Games

Werewolves 125: A Sequence of Regrettable Occurrences: Day Six

The Baudelaires either don’t notice or don’t mention the absence of one of the orphans, and instead leave you alone for some quiet time. Imagine that– you are not sent to scale the side of a lighthouse, or to work machinery ten times bigger than yourselves. You are simply allowed to relax.

It’s, if you’ll forgive the understatement, pleasant.

A few of you take it upon yourselves to explore the room you’re left in. Despite it being late June, there’s a roaring fire in the fireplace. On the mantle there’s an oil painting of a couple. They look similar to the Baudelaire siblings, though they’re a bit older. The plaque underneath (if you’re tall enough to read it) reads “Beatrice and Bertrand Baudelaire”. 

On the opposite wall is a sword with little apparent sentimental value, but it fits the aesthetic of the room.

You were shown your rooms when you first arrived here– a room to yourself, without ten other orphans inside, sounds like heaven on Earth– so a few of you file off through the halls of the mansion. 

Good night, orphans.

Wulvis and I were becoming good friends before I kicked the bucket. At least, I thought so. He and Owenthrop seemed upset at my funeral, though I could never figure out if they were more sad for me or the children I left to rot in my stead.

There’s a sense of freedom that comes with my situation. I am unable to affect much, and no one can see me. If I am to scream, or to talk into someone’s ear, or to even leave altogether, nothing is changed. Orphans are still filed in bulk, children sent to guardians who do not care, and my obituary has my last name spelled incorrectly.

This helplessness I feel is similar to your own, is it not? No matter what you or I do, you are still orphans and I am still dead. 

As I ruminate on this, I nearly miss the figures that scale the house and climb in through one of the Baudelaires’ bedroom window. I cry out, but, as usual, no one hears me.

During the night, most of you sleep soundly. But there are still conspirators in your midst, and they still have a job to do.

There’s a few taps of a keyboard as someone turns on a playlist. It’s… lo-fi hip hop beats?

Colonel Mustard, who replaced Gramps, has died. He was a GENERIC ORPHAN.

A set of footsteps echo down the hall, taking advantage of the cover of night and the unlocked doors to claim yet another victim.

How tragic that this orphan had to die– they were just marginally better than all of you. Not enough to send to a separate guardian, mind you, but they would have gotten a better paying job and volunteered on the weekends later in life.

Raven and Rose has died. They were the PREMIUM ORPHAN (Better Vanilla Town).

It seems that the apparent safety of this place was too good to be true.

“Children?” You hear the revoltingly familiar voice of Ursula call, after swinging the door of the mansion open. “I received a desperate call last night, and I came over just to check. Where are your guardians?”

The lot of you (which has noticeably shrunk since yesterday) come out of your rooms, curious and scared. Ursula, who would normally be greeting you with an apology and sad smile, has instead picked up a note off the table in the entryway.

It reads, in a frantic cursive:

Dear children,
Please read this letter imediately. We think that ou will find it quite pertinent- both to adress your concerns and to keep you safe.
We re so sory to leave you so quickly, but we had to go to fulfil a certain duty requyred of us. Though it hurts our hearts to have to leave without saying goodbye, we hope you find this letter acceptable. We have been rooting for you since the begining. Be agressive! We know that you are strong and rave enough to navigate this world without us. 
We ragret that we cannot tell you what exectly we are required to do– know only that it is importand, and that you should not follow. We will be able to handle outselves. We have done so our whole lives.
We will miss you very much while we are off on our busyness, and we will soon try to come bak to you.
There, their, dear children, you will be alright. We promise.

With great love,
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny

“This must’ve been written in quite the rush,” Ursula says under her breath. She sighs and turns to you, putting the letter back down. “Gather your things, children. I’m so sorry to do this to you, especially after how kind these people seemed to be, but I have to take you to a new guardian.”

Players

  1. E-Dog, now Raven and Rose Premium Orphan
  2. Tobias Morpheus – E-Dog (not a bot) Vanilla Orphan
  3. Mr. I’m My Own Grandpa, now Mustard Vanilla Orphan
  4. Side Character – Ice Bear
  5. Mayelbridwen – Is Twite
  6. Sister Jude the Obscure
  7. Hohopossum – Gary, trash aficionado Vanilla Orphan
  8. ThoughtsThoughtsThoughts – Euphemia Whimsy Inventor
  9. Colonel Mustard Vanilla Orphan
  10. Malthusc – Maggie Price, Gourmet DetectiveWolf, Lover
  11. Nate the Lesser – Frodo BagginsVanilla Orphan, Lover
  12. Louie Blue – RomulusVanilla Orphan
  13. Cop, now Wasp
  14. DW – Hayao Miyazaki
  15. Lord Stoneheart – Protagonist of Final Fantasy III
  16. The Hayes Code – Penelope Pumberly bibliophile
  17. Lamb Dance – David Copperfield
  18. InnDEEEEED – Dr. Jan Itor Vanilla Orphan
  19. Lindsay – Little Lord Wolfington
  20. Josephus – The Good Son
  21. Donalbain Vanilla Orphan
  22. April LKD – LEGO BatmanSerial Killer
  23. Sic – Seto Kaiba Vanilla Orphan
  24. Emm (replacing Jake) – Pippi Longstocking Vanilla Orphan

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Roles

  • 18 Orphans
    • 1 Inventor (Special role – see below)
    • 1 Bibliophile (Investigator)
    • 15 Generic Orphans (Vanilla Town)
    • 1 Premium Orphan (Functionally identical to Vanilla Town, but somehow intrinsically better than the rest of you)
  • 1 Adult Carmelita Spats, Orphan Hater (Serial Killer)
  • 5 Rogue VFD Agents (Wolves)
    • 1 Rogue VFD Roleblocker
    • 4 Generic Rogue VFD Agents

The Inventor crafts single-shot powers each night in their QT. They can only make one a night, and will have the following list to choose from:

  • 1 vigilante kill
  • 2 doctor protections (prevents incoming damage)
  • 1 jailer protection (prevents incoming damage AND night actions, if any)
  • 2 roleblocks
  • 1 investigation (will reveal both alignment and role)

Each night, the Inventor will announce their intended power (i.e., vigilante) and, using only materials that could plausibly be found in the day’s setting (i.e., a carnival midway) they will attempt to invent something that could do the job (i.e., “I will spin this cotton candy into a rope and strangle [other player] with it.”)

The arbiter of success in this matter will be Owenthrop J. Studepackard, Arch-Director of Recursive Arbitration. The Inventor will get up to three chances per night to make the desired item type. If Mr. Studepackard finds all three attempts too unlikely to succeed (or using ingredients unlikely to be available in your current location), the Inventor fails for the night, and they lose their chance to craft that particular power. (Note: For powers that can be crafted twice, this only eliminates one, not both).

Inventions must be used the night they are crafted. They cannot be given away or held back. The Inventor can use the items they craft on themselves, if they wish.

The Bibliophile works as an investigator, using the things they learn in books to assess other people’s intentions. Each night, the Bibliophile can target one person for study. If the investigation isn’t blocked, the Bibliophile will learn the target’s alignment.

On first investigation, targets will either come up GOOD (Orphans) or BAD (VFD agents and Carmelita Spats). If the Bibliophile wishes to investigate that person again, they will also learn the target’s role (or lack thereof).

The Premium Orphan has no special powers, but is slightly more pleasant to look at and talk to than the rest of you are.

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Rules and Mechanics

  • Win conditions:
    • The wolves win when they are equal to the number of town-aligned players left (if the SK is dead), or outnumber the non-wolf players (even if the SK is still alive).
    • Town wins when all the wolves and the serial killer are defeated.
    • The serial killer wins when it comes down to just them and one other person.
    • A three-way standoff between the last town, last wolf and SK will result in a special ending.
  • Night actions:
    • Rough order of operations: Roleblocks, then misc. actions, then kills.
    • Investigations: Orphans come back GOOD, VFD agents and Carmelita Spats come back BAD.
    • The medic cannot medic themselves or the same person two nights running.
  • Voting:
    • You have the option to vote “No Kill” (or words to that effect). If that option prevails, no one dies at the end of the day.
    • A majority vote for one player (or No Kill) will end the day early.
    • A tied vote at twilight will result in no one dying, unless Owen and Spooky decide they want to do the RNG thing instead. Try it and find out!
  • If you maintain a game-related outside resource (like a spreadsheet or an in-character Tumblr), stop updating it after you’re dead.
  • No editing posts.
  • No quoting or screencapping from your QTs.
  • If you have any other questions about rules, please ask in QT, and we will answer publicly here.

Cryptography, Codes and Puzzles: Each day, Robin WILL place a secret message somewhere in the header. If you feel up to the challenge, decipher it and post in the answer in your QT. Winners will be chosen randomly from those who answer correctly. Those who share QTs are allowed to work on the puzzles together, but must submit the solutions in their private QTs in order to qualify.

Only post the answer in your QT; do not make the solution public. If you post the answer publicly, you will be disqualified from that day’s puzzle and for two subsequent days. It is acceptable to reveal the answer on any subsequent day, however. Not after twilight on the day of the puzzle, the next day. Posting the answer after twilight will result in the ban described above.

There will usually – but not always – be one winner for each puzzle. Prizes include night actions such as, but not limited to, the power of life and death. None of the prizes will contain an eavesdropping power, however, and none will impair a player’s ability to communicate.

And remember: Have fun!

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Twilight will be Wednesday, July 1, at 1:00 PM EST.