Welcome to Gaia! ::

Look-See dawdled and scratched the dirt and although she was able to make patterns in the ground, game-wise she wasn't as lucky. Okay is Wonderful sure was chatty of a kin, but that seemed so much work for a predator in hiding. It seemed too easy to vote for her which is why Look-See defaulted to vote on a previous kin. Unease rolled off him which is why she declared, "I vote for Fire Made Flesh. He tends to vote with the majority." Look-See faltered. Was she getting the correct name? Smells were much harder to deceive. Alright, maybe she was a little mixed up. She shouldn't vote for either of the top two then. "But something tells me I have my names mixedup so I'll vote for Neither Nor this round as it won't impact much."

Wild Sage dithered about a bit, weighing his options and mumbling to himself. The three top contenders for today were Neither Nor, a fairly quiet fellow who didn't seem to be enjoying the game very much at all; Okay Is Wonderful, who rebuffed eloquently - and at length - any attacks against her person; and Kiss Of Death, whose continued presence in play should have spelled her guilt, but whose use to the group would great if she were telling the truth.

"I'm voting for Kiss Of Death," the green buck provided at length. "I remain convinced of her guilt, despite her arguments."

Bare Trees took a step back with all the explaining and words exchanged because she just couldn't really follow had work to do sob that anyone could be sure of anyone. On one hand Kiss of Death was suspected before hand -- and was alive once again after she had admitted to her supposed role but it could be too obvious for the wolves if she was actually prey. That was still certainly suspicious but on the other hand the issue of Optimist with being outspoken and talkative also had her thinking -- while that reason in itself was not solid -- it was something to think about. Neither Nor hadn't been popping up as well even after some bold statements on his part ... was he taking a step back from discussion to avoid suspicion? But really, no one was excluded from possibly being a prey, she thought.

"There have been bold statements to be sure... But I vote for Neither Nor."

Merry Wanderer's skin prickled with the animosity that was brewing between the players. He frowned--he didn't remember hearing about kin getting angry in the last game. He pranced anxiously in place, hooves tipping and tapping away before he broke into the center of the group, his eyes narrowed at them. "The group was learning anger and they turned it on each other. The not knowing, the desire for answers, caused them to lash out."

"New accusations were made and old ones followed up on. Prey were learning to be predator, turning their ire on each other in the name of survival." Merry Wanderer looked around at the gathered players. This was supposed to be fun. "They had a plan, somewhat, from the day before--but it was a plan that not everyone had agreed to and even fewer agreed today."

"A choice had to be made, so like every other day, they voted--someone was going to die, it was just a matter of who." He turned to look at each player in turn. "In the end, despite disagreement, they ended up choosing Kiss of Death who had, the day before, had a scant three votes to her name."

"They chased her down and though she struggled, they beat her down, made her feel the kiss of death herself. Bloodied, breathing ragged, the stumbled back to grove and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep." He nodded at Kiss of Death to join the ranks of the "dead." "It was then that the wolves and took their places. There was work to be done."



The 24 hour-ish night round starts now. This thread will be silent until Merry Wanderer begins the day round.

"The wolves hunted ferociously this night--there was much to be done if they were to be triumphant with their bloody claws and teeth. When there work was finally done, they laid down to rest underneath their disguises." Merry Wandered looked around at the gathered players before nodding. "The sun rose, too soon and not soon enough, and in the morning light the group woke--as always, blood in the air."

"They were used to this routine now. Follow the blood, see who the wolves killed that night." He effected a weary tone and took to the sidelines, circling the "living" players. "Again and again the routine worse on, but surely they had to be getting close to the end now. Surely, they had survived this many days already, they could continue to survive right? They had killed some of the wolves right?"

"The couldn't muster much of anything when they found the dead body. It was just one of many, including those by their own hooves." A pause, for effect. "Wintershadow, smothered and trodden on, devoured and torn apart until he was but a shadow of his living self."

Merry Wandered nodded at the buck and gestured for him to join the other the ranks of the "dead." Then he began the day round, "And so their day began--another dead body and one to follow before the sun went down on their own hooves."

__________________________________________________________

The 24 hour-ish day round starts now. You have until Merry Wanderer begins the night round to discuss and vote.

__________________________________________________________

It was strange. Wintershadow had been quiet and, like the other victims, the individuals he'd voted for did not offer insight into who the wolves may be. (From what she recalled, all of his votes had been for those who'd received the majority vote at the time, if he voted at all.) Unlike the others, however, Wintershadow had been accused of being a predator multiple times before. His status as prey hadn't been confirmed until his death; thus, the wolves could have pushed for his being a predator to try and take him out during the day.

Why did they change their pattern to kill him? As in the case of Fire, she didn't know whether such a kill had been intended to cast suspicion on those who'd voted for him in the day, or if it had been to make them seem more innocent, or if it had just been a random choice once more. It was possible they were running out of options; everyone was beginning to get more active now, weren't they? She was sure everyone left alive had spoken up yesterday, for the first time since the game had started. But was that enough to account for the shift? It wasn't as if the wolves went after those who didn't speak for the day, so much as those who blended more easily with the background.

And what of Sleepless? Her death had served as confirmation that other roles existed past those of predator and prey, which would have -- should have? -- made Kiss's claims regarding her role more credible. Apathy was bitter that she died, and with such a close vote, too. She did not feel self-preservation was evidence of being a predator, however; though her suspicions with Neither Nor remained, it hadn't been added upon with his choice of vote.

As for Optimist, Apathy did not think speaking a lot was in itself indicative of being a predator (though of course, she was biased in that regard). Fire had claimed he believed Optimist to be a predator, because Kiss was prey; but one being prey did not mean the other was necessarily a predator. The fact that five days had passed and the game was still going on was testament to the fact that they all had voted to end the life of another prey; prey, too, could attack other prey.

Regarding what Look-See said, Apathy did not think either Fire or Neither voted with the majority; the fact that they deviated from the majority votes was what had made them suspicious in the first place. The doe had said she might have mixed up the names, however, and that Neither was a less risky choice. With that in mind, she could be on to something. If Fire and Neither had aroused suspicion from deviating, did that mean the wolves would try to hide by voting for the obvious?


((Will be away tomorrow/today as well for a final, and comp labs are closed on weekends. @_@ Dunno when I'll finish and get home, so I tried to dump most of the notes while I could.))

“Oh no,” Peep said as she watched Wintershadow take his place with the dead. It was such a shame. She liked him, and not just for his lovely hair. Well, then, what was she to do? Apathy and Optimist will still on the suspicion list but she couldn’t say there was enough proof to vote for either of them. They talked a lot but so had she. Perhaps she just hoped that those who had been the most active and helpful could not be wolves. Neither Nor had been voted against but again it didn’t feel right.

It would be, she decided, a stab in the dark. The reliance on gut feelings, where no explanation could really do the choice justice.

“Fire Made Flesh,” she said, looking across at the scaled kin. “I’m not sure where to turn but it feels like your name keeps popping up and never going anywhere. You’re always there but never in the limelight. It’s really just a feeling and that’s all I have to work with today. I do apologize.”

Then she smiled at him, hoping he wouldn’t hold it against her because she very much wanted to get to know him better. He had such an interesting appearance and she imagined he had lots of stories to tell.

(aah, short of time like everyone else, so i'm hurrying this one xD; )

Bitter End had raised an eyebrow at the wolves' decision, but shrugged at the conclusion in acknowledgement of her fallibility. Within this momentarily significant but ultimately insignificant game in her insignificant life, she had discovered she was not quite suited to long-term collaboration that required discussion. To go with her first choice, or someone else? Upon mention, she looked between the heavily scaled kin and the flora-covered one thoughtfully.

This one she remembered the name of, because it had been mentioned so much but he was still present. "I thought Fire Made Flesh too," unexpectedly, she noted, she sounded almost as sane as that cutie little Acha doe, "for the same reason, actually. It's almost a surprise you're still here." Not that she'd ever voted for him before, but details didn't bother her much.