The ocean is the finest portrait of human life. It is so vast, so wide, so massively extending in all directions that the shipwrecked sailor floats alone without sight of a friendly face or the coast of a hospitable country: and also it displays great violence and power. The sea crushes a ship as easily as an elephant crushes a cherry underfoot – so, the myriad evil spirits and shades that haunt our world can in a moment strike us down with disease and injury.
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It also has many negative objects in it that show how humans have hurt it such as trash, and dead animals from chemicals or pieces of this trash. There is also the different reefs that have been damaged or partly destroyed by different chemicals such as the ones found in sunscreen. These do not show violence, power, or fineness. They show poor decisions, and their outcomes on the surface for anyone who would like to see.
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@bugcat, although I thoroughly enjoy when you wax eloquently on so many subjects, I am but a humble chamberlain, and only know how to wax laboriously as I polish the master’s furniture.
Through the volumes that you have said, I find it difficult to understand what you propose toward how we may find these vampires. Are you in favor of killing on the first day or not? Sorry if I’ve missed it, however I am only a low-born, poorly educated chamberlain that needs such things spelled out more plainly.
To all, I believe that our best chance as humans requires us to act truthfully and without deception (except to conceal the identities of special roles, as may be to our advantage). It is only the vampires that should aim to deceive us, so an effective way to flush them out would be to find wavering and inconsistent positions in what they may say.
Although voting will be done by secret ballot and revealed after the fact. I think we should all state and explain our vote before the end of each day. This additional information and any potential inconsistencies with our final actions may prove valuable in revealing who may be a vampire.
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It is my opinion that we should bide our time. The quaffers of the poetic elyxir in the tales of the north, after they had committed their murder, were impelled to reveal it in verse from the battlements of their fort. In like manner will the vampires – in the way of elusive dusk-leopards, who must of their means leave a trail of prints on the Nubian sands – eventually reveal to us their presence and identity, if we are vigilant.
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As we have so laboriously identified the vampires will indeed spin a most elaborate web, and to call out truths will be difficult indeed. Seeing as there must be more than one, we must assume they will act to deceive together, and move to turn the tables even further. The process of elimination will undoubtedly solve our riddle, but how long will it take? How many nights must we wait? The vampires conspire together, yet we all conspire apart. How can we stand together when we are already infiltrated, gutted and slowly leaking out like an unawares tapped tree.
ALAS…
Shall we not retire together, this eve, and bed ourselves among our own company, with the aid of many libations and a heartily stoked fire? Perhaps it is not too much to ask for us to take turns in vigilance, keeping our eyes peeled for the restlessness of the wicked… though I must admit I am fatigued from the horror of it all, my adrenaline finally fading…
Can garlic be fetched from the pantry? I wonder if a verse from our chaplain would help to call out to our intruder. Dominus vobiscum…
Will we forgive ourselves in the morning? When we may be one comrade less…
Before I rest I must ask: did the marshal, or anyone else, send a spike thru our departed jester’s poor heart? Shall we burn his remains in peace, and then reminisce on his past?
Why are you talking about retiring in one paragraph? We must destroy the culprits before we retire. Otherwise we will not rest in peace. We must find and kill the vampires before we retire or die for that matter. Keep everyone else in the kingdom safe and on lockdown while we utterly destroy these two vampires. We can’t let anyone else who is innocent die. That would be as bad as the culprits escaping our wrath.
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I think we are more likely to hurt than help our cause with a first day kill.
There are 6 courtiers to 2 vampires, so we are more likely to reduce our own number. We also more likely to accidentally kill (or compel self-exposure of) one of the special roles than successfully target a vampire.
On the next morning, we are likely to have the random night watch survive and give us information that clears both their self and another courtier, or finds a vampire. Even if the vampire is not found, we would at least know two players that are innocent, making a second day kill much easier to target. With the rotating night watch, we may be able to confirm the innocence of possibly up to four players (if we don’t get lucky at finding a vampire) after the first two nights.
I hope you appreciate my line of reasoning for this strategy. I find it odd that you have cast suspicious glances at me and the chaplain. What for?
I believe @You_Know_Me is using the word “retire” to mean “go to bed” not “give up”.
Perhaps it is subconscious, my gaze… Perhaps I find it troublesome a vampire subverted our ranks, among so many… (the treasurer’s gaze falls upon the marshal).
Noble huntsman, would we draw straws? Shall we load a pistol with but one bullet and spin the chamber? Perhaps I shall pull out my eight-sided die, assign numbers, and here we go…
I fear no one will agree with this course of action… but if they do bring an extra snifter of brandy to my bunk and wake me from this nightmare.
If I am being completely honest I find You know me the most suspicious as he is the only one I remember that is truly supporting the killing. I do not see how I cast any suspicion towards the chaplain. He hasn’t talked since the beginning.
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Also I am not very smart so I didn’t really know that definition of retire, and I also had to ask what some of these jobs were. Including my own job.
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Do you object to my line of reasoning? I offer arguments for pacifism on the first day, yet you offer no counter-arguments in return, but instead only an emotional preference toward killing. Why could that be?
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I feel like you know me could have a valid point if it was a detective game instead. In this castle though, there weren’t any clues of who did it except for that it was a vampire. If you want to kill someone, play fortnite or call of duty. Sorry if call of duty sucks because I’ve never played it.
Sorry if some of that sounded random.
I cannot reject your logic, humble manager. Unfortunately I cannot rule anyone out, as of yet…
Just FYI, I put garlic in everything. Is everyone still standing? If so, maybe the books are wrong. But I’ve sent for holy water from the village church, it will be here tomorrow.
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“The cobbler’s wife is last to be shod,” say the village wits – but the cook may eat first.
(… before adding the spices…?)
But I applaud your innovation: sadly, the study of herblore, poultices, and even the proper smouldering of the Caribbean tobacco remedies have far too often been ignored by sophists and others who fail to take a holistic approach to their craft. A regular infusion of ālia in our food may slow and harm the creature.
As Plutarch wrote of medicines, though, in the Βίοι Παράλληλοι “Without snails, could Pompey not live?”
Ah, talking of the great biographer has stirred my mind – are you not yourself of Greek stock? The lilt in your voice speaks of that sun-bleached land “with flanks surely girted by the jade sea.” Perhaps we should both study Caesar’s writings on Gallic ferns (in its incunable form, of course) in the Library… perchance the chaplain might also care to join us?
[ [ If the cook is a vampire, then the purifying influence of the sacred texts may reveal her true nature. ] ]
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Let me eat a bite of my wonderful spaghetti here in front of you. See? Garlic does not hurt me. But I’d advise to check everyone and see if one of us seems weakened.
Oh, you’d like to show me your parchments? Are you trying to seduce a poor maiden in the isolation of this musty library? Shame on you!!!
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Does one of you know if that’s really necessary? I’m still in the first chapter of that vampire book.
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I couldn’t find any helpful evidence, and your arguments are very convincing, so I will vote for nobody today.
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I too find the argument against execution convincing. For the sake of morale, I would prefer that we achieve unanimity on this point. But I would say to You Know Me that you must vote according to your conscience. That’s all we can ask of anyone.
It would have been good to hear more from the chaplain. I’ll assume that he’s been unavoidably detained. Perhaps administering the last rites to Vsotvep is a more complex process than we lay people understand.
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