I agree. Let us not be hasty.
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OOC translation attempt: I was sleeping and I got sick and now I can’t talk. Please save me. Please don’t kill me.
I hope I didn’t fail that.
IC: “Goodnight fellow inmates”, said Zal at last. “Sorry for being a bit shy last night. It isn’t usual to see so many new people at once. Even when I get lucky, it is usually at most two visitors, let alone another prisoner. I unfortunately have not been able to come to any conclusions about these assassins yet. I want to hope they won’t show up tonight, although this may be an empty hope”.
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As the sunsets and the whispers start… I gather my blanket around my shoulders and move closer to share thoughts with the condemned.
καλημέρα we live to drink another night air…
I listened to the whispers and screams last night… And a Janus is in our midst. The one who screamed in fear… An actor in truth, wearing a mask of fear! I think he is one with a dagger who but pretends to be afraid and blind… Indeed what Noble man would carry on like that?
We know why we are here and no blind man will become emperor.
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I’d just like to point out that it was quite obvious to me from the moment this yebellz opened his mouth that he had lost his mind. The man called himself cauliflower and claimed to be a vassal of all things. Imagine! A mere vassal speaking with a tongue that could just as easily belong to old Isaakios himself!
Now, on to the matter of who did this.
Ruby looks around nervously, out of habit more than anything else. Upon remembering his newfound state of blindness decided to listen for a moment and continue in a quieter voice.
I think the guards might be in on this thing. I overheard them whispering and passing things back and forth when they walked past at shift change. If there’s one thing anyone knows, it’s that a man’s greed often far outweighs his honor. I think a few coins might improve our situation dramatically. If anyone has any relatives or trustworthy friends nearby, perhaps we can get out of this place.
Hears footsteps approaching in the corridor
Cough, Cough. It’s exactly as I was saying Lord @Vsotvep. You wouldn’t possibly have the support to install yourself as emperor! Even in this room you have those whom would conspire against you! That fellow, @fiddlehead I believe it was, even came to accuse you upon first meeting. What are we to make of that?!
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"It seemed like the lad’s mind had gone, sure enough. Isn’t it a shame for the body to continue on when the soul has taken flight? I wonder, though what man himself in right mind would dull his blade on a lunatic’s throat?
How many times in our lives do we play an acted part, taking off one costume and putting on another more suited? – the peasant becomes the merchant, the merchant the lord, the lord the king, and then king, in time, the fugitive and exile, and finally a departed spirit, as cold and pure as a spring wind.
What if the youth had only been making a pretence of insanity, taking on the voice of the harmless fool and shielding himself from hostile eyes? Who injures the jester but with japes? It’s no easy thing, though, for a man – no doubt of noble stock and title – to cast off the shackles of Pride, which have grown so familiar to him; only the touch of fear can easily loosen their embrace.
Perhaps the youth you call Cauliflower – though I never heard him utter that name – was the Emperor, and even a drunken tongue couldn’t slow his path to to Peter’s Gate, when the Father called for him. In that case we may at least hope that the bloodshed is at an end; but still, let’s keep our guard, and pray for safe passage for his soul, whether his blood flowed with blue ink or black."
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Lord Ruby, you may recall that while I expressed concern about Lord Vsotvep’s politics, I also expressed skepticism regarding the likelihood of him being an assassin. That is still my position.
I think it’s important to remember that these assassins arrived here at the same time as the rest of us. I would imagine that they already knew a little something about their intended victims, and very likely had an idea about the layout of this prison. But they couldn’t possibly have known who would be in what cell, how we would be positioned relative to each other. And they certainly had no more idea than we do about the identity of our supposed seer. They would not have acted according to some predetermined plan. Where deception is concerned it seems highly unlikely that either would have done such a thing without first consulting with their partner. And we know they had no opportunity to consult last night.
For this reason, I’m inclined to believe that neither Lord Vsotvep nor Lord Ruby is an assassin. That being said, I do find Lord Ruby’s response to the accusation from Lord Nightstalker evasive and therefore troubling. It’s understandable that a man under duress may try to forestall a violent death with whatever means are at hand. But there will be consequences, and we’re seeing that now. Accusations are not easily shaken off in these circumstances.
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Lord Fiddle I believe you answered your own statement when u mentioned evasion. But please keep your voice down or we may lose more than our eyes…
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I beg your pardon, but what are you talking about Lord fiddle? I recall no such accusation nor my response to it. Don’t tell us you’ve succumbed to the madness as well.
In one breath, you both say I am not an assassin and that you find me troubling! I honestly do not know what to think of these words.
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I claim no special insight in this affair, but I stand by everything I’ve said so far, and I urge you all to weigh everyone’s words very carefully.
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Twister of words is he not… You will wake in the netherworld with his knife in your back…
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Poor guy… El Ka-Oz shakes his head in sorrow.
I just hope he wasn’t one of those prisoners with special connections or abilities who could help us to find the assassins.
Listen, fellow prisoners - even though we don’t have any information about the assassins yet, we need to make a basic plan on how to proceed.
I believe, the one among us who is still able to see did not spot an assassin on the previous day. Thus, I think it is too early for this seer to speak out, and he should at least wait until next night.
As soon as the seer speaks out, it is, I hope, clear to everybody that he needs to be protected by the smuggler. But, if I remember correctly, the smuggler can only protect the seer for one more night and then has to choose another cell, which will leave the seer unprotected. And the smuggler should, of course, not reveal himself under any circumstances.
Does everyone agree with me? Is there someone we want to be checked by the seer specifically?
Maybe Fiddlehead, because of the confusion he (intentionally or not?) caused with his statement above?
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OoC: Upon request, the following clarifications are made:
-Seer can only see if someone is an Assassin or not.
-Assassins can target the Smuggler as a prisoner, they don’t find out his special role.
-Assassins reveal the Coward only to themselves, if they target him. He becomes one of them.
-Dead people are dead people, no further information is revealed.
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Who is this seer you speak of? I was under the impression we were all blind here! How unfair! If any of you can still see, man up and have some pride, take responsibility for the crimes you have been imprisoned for!
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Marco ( @bugcat ) was sitting at the small desk by his bed. One of the few perks of being a high profile political prisoner is that you get to write your memoirs in proper ink and parchment, instead of carvings on the wall.
As he was preparing his quill, he noticed the little note left by @yebellz, the previous
tenant of his cell: a little poem with no signature or dedication.
Yes, I’ve been brokenhearted
Blue since the day we parted
Why, why did I ever let you go
Κουνουπίδι Μου, now I really know
My my, I could never let you go
OOC: We’ve decided everyone leaves a parting note. Most of them are meaningless.
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So it must be Marco who is seeing then! How else does he expect to write on parchment!
OOC: Sorry to have used @bugcat 's name. It means nothing beyond coincidence.
To be precise, everyone can write (it doesn’t go away with blindness). They can probably feel the lines of ink too.
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Marco puzzled over the note, marking with respect its rhythm and rhyme, and he wondered again whether its writer had been the captive Emperor.
How short is the human life! – and how quickly do we greet a friend on the road, and exchange pleasantries, and slap each other on the back and laugh, but then immediately pass on ahead or else are passed ourselves and fall behind; and we do not see that man again, and we talk no more with him until we reach our common destination.
"My friends, sharp-nailed harpies plucked out our eyes when the winds of Fortune wrecked us on an unforgiving coast, but what cyclops in this stoney cave has wrenched out our tongues?
Are we to die in silence, as the cameleopard does to the lion, or arguing and accusing each other with the rough bellows of toads? Brothers, we have exchanged names, and some of us have been hailed as noble lords, but I am just a rustic and commonplace man. My stew had more barley than venison; my wine had more water than salt; I’m ashamed to admit that I am ignorant of your noble bearings, gentlemen.
I’ve shared a little of my tale, and a little more may pass my lips though they be cold and dry; good companionship is like a warm spiced wine to the honest soul, but a burden and bore to those who are deceitful. For whilst the upright man may speak freely, as freely as any man may take the bread of communion in his mouth, the liar must search for his every word as for crumbs of bread from the floor.
Cellmates, you have our ears, if the ears of such wretches as we are of any more value than our eyes: speak, then, and tell your story. How did such a band of sturdy folk fall from soft carpets and leafy glades to a dank and damp dungeon-cell? Tell the tale and we’ll listen."
(OOC: bugcat tries to set up The Canterbury Tales)
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