Katzaniel

Certainly, whatever vote you need to make there should be an IC reason to do it. Obviously certain characters won't really be an option unless there is good reason to suspect them, but if you're pretty sure OOC that they're guilty then IC you're bound to find a reason - I of all people should know that, being forced in III to vote for my own son. Having said that, I don't think you should force people to vote, Gnarlitch. Even to avenge my death! There are good reasons both IC and OOC to abstain occasionally, and there's just as good a chance of a tie with two voters or ten. I'm not sure what prompted five null votes last turn, and I'm sure it was very frustrating for you as mod, but I think you should reconsider disallowing it altogether. Edit: I should add, that people should be wary of adding clues for people that you aren't positive are guilty. For example, when Gnarlitch had those clues in III it was the same to me as his saying he was either wolf or seer, and if I'd been wolf he would have died that night. Also, if he hadn't been seer and had been wrong about what his clues showed, it would have been difficult to give a good IC reason for it. So... just saying, clues can be dangerous, too.

"Bringing chill and snow to the earth" - his hands must have been moved on the keyboard.

Wow. I'm really really sorry how much has been misunderstood about all this. First things first: I am, or was, Rendelle. Please don't hate me for that. I made a bad first impression, explained things very poorly, and then screwed up in trying to explain myself. I'm sick and tired of the secrecy and the constroversy, I don't want to do this at all anymore. Vanessa had the spirit of it right - just roleplaying yourself. I kind of thought, a way to find out what people's personalities and appearances are, and fun to see whether they're different from preconceptions based on characters, and so forth. Obviously I did make a very bad first impression, I never meant to insult anyone or assume anything, and I am very surprised how much I've been miscontrued, and sorry what you thought I meant to say. I didn't mean argue. I just meant discuss. I have always looked forward to discussing things with people and coming to an agreement. I guess I said it poorly. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry Ayshela. I didn't mean to do that at all, I just thought that you must have concerns beyond what I could fix. I mean, I have huge concerns regarding privacy and always have, I don't even like people to know what timezone I'm in if I can help it. Mirc has altered that since I have no choice if I want to chat with people, but I never give away personal information like my name (I thought I'd make the name point clear with "You need not give away your name - the attached name tag may bear either your real name or a pseudoreal name - but we would love to meet the real you." Rendelle isn't my real name and I didn't expect very many people to go with their real names). And when I said "going deeper than just the name issue", all I meant was that you seemed worried about more than giving away your name, ie) all types of privacy issues, which I thought would be handled by three things: 1) Being in a member-only room, 2) Only needing to say as much as you want to, and 3) Not having to participate at all. Again, I'm sorry for the terrible impression you must all have had of me, I didn't mean to be rude but I suppose I was. I also didn't mean that you wouldn't be on the guest list if you didn't give your real name, I meant that you didn't have to give your real name and as a totally separate thing, if in addition you didn't want to be on the guest list you didn't have to be. I guess in trying to be brief enough for people to want to read the thing, I sacrificed a lot of proper explanation. I didn't want to treat you as unreasonable, Ayshela, and I'm not trying to make it seem that way now, only trying to explain myself a little. When I talked of "arguing" I just meant fleshing out problems so I could better understand what needed to be changed, and so forth. In short, I'm really really sorry, I feel sick about the worry that this has caused, I hope your perceptions of me have not been permanently tarnished, and unless this post somehow causes a surge of interest (yeah right) I will not be going on with this. I didn't mean the harm that this has caused - I hope you can all forgive me.

"So many death." Cat bowed her head, look of respect on her face. "We need work together; stop killing now!"

Well, as for familiar language, I think you're referring to the lines "eaten of this flesh" and "forgive my trespasses", possibly among others. These lines buried in the poem made me think that the meaning was more related to spiritual cleansing than physical. So, in my interpretation, the speaker of the poem has committed some deep sin - I might even venture to guess a sexual sin from the line "blank faces silhouetted against my hungry eyes" - and wants forgiveness. I think the fairies are "heavy" from sorrow, perhaps because the prayers are delayed? The part that disagrees with this interpretation (at least I can't find a way to make it fit) is that they "leave a bitter taste behind". Why is his soul the worse for wear afterward? Perhaps he's prayed to the wrong god, or even to the devil? I won't ask HappyBuddha how close I am just yet... how close does everyone else think I am?

Almost all of this is very nitpicky details, and for many of my comments, I'm not even sure that what you have is wrong in any way. A few of them are just things that seem to me could be smoother another way. I'd like to know if you think I'm going too far in picking things out, I do feel that even though you asked for it, I must be. In general, your writing is very grammatically correct and therefore easy to read. On another level, I also like your description and so far your character development. But there were spots that, in my opinion, slightly interupted the flow of the rest of it. "Some boundaries couldn't be crossed." Sometimes one can get away with conjuctions, but this one bothered me for some reason. "...limitations imposed on him..." I have no idea if it's right, but "...limitations imposed upon him..." rings smoother to me. Wow, an actual mistake/typo: "...as it glinted of his carefully arranged curls..." (you'll want "off" or "off of"). "...anything but the love he spoke of to his cherished children..." I'm not sure how technical you want to get. I don't think you're really supposed to do that with a preposition, but then again I'm not sure why not. Anyway, you could also phrase it: "...anything but the love of which he spoke to his cherished children..." "Everything had been so much brighter, then..." The ellipses made me think for a moment that you were using "then" in the sense of "then this happened". Perhaps if you removed the comma? "Everything had been so much brighter then..." "...as ornate and beautiful as the cavern and the hallways had been rough and unrefined." I know I'm being much too picky, really, but I think this is smoother as "...as ornate and beautiful as the cavern and hallways had been rough and unrefined." "His gaze...and traveled upwards..." Thus far you've done it properly every time, but you missed this one. "His gaze...and traveled upward..." "...what you spent so long trying to show me...." Again, I don't know why this feels wrong. This feels better though: "...what you spent so long in trying to show me...." "...begrudge me the right to the comfort these short visits give me..." I'd say: "...begrudge me the right to the comfort that these short visits give me..." "...pour in the others' ears..." I probably should look it up for you, but my book is downstairs, and you may not trust it anyway. I think you've used the wrong form here. "...pour in the other's ears..." That's it. In that much writing, with me being as picky as I possibly could, that is very little to complain about. Shall I continue to be this picky though? I'd understand completely if you'd rather not. I can tone it down and comment only on actual mistakes, and other less grammatical aspects of the writing, if you want. I feel like I'm lecturing an expert on something they've been teaching me, because I can't back up very many of these intuitions.

OOC: If no one else was claiming to be Hunter, how could Celes have *not* been? *lies down waiting to die or to win, depending on whether she's the wolf or not*

This is going to be rushed, and only for the intro post so far. Of course I love it so far, Yui you are very good. But you asked for feedback, so here goes. "...spending decades studying the ancient arcane arts only to never get further..." Awkward. I might reword as "...spending decades studying the ancient arcane arts and never getting further..." "Those who know magic are bound to the land that cannot support it. Those who know hunger are bound to the land that cannot bear fruit. Those who hold tight to the reigns of power fear the knowledge of their enemies. Those who hold tight to the tatters of faith fear the truth that their rivals could expose." I really like these statements. I think they might be better with a semicolon between the last two, though. If you did that it might make the rest seem wrong.. perhaps if you added a "while"? As they are, these statements are very strong, I just think you might be able to make them even better with a little tweaking. "Those who know magic are bound to the land that cannot support it while those who know hunger are bound to the land that cannot bear fruit. Those who hold tight to the reigns of power fear the knowledge of their enemies; Those who hold tight to the tatters of faith fear the truth that their rivals could expose." "...a chain of events that threatens everything that they have known..." In my opinion, this would be better as: "...a chain of events to threaten everything that they have known..." Of course this is all up to you. Keep it coming, and I'll try to keep responding.

Cat stood up among the others. "So many unsure. So many changes. So many refuse decide. Me still not sure Cartwright innocent, but me think us need hold together. Gunther no choice to make band together, only one me see is Markus. He threaten one to claim protect us, he not respond questions, he sow anger and hate. Us need agree against Markus, and us need do it soon." By the time she finished, she sounded certain and unafraid. "Most of all, us need stop silence! If some think me wrong, say so. Else, join, help. Help us live." OOC: Change vote to Degenero Angelus - Markus Black Lots of vote changing, so I'm going to post the tally: (Most recent vote to left) Tanuchan Null Elwen Lady C Vahktang Solivagus Jammeez Null Merelas Vahk Lady C Solivagus Dean Null Degenero Lady C Solivagus Null Katzaniel Deg Totals: Lady Celes - 2 Solivagus - 2 Vahktang - 1 Degenero Angelus - 1 Null - 4 Edit: Two posts while I did this, plus Vahk finished his, but I still think this is the better option.

Cat looked all around her at the group. Much dissention, but there was agreement among a few of them, too. It didn't seem to be so much a question of Abraham Cartwright or Charlotte Gainsbourg, so much as a question of Charlotte or not Charlotte. Well, so be it. Then they needed to decide on Charlotte's guilt or innocence. "Me wonder, Markus, if you be claiming to protect us. If not, what is problem? Charlotte say she help us... if no one dispute claim, then me say Charlotte help us. You show us wounds. Do you say you help us better?"

OOC: Erm... Somehow I had the impression that Adam Cartwright had been killed in the river when Jake died. Don't ask how, because I'm really not sure. Anyway I'm going to go edit my other post.

OOC: No, there doesn't seem to be any way to get the music to link directly, not without using HTML and I haven't been able to figure out a way to do that.

I know what you mean... but this wasn't supposed to be happy! Thanks guys. Exam went all right I suppose... I deserved about 45% but I'll get 70 or 80 because this guy teaches so poorly, no one gets it, and every year he has to curve the mark like that. Other exams went much better. Good luck Snake and Rahsash, and I apologize to Hopper and Tanny for bringing back memories of exams.

Cat heard the suspicions being thrown around after Jake's death. "Charlotte been nice to me," she muttered, thinking better aloud. "Somehow me not think it her. The thing that bother me now is Jake suspected me in first murder. Could his killer be try now to redirect suspicion to me? Perhaps it someone who not trust me then. Abraham Cartwright - he only one who made clear he thought someone else. This me only lead, though thin." Thus Cat near-silently added her suspicion for Mr. Cartwright to the fray. OOC: Vahktang - Abraham Cartwright

I needed a break from studying. Here's a poem for y'all Notes, strewn across the desk. So many papers, and so much ink. Old assignments, foreign concepts, My brain has forgotten how to think. I've mastered questions left and right, I finally "get" assignment three! I could ace the midterm now, But the final's weighted against me. I don't want to study, I really need to sleep. But I'm almost out of time, And halfway through the heap. I'll have to skip that section, And give up on solving this question. I'm a little vague on chapter five, Does anyone have a suggestion?

Cat's face remained stone as she was told of the earlier deaths. "Aren't you sad that those men died, Catling?" queried Amanda, who had been certain that Cat would show a few tears at this. "There not reason to cry when sad, Miss Amanda. Me glad bad man gone even if it weren't him committed that killing, but me not whoop for joy, so why you surprised when me not cry for deaths?" "Why, I know you're not like many girls, Catling, but it doesn't change the fact that many girls would cry upon seeing their first death." Cat shook her head. "Me first death was me parents at four. Nothing now can make me cry, Miss Amanda. Death just parting anyway. Sad for them that still here; not permanent." "You're wise beyond your years, young Catling." There was silence between them for a moment, then Cat said, "Want another rabbit?"

Cat disappears into the bushes by the caravan. Nice to be alone for a little while again. She walks until she finds a likely looking tree, cutting off a branch with her knife while saying a little prayer for it. Then, she strips part of the bark and wraps it into a loop. She lays the trap down and lies so that she can pull it back when needed. Then she waits. It takes a while of lying alone in the bushes, but a rabbit does come along. Cat had been enjoying herself just being there, but when it came she tensed and felt the intense pleasure once more of hunting. The rabbit looks at her, but she doesn't move. It is lanky, but contains meat enough for the family to enjoy. It blinks its big brown eyes and Cat utters a prayer for it. She needs this meat to please Amanda and Nate, and so feels herself justified in this hunt, but she needs to explain as much to the gods. She feels their satisfaction, so when the rabbit moves into position, Cat doesn't hesitate to pull as quickly as she can. The rabbit tries to get away, as is natural for it. Instead of comforting, as Cat had been wont to do while still learning, she kills it as soon as she can without hurting it. Trying to comfort the thing only adds to its suffering, she had learned, and one should never cause pain for the things one needs to kill. Leaving the trap behind, Cat takes the rabbit out of the bushes. On her way to the caravan she sees the one known as Eric Smith. She had heard whispers that some of the people thought she had killed the woman, but this man was surely as suspicious as she was, even appearing as she did in the middle of nowhere. Some of the men were arguing about who had done it, and Jake in particular mentioned her name. He looked guilty, too, but when Cat walked into the group, dead rabbit in hand, she pointed at Eric Smith. "That man more guilty than any here. I just little girl, but see how he carries hisself." They start to turn to her, asking why she thought that, but with all of them looking at her at once she lost her composure. She turned and ran back into the caravan, interupting Amanda and Nate who were talking about something. She held up the rabbit proudly. "For supper." But by then, the men had followed her. One of them, by the sounds of it Jake, was saying, "Come back out little girl. Why do you think that?" Cat looks at Amanda and says, "Me sorry. But he's bad." and sets the rabbit down, going back outside to the others. Edit: Oops, a vote for Eyremon - Eric Smith

*Adds some ribbons to the birthday room* Happy B-day, you crazy former wolf!

Cat took the puzzle from Gunther. "Thank you sir." But she was generally a lonesome person, so she waited until he turned away before working on it. Cat greatly enjoyed the challenge of fitting all the bits together, and she'd never seen anything like it before so it was a new sort of challenge. But after a while, it finally clicked into place and the short-lived look of satisfaction on her face quickly became shock. She looked up to see Gunther watching her. In the language she'd learned from the Indians, the puzzle said "What tribe?" Gunther had already seen the surprise on her face, but she had been warned from every one of the elders not to give away where she came from. So she tried to look satisfied again, and hopped up to Gunther, handing the completed puzzle to him. "Hard puzzle," she said, "but worth picture." Then she left him as quickly as she could. She thought maybe she could try to catch a rabbit for the nice people she was going to stay with tonight.

O shining sphere of radiant orangeness! O smooth hard surface, so round and right! O crisp tangy aroma to erase all sorrows! O shining sphere of radiant perfection. The way you languish in the sun's rays, Letting the warmth outline your shadow on the table. The way you look at me so coolly, Although you move not there is a subtle shake of head. But you woo the others, Lying incautiously amidst the apples in their skins. With your ever imprudent stare, You seem to be stroking the grapes with your cheek. O why must you distain me, shining sphere? O why am I like nothing to your whims? O why can't you just acknowledge my tokens? O why must my love shatter against the hard edge of your perfect indifference?

Katzaniel looks at Foolish with his shoe to his mouth, then back down to her hand, extended in the action of handing the man a glass. Up at Foolish. Down at the glass in her hand. She shrugs and sets it aside, then uses the hand to shake Jameez's. "Good luck!"

Isaiah sits on the caravan with his legs crossed. "You're so dirty." he states. "You're so white!" says Cat, finally letting her amazement be voiced. She had been told what to expect, but seeing it was another thing. These people were so different. Three days with them and she was getting used to it, but not quite. When Swede had approached her, she'd claimed to have "lost her way" and obviously he didn't believe her, but none of them had known what else to do. It was clear to them that leaving her there would mean her death. So, they took her in, but eyed her askance. It didn't help when the woman's death had been announced that morning and Cat had said simply, "Shouldn't we celebrate that the Creator has ended her cycle and brought her in?"** Most of them thought she was spouting nonsense, and no one tried to explain it to her. Some just looked at her harder though. She'd have to be very careful what she said from now on. Isaiah laughed. "You're white too!" "Yeah. But... I don't know. You're just all so strange." Cat got up and went to the other side of the caravan, leaning on it. She liked to be alone anyway. But Isaiah followed. "You're the strangest girl I've ever met, Cat." He stuck his tongue out, and grinned when she did the same. They smiled at each other for a second before he went back to the other side. Strange boy, thought Cat, but nice. ** I'm not really sure what the Natives believe about death, I'm just piecing together the bits I do know and guessing, so don't take this for correct.

OOC: Placeholder post. You guys need to meet me this morning since you haven't yet (sorry) or I won't be a possible suspect. Must do a little later though.

I don't really want to post right now, so I'm gonna dole out some props. Canid and DQ - Someone's Finger OR Someone's Stepmother Tam and Tanny - An Entrenchment OR Soap Bubbles NTrav and Finnius - A Plastic Hula-Hoop sized Hoop OR An Odd Smelling Rose Katz - Doll with no Head Vlad - An Unread Scroll And Canid said I should be welcome to do stuff like drop heart-attack-stricken dragons on her head. I'll think about that and do something to Canid later... Anyone else want crazy stuff happening? ... And I'll post later. Not tonight.

Looks like you're still in time Deg. And in case no one gathered as much from my IC post, I'm in. I just wanted to say (granted, somewhat belatedly since my mother needed the computer) that I had some sort of virus (with the oddest assortment of symptoms, including stiff neck, sore back, eyes and jaw, extended heachache, fever, and shortness of breath) but am improving and feel, well, next to fine at any rate. I should have no trouble keeping up once I catch up with everything else too, and I plan to do that tonight.