6 October 1864

I know not if it be a curse or a blessing that my dearest Ethan survived his punishment. He clung to life as desperately as he clings to that awful ornament, but his mind – what remained of it – is vanished. It took a week to return to shore, a week during which the men crept about the decks and rigging like ghosts, barely speaking, afraid of what next calamity this curse might bring. I also find myself struggling to speak beyond the barest utterances, my mind consumed with what I could have, should have done differently. Ethan, though, Ethan speaks incessantly, obsessively, to that damned trinket, babbling a madman’s code and then awaiting replies I can almost believe he hears. I have placed him upstairs in our old home. I hear him scratching at the walls, see him gazing out the window, his lips moving, but I dare not release him. He has already murdered one man. Whatever half-life remains to him he shall keep as long as I live, but he must not take another.

— Captain Latham’s Journal

18 March 2021

Barney tried to talk to his mother, so enamored of the mysterious neighbors, about his growing concerns, but she wasn’t really listening. Cutting him off as he explained the game that didn’t seem to be a game at all, she smiled.

“I think you’re getting overexcited. It’s no wonder with that awful burn! You really are so sensitive to the sun.”

“Then why do you keep taking me to the beach?” Barney nearly screamed, some old resentments boiling over.

“Don’t take that tone with me!” she retorted. “I’ll speak to your father when he gets home. Now, go to sleep.”

Barney sighed and flopped down on his least painful side, certain he’d never sleep. Five minutes later, he was flying. Barney had dreamed of flying before, as Superman or, his favorite, Green Lantern, but not like this. He and the others weren’t flying but floating, drifting through a noxious environment with odd flickering lights and occasional sulfurous updrafts that sent them spinning. An old fellow, quaintly dressed, zoomed by, patting at his pockets looking for a notepad to write down ideas. “Now this could be a game!” he cried, right before disappearing into the gloom with a shriek that cut off abruptly. Barney kicked his legs, trying to control his trajectory, but all he managed to do was waft away a piano-playing cat who similarly disappeared, crying, “Don’t make me come back theeeeerrrrreee” before its voice, too, was silenced.

Barney shot up in bed, surprised to see that it was morning already. He padded downstairs hoping for breakfast, but he couldn’t find his parents anywhere. . . .

Narrowstrife is dead. They were Human (Vanilla Town).

SheleetaHam is dead. They were Human (Barney’s Mom).

Meanwhile, another player clutches the Piggy, wondering when the timer will go off. . . .

PLAYERS

1. hoho (space possum) — Vanilla Town
2. sic humor (Piggy from Lord of the Flies)
3. Flubba (MISTER PIG) — Barney’s Dad (Town)
4. Jude (Judy Shepherd)
5. Nate (Spaceman Spiff)
6. Goat (Marvin the Martian)
7. malthusc (Mayor malthusc) — Vanilla Town
8. Hayes (Xena Morris) — Vanilla Town
9. Mac (Jake, a college professor from Louisiana)
10. Side Character (Mabel) — Vanilla Wolf
11. Sheleeta (Cat.gif) — Barney’s Mom (Town)
12. anewholiday (the spinster Anya) — Vanilla Town
13. raven and rose (Phoebe Terese)
14. Indy (MacShini, *bawoar!*)
15. Narrowstrife (Milton Bradley) — Vanilla Town
16. emmelemm (Piggy Witless)
17. Ralph (Ralph Bassmaster) — Jrlb (Water SK)
18. Grumproro (Hotaru Tomoe) — Vanilla Town
19. Louie (John Crichton) — Zulma (Trees SK)
20. Lindsay (Wesley Crusher)
21. Lamb Dance (Anksyby the Piggy Bank) — Vanilla Town

Backup

Wasp

ROLES

6 Humans (Town)
— 5 Vanilla Town
— 1 Adrianna Latham (Cop)

2 Lichen (Wolves)
— 1 Vanilla Wolf
— 1 Wolf Blocker

1 Single Alien (SK)
— 1 Moyna

The Piggy (NPC)

RULES

Adrianna Latham (Town Cop) can investigate one player each Night. If not blocked, Adrianna learns whether that player is Vanilla or Not Vanilla.

Barney’s Parents are Town and share a QT until one of them dies, at which point the survivor becomes a Grief-Stricken Vigilante.

The Grief-Stricken Vig (Barney’s Mom) has two shots. The first shot will work as intended unless blocked. The second shot has a 33% chance of working as intended, a 33% chance of backfiring on the shooter, and a 33% chance of hitting the wrong person (determined by RNG).

When the Wolf Blocker dies, another Wolf will inherit the role.

At Twilight, an environment will be chosen by RNG — trees, water, air, or Earth.

• Zulma can kill in the trees and can’t be killed in the trees.
• Jrlb can kill in the water and can’t be killed in the water.
• Moyna can kill in the air and can’t be killed in the air.
• Zulma, Jrlb, and Moyna can kill on Earth but can also be killed. On Earth nights, Zulma, Jrlb, and Moyna will hang out in their preferred ecosystem on Earth. Each other player will be RNG’d into the trees, water, or air on Earth.

The Piggy answers one private yes/no question during the day in QT to its holder (initial holder determined by RNG). The answer will be true but might not be the whole truth, and the Piggy might answer the question differently than asked. The holder of the Piggy must give it away to someone else before Twilight or die if it’s not the last day/night. If the person to whom they give it dies that night, they also die, and the new Piggy holder will be determined by RNG. Whoever holds the Piggy on the last day/night of the game will share the win.

Standard Rules:

• Do not edit posts, even if you made a grammatical error that is haunting you. Rather, read through and think carefully about your comment before posting it. Editing posts may get you mod-killed or replaced.
• Do not quote or post a screenshot from a QT to the Open Thread (OT) or a shared QT while the game is ongoing. You are free to make claims about your powers, roles, factions, etc., on the OT and/or in shared QTs, but those claims will not be confirmed or denied by the moderator.
• Do not discuss game specifics with other living players outside of the OT or shared QTs. It’s okay to talk very generally about the game or even nudge an absentee player outside of the game, but that’s it.
• Do not make gameplay-related comments on the OT after Twilight or once dead (dead players should also refrain from commenting in shared QTs). 
• If you have questions that may reveal sensitive information, you can ask them in your individual (private) QT. You are encouraged to ask questions about whatever comes to mind.
• Attack arguments, not people. Players have different playing styles and prefer different levels of role play; be accommodating to them. Remember, it’s just a game; have fun, and try not to take it personally if you are mistrusted, accused, killed, or otherwise targeted. Even if players call you scum, they mean game-you, not real-you. Real-you is great.

VT QT Message

You are Vanilla Town. The fate of Earth is in your hands. Too bad you only have an Interstellar Relative Sapience Code (IRSC) of 93.7! Good luck!

Day Five will end at 2:00pm CST on Friday, March 19th.