19 March 1884
After twenty years locked in his attic room, my beloved brother Ethan has died. He expired peacefully – well, as peacefully as possible after the torments of his past – and I was finally able to retrieve that strange carving from his grasp. I near expected that repellant gaping eye to be impressed upon Ethan’s palm, he had clutched it for so long, but it came away easily, almost eagerly. . . .
I have been most unsettled since Ethan’s passing. There were few at his service to mourn him – my wife Bettina and daughter Adrianna, of course, and what remains of my old crew – but among them were three faces I did not recognize, and they peered into his coffin with unseemly interest. Later, I found Ethan’s belongings scattered across his garret. Perhaps Adrianna was playing up there or seeking a keepsake from amongst her uncle’s possessions, but she says she was not. And that voice, that mechanical voice . . . I swear I hear it at the edges of my consciousness, repeating my own words back to me: “It is not only fate, my dear Ethan, but how a man responds to the blows dealt him by fate, that determines his true destiny.”
— Captain Latham’s Journal
19 March 2021
Barney tossed and turned restlessly, afraid that he was dreaming and equally afraid that he was not. His parents had disappeared with Joe, Zena, and Manny – off to visit the Powells, they said – and none had returned. The odd markings on his attic bedroom walls seemed to twist and bend into a language that seemed almost comprehensible, an itching at the base of his brain, before fading back into the haphazard scratches of a madman. Barney peered out the window, where the nearby lighthouse illuminated the landscape in occasional flashes. He saw — he dreamed? — a boy, almost his age, sitting crosslegged, talking to a dark shape Barney’s mind refused to identify. But in the next sweep of the lighthouse beacon, they were gone. Outside, the shutters banged a staccato beat against the house as the wind rose, drowning out the strange wet, shooshing noise that crept ever closer. . . .
sic humor is dead. They were Human (Vanilla Town).
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) — Vanilla Town
3. Flubba (MISTER PIG) — Barney’s Dad (Town)
4. Jude (Judy Shepherd)
5. Nate (Spaceman Spiff)
6. Goat (Marvin the Martian) — Moyna (Air SK)
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
5 Humans (Town)
— 4 Vanilla Town
— 1 Adrianna Latham (Cop)
2 Lichen (Wolves)
— 1 Vanilla Wolf
— 1 Wolf Blocker
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. 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 (chosen by the Piggy holder) before Twilight or die if it’s not the last day/night. If the person to whom they give it dies that day/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 Six will end at 8:00pm CST on Saturday, March 20th.