The Tarot Club II

[Book Wombat]

“The Fool that doesn’t belong to this era
The Mysterious Ruler above the gray fog
The King of Yellow and Black who wields good luck.”

In the past Year 1353 of the 5th Epoch, the town of Utopia was burnt to ashes and the misty roads vanished into thin air. The Tarot Club was dealt a heavy blow, one that would be hard to recover from.

Taking advantage of this moment of weakness, several like-minded organizations have joined forces to infiltrate the new City of Silver in the Rorsted Archipelago and destroy the Fool's capital.

But in response to their prayers, the mist rises once more, and with it another story to be told...

This is that story. A story of death, of betrayal, and perhaps one of hope...

Spoiler: Recruitment Post

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I'll be narrating a game of Mafia/Werewolf with custom rules based on the webnovel "The Lord of Mysteries". Whether you are new or old, all are welcome to play! This is the second iteration of The Tarot Club variant ruleset, but no knowledge of the first round is required.
The gameplay itself will be mostly the same as the base game, with two factions fighting to win. Members of Town do not start in contact with each other, clueless to the identities of their allies, while members of the Evil do start with in contact with each other.
Narrator and private communication will be done over Discord.

Spoiler: The Rules

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Spoiler: Lore: Pathways of Power

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By consuming a potion containing the essence of certain mystical entities and other special ingredients, one becomes a Beyonder, taking first steps on one of the Pathways to power beyond imagination.
However, one must be careful not to walk too quickly. For without a strong will it is just as easy to lose control and let the essence take over.
There are twenty-two stable potions which can be brewed, granting access to one of the twenty-two Pathways. Each encompass a different concept with their own strengths and weaknesses. Some focus on spirituality and some on the physical, and some on more obscure things.
The first potion grants the position as a Sequence 9 Beyonder and control over one’s spiritual energy, allowing even the weakest of humans to begin controlling the supernatural. But this isn’t enough for most, and to advance through the Sequences more potions must be brewed with increasingly rare materials and difficult recipes, each one strengthening your powers and granting new ones as well.
Sequences 9 and 8 are known as Low-Rank Beyonders; those of Sequences 7, 6 and 5 are Mid-Rank and advancing from that point onwards till Sequence 1 grants the title of Demigod. There are even rumours of a Sequence 0, but information is scarce…

Each player will have their own unique role randomly selected from a list of twenty-two paths; starting at Sequence 9, and will advance to the limit of Sequence 5 for this game. All Pathways will start with one power, either an active or a passive, and advancing will either grant a new power or strengthen an existing one. Reaching Mid-rank will allow the use of an Artifact (similar to a power). Unless explicitly said so, multiple active powers may not be used simultaneously.
Active powers can generally only be used during the night, with a only few exceptions. Passive powers are always active, and cannot be disabled.
Exact role and power information will not public until the end of the game. However, information on all the Pathways and corresponding Sequences are available to inspect here (do note that this contains large spoilers for the story).

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The game will cycle through two phases; Day and Night. The Day phase will normally last around 48 hours, after a certain number of players are left it will decrease to 24 hours, and the Night phase will last around 24 hours. During the day players can choose someone to "judge" by voting, this is done by marking a player's name in bold red. Nicknames also count as long as they are recognizable. Examples:

I don't like Book Wombat.

Wombat seems suspicious.

Votes are not set in stone and may be changed at any time before the end of day by crossing out the previous vote like this.
At the end of the day I will declare the result of the judgement, whoever has the most votes in the end will be lynched, revealing their role and alignment and granting them access to the Spirit World. Ties will be resolved by a certain method, not randomly.
After day has passed it becomes night, in which active powers may be used. The Evils can also choose one person to kill in this phase.
Then the cycle starts anew.

The game ends once either all the Evils have been lynched or Town's defeat is inevitable.

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Notes:

• I, the Narrator, will not lie. However, there may be powers which interfere with the veracity of the narration.
• No private communication is allowed other than what is set up by myself.
• There may be vote-manipulating powers in play.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!


Player List:

• Lady Serpentine
• Batcathat
• Illven
• Persolus
• bladescape
• Snowblaze
• Caedorus
• rogue_alchemist
• Allando
• Xihirli

Chill List:

• AvatarVecna
• Taffimai
• JeenLeen
• Elenna
• Let'sGetKraken
• Xumtiil

Discord invite.

Please do not post until I have announced the start of Day One.

[Book Wombat]

Day One starts now.

Dawn rises on the new City of Silver, full of fear and danger as the mist rises...


It will be dusk in around 66 hours.

[Illven]

My name is Lady Rebecca Himura, and to drive the mist away, I call Persolus to the stand to explain themselves.

My random voter says we start on Persolus

[Persolus]

Hello everyone! I'm Persolus and think that you shouldn't kill me first round!

[Interestingly enough, I joined a mafia game on a different forum and it started at the exact same time as this, so I'll do my best but please don't judge me if i end up posting less ]

Lies! Lies, the whole lot of it! Very convenient of you, Lady Rebecca, to call me to the stand, but I, Persolus T. Nebris will not stand for it!

Even so, I shall be reasonable and use my random vote generator to start on... Illven.
Not intentional, but hey, who am I to argue with RNG?

[rogue_alchemist]

You are both wrong! Rng-sus says bladescape must answer for their mysterios actions.

Edit:fixed bolding

[Xihirli]

Look, I promised to kill Snowblaze I can't go back. I'm a woman of my word.

[Illven]

Bold your votes you two, I'm not sure how much Bookwombat is going to enforce that ruling.

[Book Wombat]

Bold your votes you two, I'm not sure how much Bookwombat is going to enforce that ruling.

Very much so.
Also, the mist is friendly! Kinda! It just doesn't differentiate...

[Snowblaze]

Look, I promised to kill Snowblaze I can't go back. I'm a woman of my word.

And I believe I promised to kill you, Xihirli.

[Batcathat]

It's been too long to remember any previous slights I might want to avenge and I daren't start an actual wagon, so let's just go alphabetically. Allando.

[Xihirli]

And I believe I promised to kill you, Xihirli.

So we're all men of our word really.
Except for those of us who are in fact women.

[bladescape]

Snowblaze

Dying first two Tarot games in a row sounds amusing.

[rogue_alchemist]

Bladescape starts a wagon, early into Day 1. Bold move, but seems pretty wolfish to me.

[Allando]

Town again...

It's been too long to remember any previous slights I might want to avenge and I daren't start an actual wagon, so let's just go alphabetically. Allendo.

Batcathat, for misspelling my name .

[Caedorus]

*anxiously rereading discord to see if I promised death to someone*
*relief when not*
Tempted to vote Allando but don't want to start a wagon.
Tempted to say "I promisded to kill Xumtiil and Xihirli is close enough" but see above.
Tempted to vote Snow because they're such a good wolf but see above v2.0
All the good spots are taken, I'm too late :(
Of those three, the only person who voted on one of my spots who doesn't have a vote is Batcathat.

- - - Updated - - -

GAAAAAAHHHH GET OUT OF MY BRAIN YOU

[Batcathat]

Batcathat, for misspelling my name .

Oops, shame on me. Though that's probably one of the more solid reasons I've seen for an early D1 vote.

[Caedorus]

If I'm going to start a wagon I'm going to place it where I want it.
Allando, both bc they were my random vote and for stealing my spot.

[Snowblaze]

Snowblaze

Dying first two Tarot games in a row sounds amusing.

Counterpoint: see my server nickname.

Also now I want to vote bladescape and Xihirli simultaneously but I can't. I guess I'll just keep my promise to Xihirli then.

Also also:

The demoness emerged from the mist, lips twisted into a cruel smile. The signs were clear: what was to come was chaos and death. The Tarot Club would rise again, or else be destroyed forever. She would gain power beyond her wildest dreams, or else die here, alone and unmourned.

It would be such fun.

Because RPing as evil characters is fun, and because I didn't really do the whole "RP as evil while town" thing properly last game.

[Illven]

The demoness emerged from the mist, lips twisted into a cruel smile. The signs were clear: what was to come was chaos and death. The Tarot Club would rise again, or else be destroyed forever. She would gain power beyond her wildest dreams, or else die here, alone and unmourned.

It would be such fun.

Lady Rebecca Himura blushed as the pretty demoness emerged.

Hello miss, may I help you? She offered up her hand.

[Snowblaze]

Lady Rebecca Himura blushed as the pretty demoness emerged.

Hello miss, may I help you? She offered up her hand.

The demoness reached out slowly until her fingers brushed the lady's. She noted the flush of her cheeks with curiosity. The lady wasn't bad looking; might be a good way to pass the time until the chaos truly began.

"I'm looking for somewhere to eat breakfast, " she lied. Demons didn't need food, not in the same way as humans did. But she needed something normal she could ask for. "Any recommendations?"

(Should probably mention I know basically nothing about this setting, whether it contains demons and how they work if so. What could possibly go wrong?)

[Illven]

The demoness reached out slowly until her fingers brushed the lady's. She noted the flush of her cheeks with curiosity. The lady wasn't bad looking; might be a good way to pass the time until the chaos truly began.

"I'm looking for somewhere to eat breakfast, " she lied. Demons didn't need food, not in the same way as humans did. But she needed something normal she could ask for. "Any recommendations?"

(Should probably mention I know basically nothing about this setting, whether it contains demons and how they work if so. What could possibly go wrong?)

Yeah, when I want to treat myself I get myself a breakfest at The GiantRoc Inn. Care to join me, my treat~

[Mood]

[Caedorus]

In the bylines, a shadowy figure stood, watching, ever watching...

[Batcathat]

Hmm. Do I trust Caedorus less or more for being so blatantly ominous and spooky?

[Allando]

I'm missing all the roleplay fun, time to change that.
Intrigued by what the demon has said, Allando slowly turned away. "A snack, indeed, might not be such a bad idea. Now, where is the nearest café?", he thought by himself.

In the bylines, a shadowy figure stood, watching, ever watching...

"Ah, there's the café. Right behind the suspicious cloaked figure, of course."
A quick shove later, and he was inside. The cloaked figure just stared: such impudence was rarely seen in town.

[bladescape]

There was a slow tap, echoing, resonant. The man who sat at the table outside the cafe was the source. To most he was entirely mundane, average height, plain high Loen fashion shirt and pants with suspenders, a coat casually wrapped over his shoulders. It was clear to see he was at ease with the surroundings as he tapped, the almost carefree nature of his look and demeanour only broken by the spiked dog collar sitting on the table in front of him. There was no particular markings on it, but he occasionally tapped it along with anything else in reach. He watched the others mingle, and could only laugh at the arrival of the overt demoness, and the rest of the figures already arguing and fighting.

They all looked so... naive. The small debates and fires between them. None of them truly understanding how subtle the traitors could be. It was so simple to be looking for willing traitors, even a cue from a higher pathway of a Spectator could turn friend on friend, how much more likely was it that one of these poor sods had something or other with them? Besides, unwilling traitors made the most subtle and cruel ones, he should know.

"The cafe is for waking senses, and it is best not to see them sleep." He muttered to the man charging past on his way to the small establishment and chuckled against, hand coming up to casually rest on his cheek. Somehow it was all so ironic.

[Xihirli]

In the bylines, a shadowy figure stood, watching, ever watching...

You seem like a TRUSTWORTHY individual

[Lady Serpentine]

The Demoness pathway does exist, or at least, it's on the list.

Whether or not Snow is one, I dont know. Not that it's alignment indicative either way, and she said she was going to RP this way prior to roles being sent out so I'm inclined to say that's not either, but I could see her geting that role and going "Oh, this sounds hilarious, I'm totally doing that".

I'll try to get into the RP side of things tomorrow; I was out and about more than usual today.

In the meantime... I'll drop a vote on Batcathat for informational purposes?

[Snowblaze]

Morning. I want to try and get this moving but also I have no reads. Alas. Have a vote count instead:

Snowblaze 2: Xihirli, bladescape
Allando 2: Batcathat, Caedorus
Batcathat 2: Allando, Lady Serpentine
Persolus 1: Ilven
Ilven 1: Persolus
Xihirli 1: Snowblaze

Not voting: whoever else is playing (there are other players, right?)

"That sounds excellent," the demoness purred. "Lead me to it."

A crowd was already gathering around the little cafe, including some rather interesting characters: a cloaked figure staring blankly at the back of the man who'd just shoved past him, a man tapping at things to provide a steady beat in the background.

"Excuse me," said the demoness to the cloaked figure as she passed them to enter the cafe, because even demons had manners when they wanted to. And the mortals were far less willing to drive you out when you were polite to them.

- - - Updated - - -

There isn't anyone else not voting, but there is a rogue_alchemist voting for bladescape which I missed.

- - - Updated - - -

I could force a wolfread but it's on rogue_alchemist who I told myself I wouldn't incorrectly wolfread so I'm just going to ignore it for now.

[rogue_alchemist]

Because RPing as evil characters is fun, and because I didn't really do the whole "RP as evil while town" thing properly last game.

This is exactly the metagame I don't get. Let's act super suspicious and evil like we are a demoness or whatever, while being town to prove our towniness because no true wolf would ever purposefully act wolfy and call it out.

But thank you for reserving judgement about whatever wolf read you could force on me. The only thing I've done is RNG vote and then point out when my RNG vote started the first wagon of the game, thus giving a reason to leave my RNG vote where it is and not change it with new information. I would love to get more pressure on bladescape to explain why they started a wagon so early, but now there are two other wagons going and only getting one more vote would just add to the noise. Now if we could get two votes to switch to bladescape that would be pressure, but Snowblaze is the first wagon, so her head is on the chopping block right now.

[Batcathat]

This is exactly the metagame I don't get. Let's act super suspicious and evil like we are a demoness or whatever, while being town to prove our towniness because no true wolf would ever purposefully act wolfy and call it out.

But thank you for reserving judgement about whatever wolf read you could force on me. The only thing I've done is RNG vote and then point out when my RNG vote started the first wagon of the game, thus giving a reason to leave my RNG vote where it is and not change it with new information. I would love to get more pressure on bladescape to explain why they started a wagon so early, but now there are two other wagons going and only getting one more vote would just add to the noise. Now if we could get two votes to switch to bladescape that would be pressure, but Snowblaze is the first wagon, so her head is on the chopping block right now.

I'm don't know if it's what Snow reacted to, but I got some weak wolf vibes from you suggesting blade was being wolfy, since throwing votes around for poorly explained reasons is pretty standard blade MO regardless of alignment. That said, it's been a while since you played so finding blade suspicious might be a normal town reaction.

As for the gamestate in general, things being this quiet makes me a little paranoid about all wagons being town, but with it being D1 and plenty of time before EoD, that's probably unnecessary.