The two men were struggling with the tree, attempting to break it down at the thin hinge of stump left remaining after their labors with the ax. At last the mighty pine fell away from them, landing neatly into the clearing where they'd already felled much of the forest in preparation for the new town center. They had only a few more trees to go, and then they could start on milling the logs to build a couple homes.
"Brother Dugdale, I'm going to eat my dinner now! That was the tree that did it."
"Ha! You'll best remember the tree that did us all, Brother Farrell. I'll get started on this other tree while you eat, I don't mind."
While Dugdale headed off to chop the other tree, Charles Farrell sat down with a small container of berries and pumpkin. Most of the Godly ate big lunches, while the sun was high, so he wasn't incredibly hungry, but he was terribly tired from the struggles with that forest. All things for the glory of God, though, and he lowered his head to say grace, although he fiddled some with the top button of his coat as he did. And then he felt a large object hit his head, but never heard the object hit the ground after. He suddenly felt dizzy, and as his vision blurred and his hearing grew muddier, he saw Dugdale running toward him.
"God save me, the head came off! Oh Brother Farrell, speak to me please!" But it was too late. The ax head had firmly embedded itself in Charles's brain, and he slipped into unconsciousness, his body beginning to shut down.
And then a curious thing occurred. Instead of just dying there on the forest floor, Dugdale weeping over him, he began to glow, and a faint whining sound could be heard coming disembodied from outside the forest. Dugdale stepped away from Farrell's body as it began to shine more brightly, until the light was too much to bear. The whining noise grew in pitch and intensity, and suddenly an explosion sounded. When Dugdale looked back to his companion, there were only flecks of light fluttering all about where he'd been laid.
Dugdale reported this to the town elder. The elder believed it was an accident, though a terrible and tragic one. However, the details surrounding Farrell's death gave him pause.
"This sounds like the work of the Devil. We must search Brother Farrell's house to ensure that no entry from Hell has made its way into our village."
That night Dugdale slept fitfully, tortured by the accidental killing of his friend, but traumatized by the strange circumstances surrounding his death. As if awaking from a nightmare, his eyes opened wildly, but a hand cupped across his mouth, not permitting him to scream. There were several figures in the room, though the precise number was indeterminate. One reached out for his forehead and placed a thumb and finger on either of Dugdale's temples. His vision began to change from his surroundings to something else entirely, something he couldn't recognize. He screamed in horror as the visions began to circle his head.
The next day David, the village elder, came to call on him, and saw that he'd been warped by some terror in the night. Dugdale began to stammer to the elder, muttering about visions of a grim, gray world, claiming to have seen the future and the past in one night. David's face folded into a frown, and he left Dugdale lying in his bed, still muttering. A demon was in their village now. Charles Farrell had let it in practicing witchcraft, and now it had spread to Dugdale, and to any in the council who'd been present the night before, practically the whole village. It was time for something drastic. He rang the bell and alerted the village to an emergency town meeting.
All right then. New Mafia begins! Except this game is Witch. Besides a couple of mechanics, here are the biggest differences to be had:
1. Voting for lynching is no longer a group activity. Instead, at the end of every night, David the Elder (that's me) will appoint, by lottery, a jury of six villagers who will vote to determine who will be "tried" (i.e. lynched) that day. All the villagers are certainly encouraged to advocate for who they think is a witch, but the ultimate decision rests on the jury's shoulders. This also means that I really need people who can actually play the whole game to sign up. If you're wanting to just try it out, that's fine, but if you leave in the middle of the game I will publicly shame you.
2. I am not going to reveal most of the roles publicly. By that I mean that I will not even disclose what the potential roles are. There are a couple roles that will be known to all at the beginning, and they will be explained when the game actually starts. If you do NOT want a public role, please let me know in private before the game begins.
3. Rather than put your directions for lynching or other such voting in your post in differently colored text, I request that you simply make your narrative post, then add a horizontal rule (the HR button is up top, and just add a few hyphens in the brackets to make it work) and then put only your directions below in blue text. Like I've done here! Easy peasy.
However, many of the rules are the same, and are as follows:
1. Every night the bad guys will act, as well as certain good guys who have been granted special powers. I'll do a write up to describe the events of the night (this is also when I elect the jury) and then the day round begins.
2. Every day the remaining villagers will vote (or in this case petition the jury to vote) for a certain villager they think is a witch. At the end of the day, the majority vote will lead to someone being put to death for witchcraft. If the vote is tied or if more than four jurors abstain from voting (this is also the case if they never vote, so AGAIN PLEASE PLAY THIS GAME), no one will be tried that day.
3. The village wins when all the witches are killed. However, any other victory conditions are a secret... for now.
4. For out-of-context posts, rather than making them in thread in blue text, just make them in this thread. I will leave it unlocked once the actual game begins, so you can ask any questions or discuss the game out-of-context as needed here.
5. Money makes an appearance again in this game, but it's just a single gold coin per villager, and it serves only one purpose. If you wish for a villager to be resurrected, you must contribute your coin to the church, and after five coins have been collected the Physician, whose identify is kept secret by the Village Elder, will attempt to bring a lost soul back from the dead. Note carefully that who is resurrected is not up to you, only whether you choose to provide the resources necessary to do so. However, the Physician is not the only villager who may raise someone from the dead...
6. When a player dies, if he or she had any kind of special role, that will also be revealed.
Sign-ups will continue until I have at least 26 players, but I can accommodate more as needed. I'm mostly waiting to see how many we get initially.
EDIT: Here's a roster of people so far...
1. BigBird as The BFG *
2. HarpingCarp as Carpeltonius, the town perv *
3. Overlord Moo as Josiah Smith, the man who at least is not a warlock *
4. WaitYAmIHere as Ere Himay, the barkeep (remember that A: Puritans rigorously condemned drinking in excess, though moderation was acceptable, B: the term "Puritan" was actually a pejorative, and the people it was meant to insult called themselves "The Godly, and C: Don't sweat the historical accuracy too much, anybody... this is an alternate universe if you like.) *
5. Australia as Doris Jackson, the misanthrope. This should be a stretch for our friend from down under... *
6. OrangeEyebrows as Old Nanny Orange *
7. Tablo as Timothy Lowell, the town-crier and newly made single father after his wife selfishly died *
8. Edgar Cabrera as Emmeterius L. Oxbridge, the strict and kind guy *
9. 52xMax as Nathaniel Something, possibly Nathaniel Goodwife (but probably not) *
10. julyjack73 as Ulysses Hudson, the cat-loving story-telling Deacon of the church *
11. sunglasses as Hester Green, a midwife *
12. Butts as a rock *
13. JamesT as Jeremiah Horsebladder, the town Magistrate who haunts the privy *
14. Kate as Katherine Janeway, also known as Kitty, but she may be changing her name to Karen soon *
15. CarrieVS as the youthful Felix LeChat *
16. NudgeNudge as Cailean MacNudgish, a bumbling carpenter. *
17. Psychosassic as Purity Smith, who isn't a smith *
18. DashaBlade as Charity Banks, the wealthy man's daughter and that teenaged girl that always stirs up the trouble *
19. Cullenmcpimpin as Jeptha Turdhandler, the guy with the second toilet humor related name in this game *
20. whatsmynamehere as Myn-44, the alien. (EDIT WITHIN AN EDIT: Mynn is posing as Governess Abaddon, by the way) *
21. Gash as Jack, the nobleman's son who really likes supernatural stuff, which is probably a bad deal here in this particular village at this particular point in history *
22. Glassjaw Girl as Roderick Usher, the guy who is broody and exciting but who definitely isn't a Twilight guy *
23. doiwanttobehere as Cas, the girl who counts ALL. THOSE. HAYSTACKS. *
24. AShireForBaggins as Myfawny Darling, the town pony. Jeptha Turdhandler will be along shortly to collect your feces. *
25. Lindvaettr as Will Harper. Will Harper is farmer. *
26. Sheepman as Shep, which is an amazing name no matter who you are. I wish my real name was Shep now. *
THAT'S EEET
GOOD LUCK