SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Belial »

"Oh dear," Belial exclaimed, "I suppose we are off to a start. Not a good one, I'd say, but off nonetheless. I will ponder on what has been said today, and I urge you all to play close attention to what has been said and done today. There might be a clue here somewhere... Now, I bid you all goodnight. I have quarterly tax reviews to, er, review. Ta-ta!"
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SAU 19: Day 2

Post by Tarbo »

“Freedom!” Nelmeer said, stretching her back and arms while walking to kitchen. “I wonder if the tea came in already.”

“Tea?” Telrunya asked, his nose turned up as if Nelmeer just admitted to drinking heated sewage. “Why drink tea when you can drink coffee?”

“Give her a moment to settle in,” Sleek joked. “She'll get used to it soon enough.”

“Some tastes can be... acquired,” Belial said, and licked his lips while grabbing a small bag of blood from cold storage, a metal box with ice cubes lining the bottom. Genius device, that thing.

“Great,” Meteor muttered, looking at the thin layer of coffee that remained in the communal pot. Whoever took this last bit would also get all the grit and residue that had twirled and pasted to the bottom. “Who wants a Coffee McSludge?”

“The dedicated make sacrifices,” Telrunya said, and managed to fill just over half of his mug with the lukewarm black remains. “Dips on a new dose to wash this down.”

Calisson chuckled, and reached for the opened bag of ground beans. “I'll put the kettle on for a new batch.”

“Hey, so, what's the difference between coffee and high elves?” Devan started. “You leave coffee alone for five thousand years, it grows a culture.”

“How's your McSludge?” Nelmeer asked Telrunya, warily eyeing both the 'coffee' as the man who dared drink it.

“Disgusting,” Telrunya said, and leaned back precariously to get the last drips of coffee from his mug. “I may need two mugs of coffee to dump this taste.”

“It's coming, it's coming,” Calisson assured, and checked the label while dipping the spoon deep into the bag. “I hope you like—” He froze. “Stop drinking! Stop him! Decaf, decaf!”

Telrunya smacked his lips and felt a blurry haze pull over his eyes. “Is it me, or is the world suddenly soft, fuzzy, and warm?” Without warning or hesitation, he careened backwards, and hit the carpet floor with a dampened thud.

“Was that one of those team building exercises?” Devan asked as he and the rest of Telrunya's colleagues stared at the fresh man down. “I think we just flunked that one.”

“Quick, get the regular coffee beans!” Sleek said, and went through the cupboards. “We can still save him!”

“I'll heat the water; hurry!” Calisson said, and got to work.

“Aaaah! I just started working here!” Nelmeer panicked, and checked every possible shelf, closet, and drawer. “I don't know where they put these things!”

“It's in none of the usual places!” Belial noticed, and hurriedly rummaged through the cold storage. “This is a blatant breach of procedure!”

“I got it!” Sleek suddenly yelled, and tossed the bag over to Calisson. “Quick!”

“Guys,” Meteor said.

“I'm going as fast I can! These things need time!” Calisson said, hurriedly scooping ground beans from the bag.

“Guys!” Meteor tried again, and got their attention.

Telrunya lied deathly still on the carpet floor. A silent, rhythmic snore rose from his nostrils.

“He's gone.”

°°°

Mioralynthia stroked her forehead pensively. Tarbo crossed his arms and took a deep, nasal sigh. Pondering and thoughts soaked the room in silence.

“This is going from bad to worse,” Mioralynthia finally said, and put her hands in her side. “If we don't find the people responsible for this, and quickly, this is going to affect other departments.”

She aimed her eyes at Tarbo. “You fix things, don't you?”

“I solve problems,” Tarbo acknowledged. “Practical problems.”

“This is a practical problem.”

“This is a natural disaster.”

Mioralynthia turned to Tarbo, her demeanor ambiguous about whether she was annoyed or amused. “I don't like this complex or its denizens any more than you do. But we have a job to do, and I'm going to need your help doing it.”

“I don't even know how,” Tarbo said. “This is way out of my area of expertise. Questionable as it may be, I only have so much of a skill set to work with.”

The sorceress tilted her head subtly, and narrowed here eyes just as much. “If you find a way to reduce the problem to something closer to your skill set, I may find that I have a skirt that's just a bit shorter than this one,” she hinted.

One of Tarbo's eyebrows shot up with a decidedly intrigued curve. “How much shorter are we talking about?”

Mioralynthia leaned over to him, stressing every word with her hand. “Absolutely no fatalities.”

“Oh, I do like it when you're strict, Lynthia.”

°°°

Polce leaned back against the kitchen cupboard. Staring just over the cup of coffee she held in both hands, her mind summoned and visually shattered aspirations she hadn't even realized she had. It all sounded so idealistic at first: helping to run the city, smoothing the necessary work for the citizens, aiding businesses with their societal duties and supporting their efforts.

And here she was now, too afraid to return to her desk to be confronted with today's brutal truth: that one renovation application would be lying there for weeks, neatly aligned with the far right corner of her desk, incessantly taunting her with its mere presence, reminding her that this was the absolute fastest she could do.

Part of her tried to tell her this was how things worked here, reassuring her that it was okay, that this was the best anyone could do under the circumstances. But deep down, a voice kept yelling and fighting, echoing in her senses that no, it was not okay, and that she had to do something.

“A little birdie told me you're looking for something rare and unusual.”

Polce looked up from her meanderings and cocked her head curiously at the stranger lengthily scrutinising the coffee beans on display. Immediately, her eyes scanned the environment for any eavesdroppers, and she subtly scooted over to him. “You have access to an A-5?” she asked, hiding her voice in sips from her coffee.

“A week's supply,” he confirmed. “But first, we have to make it ours. To do that, I need an accomplice with the skills to navigate this place, and the nerve to do what it takes. Are you in?”

Polce considered her options. Her cautious self warned her that this could get her into trouble. But the little voice of aspiration deep down suddenly strengthened, screaming for her to take the opportunity that may never present itself again. “I'm Polce.”

The man grinned at her, his eyeteeth sparkling savagely. “Call me Tarbo.”

°°°

Back in the meeting room of absolute transparency. The afternoon sun is slowly sinking from the sky, inching furtively towards that still far away horizon. A motion was made—and passed!—to skip to the very sixth point on the agenda: finding out who the culprit was that violated the A-5 forms and now also eliminated Telrunya from active service.

“Very well, let's start with attendance,” your department head, who returned from her adventures without as much as a scratch, continues the meeting. “Anubis?”

“Four-week study,” Anleth says, throwing her a vaguely incredulous look. “Remember?”

“It's quicker to include him than—” She clears her throat, scratches Anubis' name, and quickly checks everyone else present.

“We all seem to be present. Let's get started.”

_______________

    Player list
  1. Meteor
  2. Calisson
  3. Belial
  4. Drainial
  5. Nelmeer
  6. Sleekdd

With 6 active players, 4 constitute a majority.

    Dearly Departed
  1. Lordanubis (loyal) - Morning 1
  2. Deroth (protector, loyal) - Evening 1
  3. Telrunya (loyal) - Night 1

It is now Morning. Evening will set on the 2nd of April (Monday), around 19h UTC. Players who have not posted by then will be removed from the game.

There are currently two infiltrators in the game.
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Calisson »

"Poor Telrunya. Thou who livest by thy coffee, shalt diet by the coffee.

Nine we were this morning, six of us remain after lunch. This is like war.
Except that people are dropping much quicker than anything I've seen in war."
Indeed, Calisson was much more a scholar than a practitioner.

Those saboteurs. They respected nothing. Not even coffee.
During his time in the Navy, Calisson had seen how the fear of various tortures would deter most crimes.
But here in the Administration Tower, the most efficient punishments were prohibited.
In a first step, torture had been banned progressiveley. Initially on Sundays. Soon enough on Saturdays too.
Then the cleaning syndicate had petitioned successfully to ban blood spills except during the Death Night, and solely in dedicated places and never after business hours.
But the final hit was when, for the sake of equality in front of suffering, the only punishments that remained on the official list - what was the acronym, already? - were those offering equal opportunity regardless of age and gender.
How could anyone be really deterred under these conditions?

-=-=-

Calisson took the floor.
"There might be more than one saboteurs.
By the way, in my previous sentence, is saboteur really a plural or does it remain singular until proven otherwise?
In any case, there could be someone to tear A-5s, and someone to target poor Telrunya with coffee."

Something was going awfully wrong.
Even with Calisson's best science, there was no way to predict that Telrunya, with a great score of 758 words describing his actions, would have been a victim of... decaf?
Nobody liked his initial method anyway, so Calisson endeavoured to find an alternative method. Who knew? It could prove efficient.
He was convinced that investigating the rationale for Telrunya's martyrdom was key.

"Let's investigate who could have known that the coffee was going to have such effect.
Who had proposed coffee in the first place?
Who had prepared it?
Who took no risk to drink any?
Nah, too many suspects."
Indeed, Calisson recalled that himself...

"Let's try something else. Who had interest to see Telrunya gone?
What had Telrunya said in the first place? Telrunya had contested Sleekdd's first conclusions.
What were them? Sleekdd had freed Belial or Drain..., er, Devan from guilt and had accused Meteor, Nelmeer and Telrunya.
And now, Telrunya is gone when Sleekdd's cup had not been targeted.
So who was unhappy with Telrunya's words? Belial? Drai..., er, Devan? Or Sleekdd?
Or all them three?
Nah, not the three of them, the Administration could not have made that many mistakes in giving them all their responsibilities."

Only then Calisson realized that nobody was replying or even nodding. Worse, Belial, D-whoever and Sleekdd's gazes were nothing close to friendly.
He seated back, not really at ease.
"Does anyone have any other track to follow, by chance?"
As usual, he had needed many words to tell just a little. Still, his speech would often contain some truth.
And sometimes, that truth would even be of some use.
Winds never stop blowing, Oceans are borderless. Get a ship and a crew, so the World will be ours! Today the World, tomorrow Nagg! {--|oBrotherhood of the Coast!o|--}
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Meteor »

"Well, I guess that's a better way to go than through correctional course" Meteor thought to himself, it was a comforting thought, ironically. But after the debacle , things swiftly got back into the normal flow of things, including with Calisson making his opening speech first. "Wonder how many will follow his lead this time?" With less people present today, three less in fact, Meteor shuddered, not entirely because of the steep decline in numbers, but because he'd need to start voting too, which meant listening, two tasks that he found too troublesome to do. Still, it was too soon to say anything or jump to any conclusions, he still had to think, recollect yesterday's conversation and digest the information, and his glorified sea king sandwich.

For now, Meteor simply rocked on his four legged chair, balancing himself on the hind legs and stayed out of anything he didn't need to get himself involved with.
What's mine is mine, What's yours is mine.
Now that we understand each other, lets get down to business.

Jacks -Shade
- WS 5 - - S 3 - - T 2 - - D 6 - - I 5 -

Equipment
Short Sword, MC Long Sword*, Dagger, RxB & RHB [20/10] MC Shade Cloak, 4 Throwing Daggers, 3x Healing Vials, 451C, [3]Dark Venom, [4]Unseen Chains, Food, Dark Steed- Spike

Skills
Basic Stealth, Awareness, TWF, Suithenlu Khythan, Ride

Magic Item
Eye of the Jabberwock

*Magical properties possibly imbued
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Nelmeer »

"Goodbye, Telrunya. May you rest in peace. -- May you rest, period," Nelmeer eulogized, wrinkling her nose at the smell of coffee still wafting around the room. "You, umm... you had very nice eyes. The pinprick-sized pupils really brought out their color."

The elf remained silent for a socially appropriate number of minutes, before balling up her black handkerchief and flinging it to the wastebasket. (And missing by two and a half meters, and lodging it in Mioralynthia's cleavage.)

Nelmeer coughed into her fist, awkwardly. "What we have to ask ourselves now, though," she sallied, "is where Telrunya's departure leaves us. Only six of us remain, and we have yet to find a single infiltrator. I fear we may all have to vote for the same person if we want to make it through the night."

Her chair bleated like a spring lamb as she turned it, to round on Sleek. "You haven't explained what made you vouch for Devan and Belial. If I may be blunt, I am deeply suspicious of both of them. The way Devan ingratiaties himself to his superiors, and follows people's lead unquestioningly... the way Belial urges us to keep an eye out for clues, as if he wants to throw us off his scent. Besides, Deroth got voted off so quickly that one of his accusers has to be a traitor." Nelmeer crossed her arms, with a frown so deep-set that onlookers might call their memory to question, and wonder if she had ever smiled. "Normally, I would give this more time to play out, but as things stand, we all need to reach a consensus if we are to get anywhere. I will cast my vote for Belial, although I could be persuaded to switch to Devan or even Sleek. Let the chips fall where they may."

She bent forward resignedly, and resumed scrawling "B-29 + A-28 4eva!" on the table, complete with little hearts.

Vote: Belial
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Drainial »

Coffee, of all the deadly things in this world Devan had never thought to see an elf die from lack of caffeine. Even so it had happened and they were left with a swiftly dwindling number of people round the table with no end in sight. Not overly concerned with Nalmeer's accusations (she was only a clerk after all and a new one at that) Devan cast his mind to the problem.

"So coffee was the killer, that seems to me like a decent place to start. Who was it who immediately made for the coffee as soon as we adjurned, who was it who hurried so fast to occupy the kettle? Who actually gave Telrunya the drink? Calisson, the elf so concerned with leading the inquiry. Well I say actions speak louder than words, and actions point towards Calisson.

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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Calisson »

The last intervention awoke Calisson from his post-discourse reverie.

"Um? Calling me? :D
ah, no, voting against me..." :|
You reader would not expect Calisson to let such accusation unaddressed?
Well, you're right!

<deep inspiration>

"Well. D... what's the name, ah, yes, Devan, your reaction is... interesting, to tell the least.
Your name is popping up more and more often, mentioned by Sleekdd, myself, and now Nelmeer.
One would imagine that you would take some time to explain why such mentions were mistaken.
But no, you don't. Just a direct attack.
And which rationale to back up your accusation? Coffee.
Let me ask. What were you doing when everyone else rushed to try to rescue Telrunya? Hmmm? :roll:
Don't bother to answer, it is not an accusation, that's just to show how empty was your own accusation against me."


Calisson half stood up at this stage.

"Hey guys, it's high time we used improved tactics if we want to go back any soon to our duties.
This pin-up girl seated right there <smiling at Nelmeer> might be young and lacking experience - I mean, administrative experience -, but she mentioned something worth investigating.

Who had interest to vote Deroth? Who voted actually?
I did cast the first vote. I explained why: he did not express himself sufficiently. At the time, I could not guess how other people would react and I was prepared to adjust my vote as soon as he would have spoken.
Telrunya voted next. Well, he is gone now.
Belial and you, D...Devan, were the next to vote, and at that time, both of you were knowing already that it would very likely seal Deroth's fate.
And Nelmeer provided the "coup de grâce".

These are significant - and grave - acts.


Despite all this reasoning, I am not ready to cast a vote and risk to commit a mistake like yesterday.
Before deciding anything, I would first like to hear what you all have to say.

Nelmeer, sure you bring constructive arguments. But why did you vote against Deroth yesterday? It would be nice to clarify.
Sleekdd, why did you singled out Meteor and Nelmeer, and - now gone, how strange - Telrunya? Why did you exempted Belial and D... damned, Devan? Do you happen to know something that others don't?
Belial, why did you jump to vote against Deroth?
D-Devan, finally, why did you push Deroth deeper into oblivion? And why don't you bother to answer Nelmeer's accusation?"

Calisson seated back.
"OK, Meteor, I should not single you out by leaving you alone. I'll just ask you why do you remain so silent and unengaged?

Again, at this stage, I'm not in a position to accuse anyone. I want to understand better first."

As he was out of breath (to the general relief), Calisson swallowed the content of the glass that was in front of him.
:shock: "What is this drink?
Is it what you landlubbers call water?"
Winds never stop blowing, Oceans are borderless. Get a ship and a crew, so the World will be ours! Today the World, tomorrow Nagg! {--|oBrotherhood of the Coast!o|--}
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Drainial »

"Defend myself?" Devan was genuinely confused "I haven't been accused of anything, why should I need to defend myself. None of us had any idea who to vote for yesterday, your babble about 'scientific method' was about as convincing as a nauglir denying it has eaten a horse by shoving it behind a bush. I voted, you voted, we got the wrong elf. As for trying to save him, I didn't do anything, you were the one monopolising the facilities, no one else had a chance to do anything. It's not the coffee though, not mostly. It's more this constant attempt to take control of the investigation based on no evidence. Your methods are hockum, I don't have a better one but I don't have the gall to suggest otherwise."
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Sleekdd »

Sleek scratched the back of his head.
“I'll admit it, I did not see that coming,” he said. “One would expect that people who are under scrutiny of the group would be left alone so that we are more liable to make a mistake. In fact, the saboteur or saboteurs would be interested to target those above suspicion because those people make it harder to hide.”

Sleek sipped from his bottled water. Better not take any chances.
“In the last meeting, I separated the group in two: those I believed innocent and those I believed warranted a closer look. Predictably those in the first group silently accepted the vote of confidence while the second group voiced their doubts – except Meteor, of course, who is trying so hard to be cool and non-constructive I'd love to see him subjected to the annual tax audit.

“Sadly, instead of debating the issue, far too many stampeded to the poor victim of a witch hunt, which you instigated, Calisson. And believe it or not, your failure and the grandeur with which you made it probably saved your life. You see, leaders who can get a group moving are dangerous to anyone hiding. In fact, the saboteur prefers people such as Meteor: quiet, minimalistic and generally a drag on those trying to get something done. Pretty much your opposite, Calisson.

“So, why are you still here?
“The answer is simple: because you are a very nice target to vote off the next meeting. You're loud, you're not popular and you've been wrong. You're a perfect target to get voted off if only out of spite.”

“And who is looking at you now? Who is interpreting the events of Telrunya's poisoning wrongly and using it to accuse you?”


Vote: Devan
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Tarbo »

Ding! The sound that fresh coffee was ready in the kitchen.

Suddenly reminded of temptation and situation, clerks and administrators in earshot reflexively checked their mugs. Some slurped down the last drops; others had already emptied their containers of bliss, and absent-mindedly rose from their seats, making their way to the kitchen with empty mug in one hand and a memo or form in the other. Only a handful of dedicated coffee-loathers remained put.

Excellent.

Shrouded subtly by the nearby file cabinet, two eyes slowly peeked over a desk. A few yards away, a stack of forms was lying harmlessly in a tray labeled 'Inbox.' Nearby, a clerk laboriously scribbled and stamped forms with a purpose. The shady eyes shone with a hint of smugness, and sunk behind the desk again like a shark approaching its prey.

“Hi.”

The man looked up from his work, and looked at the young woman standing at his desk. “Can I help you?” he offered tonelessly.

“I was wondering, um... I'm not really into coffee, and I was wondering if maybe there was some tea?” she said, and beamed innocuously at him. “I'm new and I don't really know... I'm Polce, by the way.”

“Kcender,” he reciprocated. “We're out of tea, for the moment.”

“Oh,” Polce replied dejectedly. “Oh, I just... is there anything else you could recommend me?”

Kcender held up his mug. “Water. You'll find it in the kitchen.”

Polce eyed Kcender briefly, as well as his excellent view on the forms in the tray. She tried hard to keep her gaze from wandering to the 'A-5' pressed in the top corners. Kcender narrowed his eyes at her, but then returned to his work.

“Are those—” Polce looked at the man's belt and pointed to his side. “Do you have two stamps?”

Kcender's smile turned crooked, and his chest puffed an inch or so. “I have two distinct responsibilities, sufficiently important to warrant that, indeed, I have two separate stamps.”

“I've never seen anyone with two stamps before,” Polce said, and tilted her head to get a better look.

Kcender rose from his seat and proudly showed the two stamps secured to the side of his belt. “Yeah, I've worked here for a while now. Used to be Temple Guard, but decided that real work needed doing, so I came up here.”

“Temple Guard? Wow, that must've been a serious adjustment. Wasn't that hard?”

“Well, a man's got to do what a man's got to do,” Kcender said, and leaned his elbow against his filer cabinet. “The jobs have a lot in common: good eyes, judge of character, the will and ability to act in the snap of a moment.”

“I can imagine,” Polce said, expertly keeping her gaze off the hands that rose from a nearby fern and hurriedly, silently swapped stacks of forms in the tray. “Still, from the Temple to an administrative position like this must be a big adjustment.”

“Yeah, I'll tell you what I tell all the rookies around here,” Kcender said, and brushed his fingers over his shirt quickly. “Some people operate this administration dog-eat-dog style. There's always someone looking to take a shortcut at your expense. Keep your eyes and ears open, and watch your department's resources. It's a collective effort.”

B-kaw! B-kaw!

Kcender frowned. “I didn't know we had crows in here.”

“Oh my, look at the time,” Polce said, and hurriedly backpedaled away. “I have a meeting with my boss. Thanks for everything, and maybe I'll see you later.”

°°°

Mioralynthia narrows her eyes at Nelmeer, pinches the kerchief from her blouse, and incinerates it between her fingertips, instantly reducing it to ashes wistfully twirling down to the table. Anleth most explicitly does not laugh, but she does suddenly seem to find something incredibly interesting about her empty notepad.

The group as a whole is active, testing waters and pointing fingers. The effort is much less linear than last meeting and, given how the last meeting went, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Amidst the gentle chaos, Mioralynthia jots down the votes, keeping an eye and ear out as they are cast.

_______________

    -> Belial
  1. Nelmeer

    -> Calisson
  1. Drainial

    -> Drainial
  1. Sleekdd

    Chronological voting record
  • Nelmeer: -> Belial
  • Drainial: -> Calisson
  • Sleekdd: -> Drainial
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Meteor
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Meteor »

Discussions heated up fast today, and Meteor knew he had to cast his vote in finally. Troublesome, but to avoid more problems it had to be done, and at least he predicted this much already. The group was calling for him to speak up, like barbarians calling for blood. With a sign and letting his chair fall flat onto all four legs, he leaned forwards towards the group and collected his thoughts.

"It's still too soon to say anything, especially when not everyone voted yesterday. All I can say for certain is Deroth and Tel' both had one thing in common, they both wanted to get this job done, and evidently, fell victim as a result. The next person here with such a trait, or as similar as it'll get is Belial who's a procedures man-vamp based on my impressions from yesterday. A fine gentleman I might add. So having said this, the attacker, or attackers, might target Belial next, might not just to throw us off, or might target me instead for being a threat, based on the events yet to unfold, Belial may or may not be a suspect.

Based on further observations from this morning's debacle, Nelmeer was the one who asked Tel' how his decaf coffee was as he drank it. She may had been asking out of mockery since it was the sludge leftovers, or she may had asked knowingly. Sleek was the one who helped search for the beans, and was the one who found the right ones when things weren't in place as Belial yelled out in outrage. Sleek may had known that's where the right beans were hidden and was just stalling for time until poor Tel' passed out. As far as I know, he may be working with Devan since he was the first to offer coffee on our first meeting. One could infer that as Devan's method to see who he, or Sleek can attack using decaf, and Tel' was clearly a coffee lover. It makes sense for Sleek to defend Devan yesterday if we assume they're working together. It'd also make sense for him to defend Belial based on my observation of the common goal in our current two victims and assumption that Belial should be the next target unless the attacker or attackers are trying to throw us off by changing the attack pattern. Tel' was one of Sleek's suspects from yesterday after all, if that's further reason for anyone to suspect Sleek, and then the random vote on me as Nelmeer pointed out. It seems like something an attacker would do, random voting, not caring who gets sent off, as long as we all do in the end.

So based on these observations, I have reason to believe Sleek is one of our culprits we're searching for."


Meteor had spoke his mind so far, hoping it's to the satisfaction of the group. His task for the day was done either way, speaking up as requested, and casting his vote. There'd better be no further unpredicted troublesome tasks for me today in here.

Vote: Sleek
What's mine is mine, What's yours is mine.
Now that we understand each other, lets get down to business.

Jacks -Shade
- WS 5 - - S 3 - - T 2 - - D 6 - - I 5 -

Equipment
Short Sword, MC Long Sword*, Dagger, RxB & RHB [20/10] MC Shade Cloak, 4 Throwing Daggers, 3x Healing Vials, 451C, [3]Dark Venom, [4]Unseen Chains, Food, Dark Steed- Spike

Skills
Basic Stealth, Awareness, TWF, Suithenlu Khythan, Ride

Magic Item
Eye of the Jabberwock

*Magical properties possibly imbued
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Calisson
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Calisson »

Calisson tried to put some order in his brain - a daring task, but he had endeavoured much worse.

Mr D. had eluded Calisson's two questions. Worse, he added insult to injury by calling Calisson's wonderful scientific method a... babble? :evil:
He might sooner learn that old elephant seals have not only weight. They have memory.

Sleekdd answers seemed much more constructive.
He had made some statements which involved so much psychological finesse that Calisson got an instant headache :o_O: - or was it the water that he just drunk?
Calisson understood from Sleekdd that a low profile - like Meteor, but also Belial and D-whose-name-kept-escaping-him - was safer for the individual but was helping the saboteurs to hide in the long run.
A disturbing profile, such as himself, but also Sleekdd and, to some extent, Nelmeer, was dangerous for the individual who dared to take it but was necessary to have a chance to catch the saboteurs.

Nothing like a stormy weather to reveal true characters, recalled the old sailor. 8)
He was happy to have shouted loudly the reveille that morning. Had him not put the group on the move, they would all have remained sitting ducks for the snipers.
Indeed, here was Meteor who gained courage and dared to accuse someone - even with the coffee argument again.

Still, the vampire had to speak up. Belial would either make his coming out, like Meteor, or remain as slippery as D-something.
At the moment, his silence made him the best supporter of the saboteurs.

"Thank you for your answers. Pending Mr. Belial's statement, I think I can tell now who is the most suspicious."
Calisson searched for a real drink, rum, ale or coffee, even Navy coffee - and with no sugar. Pure water was definitively not his taste.


Vote: Devan (or Drainial, whoever Tarbo wishes).
OOC: one more reason for the vote is that he is the only one to confuse people with a different name than his own. ;)
Winds never stop blowing, Oceans are borderless. Get a ship and a crew, so the World will be ours! Today the World, tomorrow Nagg! {--|oBrotherhood of the Coast!o|--}
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Nelmeer »

"Meteor," Nelmeer ventured, rubbing her temples, "if Sleek and Devan are working together, as you construe, why did Sleek vote for Devan just now?" She threw a glance in Sleek's direction and gave him a tiny nod of acknowledgment. "You raise some good points. I may have misjudged you." Turning back to the aloof black-haired elf, she enjoined: "Meteor, I urge you to target someone who has an actual chance of being voted off. We need that majority vote. I myself will switch to my second suspect, at least for the time being."

Changed Vote: Devan
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Belial
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Belial »

"You know, Nelmeer, if Sleek and Devan is indeed in cahoots, voting for one another does not absolve either of guilt. In fact, lets say we singled out dear Mr. Devan for a round of team-building exercise, who would, all other things being equal, be the least suspicious if he then indeed fesses up to this terrible bit of form vandalism? Those who voted him off. See, if I were the one responsible, and I had a partner, I would see value in sacrificing my partner, if it meant saving my own, ahem, neck. Now, what should speak against this is the fact that Sleek was first to vote for Devan. While it could be a gamble, seeking to obfuscate any connection between them, and then by a bad stroke of luck, everyone else voting along, I'd say it's far more likely that it is simply a genuine vote cast in suspicion."

The Vampire took a slow look around the room, settling on Meteor.

"I find it unlikely that Sleek and Devon are working together. One may have defended the other yesterday, but here you are, doing the same for me. I see nothing that really marks either as the problem in our midst. Now, what happens if we are wrong today? Six of us remain. One or two culprits, that is at worst 4 against 2. We sent the wrong person off, we are looking at 3 against two, and then we are just one more beverage slip-up away from 2 against 2. And then we are in quite a pickle. But here you are, leading the charge. I won't be the last vote that condemns a man that I see no evidence against. But wait a minute... Someone else is advising us to do just that!"

The vampire now settled his malformed visage on Nelmeer.

"You advice that we vote on someone who, and I quote, 'actually has a chance if being voted off. Meaning that something that is fact not a majority, should become one, not on virtue of being based on fact and evidence, but voting whoever off we can. Why the rush? As I have outlined above, a mistaked vote would be a disaster, and here you are, jumping on the bandwagon of an ill-considered accusation, and urging others to do the same. Getting patient, dear?"

Vote: Nelmeer

OOT: apologise for spelling, grammar or formatting errors. Typing on phone.
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Meteor
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Meteor »

"Thank you kind sir, but I'm not entirely defending you, I simply have no reason to suspect you, yet. Perhaps they aren't, like I say, it's too soon to decide on anything, either way, your votes being cast on Devan is still in conjunction with what I had in mind, but I shall keep mine on Sleekdd before I must change. If everyone doesn't vote, we cannot learn anything new." That last part said, was eyed at Nelmeer.
What's mine is mine, What's yours is mine.
Now that we understand each other, lets get down to business.

Jacks -Shade
- WS 5 - - S 3 - - T 2 - - D 6 - - I 5 -

Equipment
Short Sword, MC Long Sword*, Dagger, RxB & RHB [20/10] MC Shade Cloak, 4 Throwing Daggers, 3x Healing Vials, 451C, [3]Dark Venom, [4]Unseen Chains, Food, Dark Steed- Spike

Skills
Basic Stealth, Awareness, TWF, Suithenlu Khythan, Ride

Magic Item
Eye of the Jabberwock

*Magical properties possibly imbued
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Nelmeer »

"Ka-ching! A vote for me! Look, everyone! A vote for me! I'm important! I'M IMPORTANT!" Nelmeer pumped her fist, grinning wildly. By and by, she settled back, and batted her eyelashes at Belial. "That's a pretty bit of defense you've mounted for Devan there. Very complex. Very opaque. You know what's more straightforward and transparent? The fact that you're trying to absolve Devan by appealing to Sleek's innocence." She looked wistful for a moment. "Telrunya was right on the money, wasn't he, when he said you and Devan do not check out? That's why he was promptly decaffeinated."

The wild grin from before had loosened up into an amused smile. "I'll tell you what happens if we don't vote someone off. An innocent will be killed tonight -- preferably one endowed with reason or leadership skills -- and three good guys will be left to fend for themselves against what's probably two infiltrators. You all can see how difficult it is to get people in line now, when the innocents outnumber the traitors two to one. What do you imagine it will be like when the numbers even out?" She paused thoughtfully. "Chaos, that's what. Total, unmitigated, flying-piranhas-and-maple-syrup-rain chaos."

Nelmeer turned to face Meteor. "Everyone has voted, now. The vampire back there might claim that our votes are not founded on evidence, but between Devan jumping on Calisson for the flimsiest of excuses, and Belial defending Devan with the flimsiest of arguments... it should be clear what's going on. They are covering each other's back when they are not cowering behind it." She crossed her arms in anticipation. "I hope you change your mind soon. There is no majority without your vote. And they know it."
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Meteor »

Meteor let out a sigh, "I knew it was too much to hope for today being no more troublesome than I having to vote." he thought to himself.

He pushed his chair back onto its hind-legs and begun balancing on them again, kicking his legs back and forth like on a swing to adjust the centre of gravity until he could find that perfect balance again. He could not.

Dropping back down on all fours again, he eyed Nelmeer and then Devan warily.

"Like I said, Devan is also one of my suspects, second to Sleekdd, if my vote is indeed the final one to end the day. I would change, based on a number a reasons, one being he's my second prime suspect, assuming there's more than one saboteur here. However, I do not wish to make the same mistake you did yesterday Nelmeer, you're too quick to jump to conclusions and sealing someone's fate. I will have Devan speak again first before I decide to change my vote or not."

With that, his eyes gazed over to where Devan sat.
What's mine is mine, What's yours is mine.
Now that we understand each other, lets get down to business.

Jacks -Shade
- WS 5 - - S 3 - - T 2 - - D 6 - - I 5 -

Equipment
Short Sword, MC Long Sword*, Dagger, RxB & RHB [20/10] MC Shade Cloak, 4 Throwing Daggers, 3x Healing Vials, 451C, [3]Dark Venom, [4]Unseen Chains, Food, Dark Steed- Spike

Skills
Basic Stealth, Awareness, TWF, Suithenlu Khythan, Ride

Magic Item
Eye of the Jabberwock

*Magical properties possibly imbued
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Belial
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Belial »

At long last, the vampires ever-present smile had soured. Frustration contorted the ugly, malformed features.

"Dammit woman, why are you so hellbent on ending today's proceedings early? We have been given a full day to investigate and debate our way to the truth, but you want to send someone to the gallows while my first mug of breakfast is still steaming. It is foolish, and you are hurting us more than helping, here."

Relaxing his features, the mortally challenged tax man let out a sigh as he stared into the crimson contents of his mug.

"I am not saying I believe Devan to be innocent. I have seen nothing that would place him above suspicion. But I think Nelmeer is acting in a far more dangerous and suspicious way, and if we were to briefly entertain the idea that she is indeed one of our vandals, the it makes sense that Devan is innocent. Then Miss Nelmeer will arrange a little accident for one of us, and then, well, then I fear proper protocol and form management has lost. Again, I cannot be certain that Nelmeer is what I suspect she is, but let us at least take the time to proper discuss this. You are so sure that Devan is guilty? Then convince me."
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Calisson
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Calisson »

Belial words were wisdom. Nelmeer words were wisdom. But somehow, their conclusions were opposite. :?
Calisson summarized:

"Belial is right about the necessity to be careful. We cannot afford to make a dramatic mistake.
Like Belial and Meteor, I'm eager to listen once more to what Mr D might say.

However, Nelmeer is right about the necessity to vote someone off.
We cannot renounce our only threat against the saboteurs which decimate us.
And like Sleekdd and Nelmeer, I find difficult to excuse how Mr D remained covered, except when casting suspect votes.
Everyone else was either proactive or prudent."

On the other hand, Belial and Nelmeer declarations rose new interrogations.
"So, thank you both for your very interesting contributions, but if I may, wouldn't you mind to take a second to explain,
Nelmeer, why are you in such hurry to vote Mr D off?
Belial, why are you suddenly so engaged for not voting him off?"
Winds never stop blowing, Oceans are borderless. Get a ship and a crew, so the World will be ours! Today the World, tomorrow Nagg! {--|oBrotherhood of the Coast!o|--}
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Nelmeer »

"Way I see it," Nelmeer said, scratching her cheek with one manicured finger, "there are two valid courses of action: we vote off someone we strongly believe to be guilty, or we don't vote off anyone at all. Granted, the latter would not be catastrophic, but I doubt that people's guilt will be any more obvious tomorrow, or the negotiations any less hard. On the contrary." She lifted her arm and ostentatiously opened her palm, dropping an imaginary microphone. "Nelmeer out."
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Belial »

"Quite simply, I too believe voting someone off today is imperative - but let's not get impulsive here. Evening is still far off, but apparently we are all too happy getting things done in a hurry."

Producing a thermos from his briefcase, the vampire refilled his mug.

"Devan is not above suspicion. None of his actions absolve him in any way. But it seems to me that we should analyze not only votes and who cast them, but the actions leading those votes. A vote was cast for Devan, and two persons followed suit - Callison, and Nelmeer. Out of the three total votes for Devan, two stand out: Sleek for casting it in the first place, and Nelmeer in that she, with very few words, jumped along on the vote, and later on tried to convince Meteor he should vote for Devan as well, with no better argument than 'then we have a majority'. No, Callison, I do not place Devan above suspicion. But I find someone else to be acting even more suspicious. That is all."
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Calisson »

Calisson watched helplessly as Tarbo checked out franctically his notes. :?
Tarbo wrote:I just noticed that I had an episode of brain flatulence, and thought that April 2nd was a Monday. I recall actually counting and recounting this on my fingers. Good thing I noticed before I ended Morning. :oops:
Damned. Those saboteurs again. Acting in the middle of the day.
How dare them confuse the inquiry team, by now? They did not respect anything, would they? :evil:
Calisson grabbed a bottle of diet water - or so advertised the label - and offered Tarbo a glass of drink. ;)
Winds never stop blowing, Oceans are borderless. Get a ship and a crew, so the World will be ours! Today the World, tomorrow Nagg! {--|oBrotherhood of the Coast!o|--}
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Belial »

Belial was tapping his fingers, impatiently.

"Noone has anything else to say? I wanted to stir the pot and get discussion flowing, but instead it's a shouting match between Nelmeer and myself. We are running out of time."
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Nelmeer »

"Are you still waiting for Devan's response, Meteor?" Nelmeer asked with a huff of exasperation. "He doesn't want to come out and play, and his silence is nothing short of damning." She ticked points off on her fingers: "Deroth got voted off so quickly that we can safely assume one or more of the infiltrators had a hand in it. Telrunya got disposed of after he expressed suspicions about Devan and Belial. And here Belial is bending over backwards to defend Devan, before cautiously backpedaling. Exactly how many people must we lose to our docility before we take a stand?" She slouched into her chair irritably. Her lips contorted to stifle a yawn, and her eyes slowly, very slowly crossed as they followed the vertical descent of a spider across the room.
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Re: SAU 19: On the Brink of Madministration

Post by Belial »

The vampire drew a sigh.

"I don't take kindly to your insinuations about my character, Nelmeer. But I take even less kindly to Devan's lack of a response. You are mistaken when you say I have been trying to save Devan. I have been trying to raise proper discussion, so we did not act on impulse once again. But the day is passing, and Devan remains silent. Maybe you are right. Maybe Devan is indeed our culprit, and he is trying to stall us. No matter what he is playing at, he has become detrimental to figuring out our advesaries, and thus, he has become a danger to the group. I just hope we are right this time."

Unvote: Nelmeer
Vote: Dranial/Devan
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