Machinations of Light's Glory - death, decisions, doom

I can't drink soycaf any more with these implants. I used to... how did I take it?

[REQUEST: SEALED MEMORY ARCHIVE UNLOCK.]
[ANALYSIS: INCONSEQUENTIAL. MEMORY ENTRY UNLOCKED.]

With honey and a pinch of cardamom, apparently. That was the traditional way back in the Uzbek colonies [REDACTED] years ago.

How many decades are in a redacted? I've never heard that used as like a measurement of time before! Or is it like kind of like the word like where you just put in redacted to make yourself sound smarter!? Maybe I'll start doing that!

I don't redacted think that we should redacted sacrifice redacted Sarkus. If the knife kills him, I'm pretty redacted sure we can't find out who attacked him when he finally redacted dies!! Instead I think we ought to be looking at the redacted people who haven't said a redacted anything yet--or not much of anything--as silence can be taken by some people to be super suspicious even though maybe they're just redacted shy and in that case they should redacted speak up so we can get to know them before we decide if they need to die!! Maybe they're quiet because they don't have anything redacted to add to the conversation and thus feel like they wouldn't be a redacted burden to anyone if they just redacted died! I would rather keep people who are redacted contributing around while we still can.

Chance pulls a deck of cards out of the pocket of his trenchcoat and begins riffling through it. The backs of the cards are marked with the logo of the Society, and you notice him pull two cards out of the deck and sigh sadly, shaking his head. Thumb, index finger, and middle finger together, he touches first his forehead, then his chest and shoulders, remaining two fingers pressed together and touching his palm.

Sorrow lining his face, he holds the two cards in his hand, and strokes his thumb against the back of one. It burns a deep blue-purple as it is reduced to ash, wisping away despite the lack of wind, and he slides the other card back into the deck and begins shuffling.

"If'n we keep talkin for much longer, mah vote'll be for luck of th' draw. I've no better thoughts."

Sarkus enters the room. His skin has gone quite pale and it is clear he is standing only with considerable effort.

Friends,

I believe it is time for me to speak. It was because of me that the Owls were unable to cast last night. I have in my possession something that will not allow me to participate in a circle. I felt that rather then participate in a circle casting I knew was going to fail, I should inform the rest of the Owls of the situation. Paradoxial chose to go public with our inability to cast before anyone else had a chance to respond to my information, something I do not believe was a wise choice. While my understanding of what I have is not complete, I was intentionally vague with the Owls about the item, as I realized the risk I was taking in coming forward with it. Although only the other Owls were informed that I had anything in my possession, it is nevertheless possible that it was an entirely random attack on me last night and it is also possible that the attack was made by someone with good intentions. However, I do not believe either of those are the most likely explanation. Instead, I feel it is likely that someone within the Owls does not follow the path of Good. Who that is, I have no further insight into.

I realize the reluctance any healers among us may have in revealing themselves by coming to my aid. It is fully understandable, and I cannot claim that I have a worth that would necessarily justify such a risk. Not even the item in my possession. As such, I am willing to be sacrificed so that the Good forces will take only a single loss today unless a more compelling subject can be identified. Without aid I will not last the coming night.

I can vouch for the account of my fellow Owl. Events transpired as he relates and I'm afraid I share his suspicion of my fellow schoolmates.

In light of the recent announcement made by the Light's Glory mainframe computer, this unit votes for Sarkus to be sacrificed to the knife. If one possessing the ability to save Sarkus comes forward and assures the group they will do it, this unit will change its vote according to larger group consensus.

<sigh> Time grows short, friends. Sarkus, if you possess an item that does not allow you to cast, may I suggest disposing of said item so you can hopefully contribute to a circle if-and-when you're restored to health?

I will wait before I start voting to sacrifice you, friend, but not much longer. If you have any suspicions of your fellow Owls, please. Someone has to cast the first stone.

"If we sacrifice Mr. Sarkus, what will happen with said artifact?"

A cough and ripple of colour later Ana emerges back into full view.

"If that is the case, I think sacrificing Sarkus to the knife would be for the best. As for the Owls, would it be possible to coordinate our four scrying circles to focus on their remaining members tonight?"

The way I see it there are two logical options for the knife:

1. Sarkus, for reasons already elaborated.

2. A different member of the school of the Owls, since they have not been able to participate in a circle and as such are a slightly bigger unknown than the remaining members of the expedition.

According to chatty Quackers we can apparently get information regarding Sarkus's killer if he dies, so I am leaning towards sacrificing a different member.

Finally I want to propose a rule that members of a successful scrying circle publicly announce who has been confirmed by the scrying circle as soon as the number of people with the knowledge of the result is reduced to three members or less. That way the certainty of the confirmation does not get lost if the traitors in our ranks decide to kill one of the remaining members.

Information is everything. Information wants to be free.

Of the other Owls my best guess, and it is only my mildly informed guess, would be Miss Phoenicity.

My reasoning:

There are only five owls and I am assuming that demonic followers would prefer that scrying circles were not successful:

• @Sarkus is dying.
• @Lazy Shiftless Bastard successfully cast in a circle.
• Lieutenant general PARAdoxial lept at the chance to cast in another circle the moment Sarkus' inability was made known to us. Foolish perhaps, in that it immediately helped begin to focus attention on Sarkus but not, I think, the actions of a calculating cultist.
• @Phoenicity is the fourth.
• I am the fifth.

So yes, the chain of reasoning is not overburdened with strong links but if we are to find a traitor within the owls it is all I have.

"Fair enough. Lazy Shiftless Bastard helped the Falcons cast successfully, however, so I suggest we choose our sacrifice from PARAdoxial, Mr. Lawrence, or Phoenicity. Perhaps Phoenicity would be the best choice because of her relative inactivity."

Not necessarily for the first night. Causing a circle to fail too early provides those of us who serve the Light with a much smaller target pool. I wouldn't rule out anyone just based on their claim of success.

Did Paradoxial cast in a circle? If you don't mind my prying, how did the four of you who remained idle spend your time while the rest of us were channelling?

I would only caution my otherwise intelligent and ingenious friends that evil cultists are surely an insidious bunch--as there is a great chance there is definitely more than one of them it serves them a great merit if at least one can appear helpful in a scrying circle--and gives them insight as to who is a prime target and what otherwise innocent people are talking to each other. If Mister Sarkus was attacked by someone from the Owls, it might make sense that that person distance themselves from the group and perhaps cast with another. On the other hand were I an evil cultist--and I'm not in case anyone would like to test the truth of that claim!--I would definitely be keeping a low profile and only putting in the minimal effort so that people knew I was paying attention. I've heard tales of those that would not even do that much and remain forgotten until the numbers dwindled and it was too late! I mean, look at all the dead bodies around here!!

That said, Mister Sarkus, whatever happens you are extremely noble and brave to offer yourself up! I firmly believe that if we all just accept that we're all going to die anyway we can depart from this life without regret and move into the next one feeling more free than we otherwise were and less likely to horribly haunt whoever did us harm. There are ways to do that, you know. To make people suffer from beyond the grave. And if you don't end up magically healed or stabbed to death by someone in the group with that really awesome floating knife, please do keep an ear out for me so that we can talk later. I have so many ideas and maybe you can tell me if they're right or not!!!

Staring grimly at my evidence board. As I said before, I rarely sleep.

I find no fault with your reasoning, as I was always taught - trust no-one.

"As I understand it, a single individual cannot both cast in a circle and perform a night action at the same time. If that is indeed the case, the person who attacked Sarkus must be either Mr. Lawrence, Phoenicity, or PARAdoxial, the only people who were not casting last night - unless one of the schools are able to perform a scry with less than one person."

I am by no means an expert on the subject but I would not be surprised if there were people with particular talents that could somehow manage both. Like, say, the evil cultists. Unless they are all really Mr. Lawrence, Phoenicity, and PARAdoxical. In which case we have all done a FANTASTIC job solving this particular mystery and someone should bring out the cake and champagne!!!

This unit believes it is most likely that the betrayers are capable of selecting a member for death via their innate evil consensus (manifested as tentacles, this time) while still participating in night actions, but killing abilities external to that (the stabbing of Sarkus) would preclude them from participating in additional night-time activities.

Like I said before, I think an item was used on Sarkus and probably can be used alongside the night action. Could be wrong though.
What I don't understand is how Sarkus will point out who killed him after his death. He doesn't know now, what changes once his time is up?

And that's why THIS unit kindly postulates that we did not, in fact, have four successful circles of scrying last night. Now the challenge will be to figure out who's lying.

"All these theories are nice, but just that - theories.
We can sacrifice an Owl based on assumptions, but there is a possibility that we get an innocent person. And if no healer steps forward to save Mr. Sarkus, we'll lose not only one but two valuable members."

Why would somebody lie about a successful scry when there are four other members (who are presumably not on the side of darkness) who would be able to see through that lie immediately? Unless you're suggesting that we have an entire school of traitors.

Which is, admittedly, not outside the realm of possibility.

Unless Sarkus is sacrificed before he dies from his wounds, in which case only one individual would be lost. It's a goddamn gamble is what it is.

The best case scenario would be to let Sarkus die, sacrifice someone else, and both of them are cultists. [ANALYSIS: ODDS TOO LOW TO CALCULATE]

Or: Let Sarkus die, sacrifice someone else, one of them is a cultist. Effectively, this means the cultists have succeeded in a double-kill, Ozzo and another innocent.

Or: Save Sarkus, sacrifice someone else. There are at least three cultists and twenty-four of us. That comes out to... [ANALYSIS: 12.5% chance of targeting a cultist]

Or: Sacrifice Sarkus. The same probability applies.

I'll say the same thing in public that I said to the Ravens: if we want to let math and probabilities guide your decisions, that's fine. But look the man in the eye if you're going to tell him we're letting him bleed out.

"Ah think it'd be reasonable to think Sarkus safe. If'n someone knew him to be a cultist, why, ah'd be sorely surprised were they to stay silent. An' the chances of Sarkus stabbing hisself jes in hope of gettin healed seems ..."

Chance smiles.

"Aweel, I'm sure ye can calculate it."

"We can't rule out the possibility of there being... independents who are insane enough to want everybody in this group dead, be they on the side of the light or the dark. Though, true, I myself am inclined to believe that Sarkus is innocent. Regardless, it might be more honourable to let the man's soul serve a higher purpose instead of letting him die a mere victim to a stab in the night. With so many scry circles succeeding last night, I believe that it's not unreasonable to want to wait until we have more concrete suspects before we start feeding random people to the knife."

"You raise a fair point. If Sarkus volunteers willingly, I vote that we end his suffering with the Unsubtle Knife."

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"Thank you, sir; my intention with that phrasing, however, was to leave wiggle room if other information came to light in the next three-and-a-bit hours."

Votes for the sacrifice so far:

- Sarkus: QuantumBit, Speak With Bread, Anabanana, Anxifera, Lazy Shiftless Bastard, Kohei
- Phoenicity: AaronSofaer, Quackers, Dan Lawrence, Cormac

Three hours and change to go. I'm going to take that time for a bit of soul-searching and thought.

Understood.

"Since we have not much time left, I will vote to sacrifice Sarkus to the knife. After that, we might want to turn our eyes on the remaining members of the Owl school tonight. In the case that they are all innocent, it will solve the question of whether we have a full school of traitors, will it not?"

This seems plausible. Also I would add that, if the records are to be believed, during the previous confrontations at Lights Glory, the traitors were not able to communicate telepathically, thereby coordinating their actions and sharing information was not as easy as one would assume...

"I understand that generals are naturally students of history, sir, but perhaps you muddy the waters in leaping to such conclusions. Just...be a bit wary, yes?"

I wouldn't automatically assume that this is the case for our group. Posthumanity has progressed so far since then, it is entirely possible that the traitors have developed new methods of communication by now. Then again, they might not. Regardless, I am reluctant to rely too much on records of past conflicts when dealing with the here and now.

You hear a thud and see that Sarkus has slumped to the floor. His eyes have rolled back into his head and you can feel the heat coming off of his body. He is still alive, but is now unconscious and will not reawaken unless healed of his wounds.

"It is not my intention to let anyone 'bleed out'. If I could heal the good man, I'd step forward and do so. Alas, I possess no such power, nor any other that would be helpful in a situation like this.
Time is working against us, and all we are doing is running in circles. It pains me to do this, but I vote to sacrifice Mr. Sarkus. May his soul forgive me."

Chance sighs and pulls a card out of his deck. The face on the card is Phoenicity.

"Better to chance the unknown than sacrifice he who we know is godly and good."

He then turns and walks out of the cavern.