion, his words spoke of a rather cynical disregard for our lives. If someone had that view, I do not doubt that they would have few qualms in sacrificing one of their own for a percieved 'higher purpose'."

"The others I am unsure of, one way or the other. Morvai's early vote against seems odd, as does his turning back when it became apparrant that Tylarion's future looked bleak. However, his apparrant reasoning does not strike me as being that of a enemy. The silence of the other members, specifically Raziel, Malevion and Mel'Reyna is also a little odd, but could easily be perfectly innocent."

The tall elf leant back in his chair once again, stretching his long legs out under the table in front of him.
"Those are my thoughts," he stated, giving his neck a slight twist to shake some stiffness out of it, "I am anxious to hear yours."

[Tarbo]

In the brief silence after Spire's exposition, you find the dealings of the council interrupted with the arrival of your two welcome-worn guests: the anonymous inquisitor that is putting you through all this, and the half-remembered figure that goes by the name of Tarbo. The point to their presence remains a mystery, but their mere arrival has silenced the discussion immediately.

The inquisitor points his fingers on eachother and stares at each and every one of the dignitaries assembles. There is something creepy about how he peers—not to mention the way he oogles the female company—as if his eyesockets are sunken into his skulls but his eyes somehow refuse to follow.

There is still silence while he slowly circles the council table like a vulture, stepping precariously close to each of those present. There is an unpleasant odour surrounding him that can't be explained entirely by mere sweat, and you doubt the cause is excessive personal hygiene. For a split moment, you pity Tarbo for having to stay close to the man at all times.

“Is there a reason for this interruption?” Mioralynthia finally cuts through the oppressive air, adding her share of frost to the atmosphere.

“Hmm, not really, no,” the inquisitor replies in a grating voice, one you would pray never to hear, but still need to strain to understand. “I am simply... perusing my pool of potential victims.”

“There is a list in lord Liger's office, if you want to see who's here.” Mioralynthia puts her book aside and crosses her arms on the table. “Will that be all?”

The inquisitor smirks at the obvious tone of the city sorceress. She is not under scrutiny, and both are well aware of that point. “My dear, dear, dear sorceress... Mioralynthia, isn't it? I've been wanting to meet you.” He lays a boney finger on her shoulder and runs it to her other while he circles half around her chair. “Perhaps we could arrange an... interrogation?”

Miora follows him with a glance that you expect to freeze off his finger, if not his entire hand. “Do you have a specific place in mind, or will any infirmary do?”

A smug grin turns on his lips, and he nods quietly. “Yes, I do believe some people here warrant closer examination. As for that, I feel I should return to my more immediate duties... extracting information from the poor souls that seem to have made their way into my grasp.” He turns, his black, narrow cloak dragging against his right leg while making for the council doors. “I will be seeing you later.”

Something of a silence still exists after the man leaves. It is what he left behind, an attitude that sends a shiver down your spine, a smell that pervades your nostrils with pure horror. Or perhaps what he left behind is his personal bodyguard.

“Excuse my curiosity, sir,” Anleth addresses Tarbo, unsure of his rank, “but aren't you supposed to follow the lord inquisitor for his safety?”

“He'll be fine,” Tarbo replies, and plunges down next to Mioralynthia.

“...I thought—”

“He'll be fine,” he repeats, and relaxes visibly in the chair. Perhaps his nostrils, too, deserve a break.

“Let's carry on,” Mioralynthia beckons the assembly.

[Darmort]

Darmort, shifting his riding cloaks, shrugged at Sleek. "Herald of Khaine? Hah!
"Still, enough idle banter, there are Slaaneshi to catch!
"Spire, hiding in plain sight is what Slaaneshi don't do, they hide inbetween the lines; not too silent, not too loud, that way they're noticed, but never thought anything of... odd how the mind works. I will not argue with you, however; if you think I am Slaaneshi, then that is your choice to alter, not mine.
"Our foes would argue for their course of action, if only to hide, obviously, Spire, you might have seen through that, but maybe not... It's too early to say.
"Sleek, I'm glad that you don't think me Slaaneshi; to be honest, I don't think you Slaaneshi either, but I'm not sure of anything right now.
"Drakhan, despite being rude and snobbish, I have no opinion of right nor wrong of. Yet.
"Liger is suspicious enough; it's as though he knew that Tylarion was a Cultist and wanted him out of the way. Chaos works strangely, but this is indeed the strangest thing I have ever encountered... could it be that, should Liger be Slaaneshi, with gaining the 'trust' of Council members there would be eyes cast to whom he pleases? Bah! Chaos, I know enough of it, and it's more than I'd care to!
"Rankrath's vote for Sleek is odd... perhaps it's an act of revenge, or because he thought Tylarion was innocent and wanted to kill his aggressor. Had he went for Liger, as you said, Spire, then I have difficulty believing that Liger would have survived. But, whatever his reason for voting Sleek, it proved to be a better one than voting for Liger, although this might just be a ruse between Slaaneshi cultists...
"Ashnari said wait for evidence, but he voted still, later in the day. Why, I wonder, did he do such a thing?
"Raziel, Malevion, Morvai and Mel'reyna I have no opinion of, just yet; they have not spoken enough, or spoken in anyway, that I can make an opinion of them."

[Xtremenl]

"Spire, I regarded life as highly as all other voters here, but as Sleek so convincingly argued, something had to happen on day 1.
I honnestly wish I could add more to the conversation, but alas I cannot give valid arguements, so better input is delayed untill i get a clue."
On that bombshell, XtremeNL took his goblet of wine and drank from it.

[Malevion]

"The reason for my silence my dear Darmort is simply that I have at this moment no insights which I feel would be useful to this council. These Slaaneshii heretics have so far done nothing suspicious, their leader was captured only through extreme good fortune. Therefore I decided to sit and observe the councillors, hoping that one of the traitors would slip up and give themselves away. Sadly this has not happened thus far...

Something must be done. Pehaps we should begin voting for the councillor who has ammassed the most suspicion against their name so far. Based on the words of the council these seem to be rankrath and the Liger... but I cannot say that I feel sure about either one of them being a heretic, the suspicions against them just don't seem to be damning enough... still in the name of progress we must act. Therefore (at no small amount of risk to myself I might add) I shall pick up the gauntlet and begin todays votes. It's nothing personal Rankrath but your bizzarre and futile attack on Sleek mere seconds before the unmasking of Tylarion seems to be the most condemning evidence against any councillor."

Vote- Rankrath


OOC-the real reason I haven't been as active as normal is because uni just started up again and I've been busy. I will endeavour to participate more however

[Drakhan]

"I'm not sure I can completly back you up on the one Maliva. Had I been a Slaaneshii that would be the point where I threw in the towel so to speak. Additionaly nothing happend yesterday that should free anyone from suspicion."

[Ashnari doomsong]

"Oh. I note that I have become a suspect. Well, let me let you in on my reasoning.
I never said I'd need *evidence*. As much as all of you I know that evidence isn't going to surface, and waiting for such a thing to happen would be folly. I held my vote so that I could observe and wait, to check on what people said. It would be such a shame to proceed too quickly. I will not voice any suspicions. For now. I will, however, state that I believe Rankrath is innocent as any of us. Unpredicability might not be the best asset in this council, and it might also be. I do not, as I have stated before, believe Rankrath to be a traitor. At this time, I have few firm suspicions. I have none firm enough that I'm willing to base an accusation on them.

[Sleekdd]

Sleek snapped from his half slumber. After Spire had spoken up and the Inquisitor had entered to unnerve his wildlife, the council had fallen silent for a long while. He suspected most would be looking at the Elves in the courtyard, kicking around some ball, hoping to get it in a netted frame. Odd game.

“I must protest against the so-called strategy of remaining silent and watching the other councillors. This is exactly what we can’t afford to do for if enough councillors lapse into this, nothing will be said or done. More importantly, the people we are looking for will have no opportunity to slip up. Need I remind the council that for us to find these people, we need to see their reactions, their reactions to events?”

“And how can anyone claim not to have learned anything at all? Was there not a disagreement with Drakhan and myself? Wasn’t the Liger the first one to react? Didn’t Rankrath baffle us all with his last minute vote? This and a score of other events unfolded before your very eyes yesterday. And even then, a lack of reactions amidst turmoil can become suspicious as well. Where were those silent councillors, those people who chose to remain silent even as the end of the day approached?

“Of course, certainty is a luxury we don’t have. Unless, of course, we let our…aromatically challenged visitor have his way.”

Sleek glanced at Tarbo, to see if the reference-slash-insult got past his guard.

“Perhaps, if one cannot see who is suspicious, perhaps he or she could plead for the innocence of someone else? As Spire mentioned, a few councillors are at the very least unlikely to be guilty given their actions yesterday.”

“Do not be fooled by our success last time. Innocents will suffer, either by the hands of the council or those we seek but if we let that paralyse us, we will have lost already.”

“The day is progressing and I have heard little to change my mind yet. Rankrath, Ilokir, Malevion, Raziel, Ashnari Doomsong and Mel’Reyna have either been very silent until mentioned or acted suspiciously. And then there are those who are tentatively considered.”

“In order to avoid falling into inactivity, I will add my vote to call forth the torches. I urge others to state their arguments in favour or to the detriment of those they choose so that the council can make up its mind. Likewise, I will hold my vote in order to limit the influence it might have on others to express their minds, lest we cause a stampede in which little is learned. But rest assured, I will vote soon.”

Vote: torches

[Spire]

Spire gave a slight strecth. His body was starting to grow stiff.

"Ah, but Darmot," he said, turing to face the shorter elf, "Is not that exactly what one of the scum would want us to think? I admit that you're experience in these matters is greater than my own, but is it impossible that our foes may change their tactics at some point?"

The tall elf gave his neck a slight twist.

"I do not accuse you of being one of our foes but I do not consider you to be entirely innocent either, not yet at any rate."
"And you, Ashnari," he continued, turning to face the other elf, "Would you care to give us your reasons as to why you believe Rankrath to be an innocent? It is all very well you saying so, but if you do not give us reason for it, how can you expect to convince us?"

"Sleek is correct, we have learned much since yesterday. Therefore I will also call for torches, as I believe we should continue to debate this while we can."

Vote: Torches

[Ashnari doomsong]

"Well, with prompting, I will voice my opinions. Firstly, Rankrath is, as far as I can tell, innocent. Darmort should be watched, but he seems genuinely Khainite... for now, at least. Note also that nobody died tonight. I believe that is a rare occurence. Someone was attempted killed, I think, but for some reason the assassination attempt was foiled. This suggests the presence of protectors among our ranks.
Again, I will stress that voting for Tylaryon is by no means an alibi, even if you were among the very first to do so. I voted. For all you know, I could be slaaneshi, and you rightly suspect me, unfounded though your suspicion is.

Without much ado, I have been quite busy the last couple of days(OOC: Yes, I've been out of town and out of touch with the internet since Thursday). I know that the strategy of hiding in plain sight is a very effective one sometimes, and other times not-so-effective. Darmort might just be attempting such a ruse, and he might not. Still, I believe that some of the people here merit watching. If you wish to include me in this list, then so be it, but I fear to let singular councillors gain too much influence over the council."
At this point, Ashnari glanced pointedly at Sleek.
"None should get immunity. For all we know, this could be a power play within the Slaaneshites."

[Tarbo]

Players

1. Ilokir
2. Morvai
3. Drakhan
4. Raziel02
5. The Liger
6. rankrath
7. Ashnari Doomsong
8. Malevion
9. Darmort
10. Spire
11. SleekDD
12. XtremeNL
13. Mel'Reyna
14. Telrunya

rankrath (votes against)
1. Malevia D'fein (Malevion)

Torches (extend deadline)
1. Sleek Doral (SleekDD)
2. Spire