unreality

yep haha C H A _ S M A F I A - 0 S A L V O - 0 C H O K E - 2 B R O K E - 0 C H O S E - 2 C H I L E - 2 C H O R E - 2 C H E C K - 2 C H A T S - 4 C H A P S - 4 C H A O S - 5

C H _ _ _ M A F I A - 0 S A L V O - 0 C H O K E - 2 B R O K E - 0 C H O S E - 2 C H I L E - 2 C H O R E - 2 C H E C K - 2 C H A T S - 4 C H A P S - 4 C H A O S - 5

C H _ _ _ M A F I A - 0 S A L V O - 0 C H O K E - 2 B R O K E - 0 C H O S E - 2 C H I L E - 2 C H O R E - 2 C H E C K - 2 C H A T S - 4 C H A P S - 4

C H _ _ _ M A F I A - 0 S A L V O - 0 C H O K E - 2 B R O K E - 0 C H O S E - 2 C H I L E - 2 C H O R E - 2 C H E C K - 2 C H A T S - 4

C H _ _ _ M A F I A - 0 S A L V O - 0 C H O K E - 2 B R O K E - 0 C H O S E - 2 C H I L E - 2 C H O R E - 2 C H E C K - 2 hehe

and to clarify, words you guess from now on don't have to start with CH or anything

firstly, dawh got it before plainglazed so the first 10 points go to dawh and the first two letters are indeed CH C H _ _ _ M A F I A - 0 S A L V O - 0 C H O K E - 2 B R O K E - 0 C H O S E - 2 C H I L E - 2 C H O R E - 2

_ _ _ _ _ M A F I A - 0 S A L V O - 0 C H O K E - 2 B R O K E - 0 nothing, i would just say "<guessed word> - 5" and they gotta jump on it and logic all 5 letters at once haha

_ _ _ _ _ M A F I A - 0 S A L V O - 0 C H O K E - 2

_ _ _ _ _ M A F I A - 0 S A L V O - 0

_ _ _ _ _ M A F I A - 0

Here's how it works, someone thinks of a 5 letter word and I guess begins symbolically by posting "_ _ _ _ _" then people begin guessing 5 letter words. When a word is guessed, the host puts a number next to the word signifying HOW MANY LETTERS WERE IN THE CORRECT POSITION. You cannot win by just guessing the right word though. You must "logick" the five letters via an explanation of why that letter has to be logically 100% sure that letter. When the letter is "scored" like this, the underscore is replaced with that letter and the person that got the letter gets 5 points. When the fifth and final letter is "scored", the player that gets that letter gets 10 points instead of the usual 5; and the host gets 1 point per guessed word and 5 points per incorrectly logicked attempt to score a letter. We'll keep running totals of points or something but that's how it works in a nutshell. if you have the hang of it, i'll start it off: _ _ _ _ _

alright this is what i've been planning for a sign-ups opening post; ~~~ MURDER MYSTERY II: The Shifting Sands of Shyzoth In ancient times the desert city of Shyzoth was a shining jewel, an oasis of prosperity amid the bronze and white crystalline sands of the vast desert. A thousand years before it was the seat of the greatest and largest empire of this planet, an empire spanning multiple continents. Now the empire has long since fallen into disarray, a multitude of competing city-states. Of these regions, however, Shyzoth is perhaps the oldest and most powerful. It is a city webbed by canals, aqueducts and irrigation systems where water == life in such a harsh location. Its buildings are ancient and sandy and majestic, topped with colorful minarets and the dominant religion, Hanshin, supplies many towers as Pinnacles reaching toward the exalted land in the sky. The city is also a city of intrigue. A shady organization known as Tal'vrak runs the underground. Black markets thrive using secret signs and smoke symbols, integrated into the bustling street markets. Amid the trading of ancient empire artifacts and array of useful items is the trading of illegal weapons, drugs (Shyzoth is the capital of the world for an addicting desert flower called psyflora) and even slaves. There are certain streets that even the stalwart City Enforcers hesitate to visit. Streets that you can go to hire dark-robed monk assassins and slimy cutthroats, but only if you accept the risk of dying in the process. The politics of Shyzoth are as complex and twisting as its high-walled streets and network of dusty canals. A figure known as the Mazoth rules the city as sort of a mayor, but the Mazoth does not have absolute control, far from it. The Mazoth must answer to his puppet masters, the Shyzoth Chancellors, a group of 5 ex-Mazoths that supposedly have lots of wisdom and charisma but really just have pockets full of gifts and bribes from various organizations, companies and individuals. Many potential Mazoths run for office on the idea of bringing justice and accountability to the halls of leadership, but they have to balance this initial desire with the possible future of becoming a Chancellor themselves after their 5 year term is up. It's a public election to be a Mazoth but when a Chancellor dies, the remaining Chancellors hold a private meeting to choose the replacement from ex-Mazoths, hence all the @ss-kissing that goes on. That's not all though. It is often said that Shyzoth has two different avenues of leadership. After the empire fell due to its connection to a violent religion called Zamoa (which is now outlawed everywhere and hated and feared), all city-states are ideally supposed to be secular. However the religion Hanshin, which has been around for a very long time as the religion of the desert nomads, has taken root in Shyzoth in the past few hundred years and come to dominate the spiritual scene. The church is led by women only and the position of Theocrata goes to the most esteemed of these women. It is a position of dictatorship and extreme fundamentalism. Hanshin is a religion that attempts to integrate itself with every possible aspect of daily life and make its presence known. Now that we have some background, let's introduce the scenario. A small number of people have gathered in a public square to hear the speech of a man known as Cabuul. Cabuul entered the city a couple weeks ago with a small troupe of followers, admirers and "disciples" that he collects in his wanderings. Many different types of people come to these kind of speeches. Many have crazy theories about codes within what he speaks. He has called himself a Martyr for Truth even though he was still alive. He's an enigma and a troublemaker. Medical personalities have diagnosed him with mild schizophrenia and extreme narcissism. Social personalities have described his voice as fluid and delicious and captivating. Now he's dead. More details to come later, but basically the City Enforcers have quarantined off the square and everyone that was listening to Cabuul's speech for one reason or another must remain inside until the killer has been brought to justice. However city law states that a quarantine can only be under effect for a certain time limit. If the killer has not been arrested by < *** >, the quarantine lifts and everyone can go home - including the killer, and this will become a cold case. (There are no intermediate "hours" or anything like that, it's a straight shot). Now the City Enforcers have supplied two of their best people to be the official handlers of the case, and unlike the two the detectives from the previous MM, the City Enforcers have actual authority here. They can make arrests and prevent BTSC with the arrested person while they question them under influence of truth serums. However after the third (or maybe fourth?) false arrest they will be taken off the case and then the killer can only be caught my a majority vote citizen's arrest. Ordinary citizens cannot make arrests or accusations on their own, they must present their case to the City Enforcers who have agreed to hear out any cases reasonably before deciding to arrest. If the arrest was correct, the credit will go to the citizen that suggested it (or to the City Enforcers if they did it of their own volition). There are also other things that need figuring out. There will be a list of questions that citizens want to find the answers to in addition to snooping out the killer. There are more crimes than just murder. If the citizens deliver correct answers to the City Enforcers they will be rewarded; punished for wrong answers. Also the killer may or may not have a secret agenda in progress during the events. All of the characters will have more personality and more secret information than last time and the events around the murder will be more fleshed out… it's a good idea to not give away all your info at once though, not if you want to survive and possibly win. There will be multiple layers of intrigue. There will also be "items", tangible objects (possibly evidence-related) that can change hands and be used to provide various information, abilities, etc. Don't let yourself be covered by the shifting sands of Shyzoth… SIGNUP Host: Unreality 1) … Also if anyone wants to dual-host with me or something just let me know. I haven't made any of the characters or backstories or murder scenario or items or whatever yet so if you want to help me with all that PM me.

should I post my ruminations/plans for the second mystery game or wait a while?

maybe we should throw in the rollo twist, ask words one at a time and thus try to get it in as few words as possible (ie points are bad)

yep Go for it

clock x choir __ silty oo salty ooo green __ piles xoo kills oo dying __ death x green __ glass xxx doors o sorry o defer __ about o forge __ gorge __ lures oo tunes o third __ herds o wards oo roads xo toads xo loads xoo holds oo

ok i gots me a masterword word 5 letters

528 next time the motive/evidence behind the killer won't be as abstract though and there'll be more evidential stuff too Hehe. But I'm glad you had fun playing the bad guy

whoo that took quite a bit of logicking but I think i understand the game now haha. It reminds me of something my 10th grade math teacher possibly invented called Rollo. It's basically the same thing except the words are always 5 letters and it's only Xs not Os (thus making it pure logic with less guesswork maybe, only needing the lingustic intuition for finding words to fit the pattern you want to test), but instead of the x/o terminology after a word is guessed, a number is placed after it signifying the number of "correct" letters (letters in the right spot). When a letter is logically known for sure it's written above the underscore, only for the class's benefit though in further guessing. The class works together (competing against other classes) to guess the word in the fewest number of testwords. For example, if the word is ABYSS: _ _ _ _ _ SPARK - 0 STARS - 1 now we changed two things (hmm.. is it a better strategy to change one thing each time or to change 2+ things at a time and only zero in if the number goes above 0? remember you want to minimize guesses). So we have to find out which one it is ----- SPARK 0 STARS 1 STARK 0 ok we know the last letter is S _ _ _ _ S SPARK 0 etc etc etc It's a fun game. Very similar. Anyway i'm thinking of starting a Rollo topic but if anybody has a Masterword word go for it

thanks for playing everyone; activity kind of died there in the end. I've taken my own observations as well as people's reactions, criticisms and suggestions (feel free to give me any of the above, I'm going to clear my entire inbox in a minute haha. Or better yet post your reaction here) to start designing the basic framework for a second game. I don't know if anybody would be interested in a second game either so if you would be let me/us know also haha. Again, thanks for playing, I thought the hardest part would be to encourage everyone to play in character but that seemed to be everyone's favorite part lol

BING BONG DING DONG. So shouts the clock. It's midnight. Yes, it's finally here. Those five hours since the death threat have seemed like days - tension filled days. Almost everyone has been guessed except the slimy villainess herself... Izzy.. or rather himself - Maw Mivvelton, famed artiste grande. From the beginning Maw has inserted himself into the crowds, assimilating himself with various groups to form tight alliances and poisoning the water from within, so to speak, leading his so-called allies down false trails and running them through hoops. Quite the villainous activity for such an artistically minded person! So how did this mischief begin in the swirling creative mind of Mr. Mivvelton? To understand we have to go back to the beginning. and the rest of the "secret" knowledge: (I feel like most people discovered most of this but here it is). Not including later clarifications of backstory done via PMs Over the course of the night, Maw left various notes for hex4dash9 with artistically forged handwriting, instructing various things (culminating in her panicked decision to kill off Reno Starkey using hex4dash9 who looked desperately for a loophole but found none). However minutes before midnight, when Maw left a final note for hex4dash9 - basically a gag for hex4dash9 and a will to transmit to Rombridge's lawyers - the robot was able to find a logical supremacy and show the will to the detectives. But it seems it just wasn't enough, Maw's misdirections were able to keep him hidden throughout the event. Until, of course, the literal Strike of Midnight. Rombridge out of the way, and everyone else helpless in the ballroom (as a result of the death threat), the swarm of artistically designed ergonomic hydrodynamic aerodynamic (even though there's no water nor air in space, you never know about emergency landings) assault units surround the Leviathan. Fortunately for the guests, Maw's early attempts to escape the ship were in vain (even when he bluntly asked and expressed interest in leaving) so he's stuck in with you. The Leviathan will live to see another day. But Rombridge's vein of unmanned space security bots are done for - the news has witnessed this total triumph. Maw's stock is already skyrocketing. He's a rich artist now. Never truly appreciated except by the master that never understood him, now Maw can truly make the fortune he's always wanted. The problem is that Mivvelton panicked and committed a murder via a "contracted killer" (hex4dash9) so he'll have to enjoy his newfound wealth from the lamb. But that's not the end of the murder tonight. After the will was successfully transmitted, Rombridge's entire fortune is due to go to Maw. So, actually satisfying the prophecy on the death threat (which wasn't per se originally intended to occur, the death threat was to force the situation into isolation), video is displayed in the panic room (remember how many times I said that only Rombridge has PHYSICAL access to the panic room. Nobody asked about other kinds of access) of Serv with Mrs Rombridge. Needless to say, Rombridge was out of there in no time. No time being exactly how much time it took for Maw to stab Rombridge right into the gut with his sharpened paintbrush. Professor Doctor Sir Martin K. Rombridge, Esquire, Honorary Vice President of Mgubalkwala, looked at his beautiful ship for the last time before collapsing. "What did I do wrong?" he gasps. "Oh it's nothing you did," Maw replies. "It's all me. I'm a bit unusual you might say. And I saw my way to prosperity through you. Call it a vice of the extremely wealthy." However Rombridge seems to sense that even hex4dash9 was transferred to hex4dash9 in the false will so the last thing he says is: "Hex4dash9, you are not to let yourself be transferred to anybody after I die. You will be a free robot! And detectives, what are you waiting for? Get Maw!" But before they can do anything, Maw has shimmied down the trash chute and been picked up by one of his attack bots specifically designed for temporary human storage. Goodbye, Leviathan, he thinks. "Oh sh*t!" and "Whoaaa mannn" say the detectives, realizing simultaneously that the ship is no longer safe from total annihilation. "Everybody off!" "There's a matter of business that must be conducted first-" Mr. McCudgeon says, coughing lightly and stepping into the center of the ballroom while the ship shakes and rumbles as its being shot apart by the assault. "Oy cmon," Jicochi rolls his eyes. "Nobody except Fleur cares-" "It's the matter of my wife's arrest. You see, she was acting on-" "Okay okay whatever she's good to go," snarls the Dude. "Let's get out of here!" "Does that mean I'm good to go?" Fleur pipes up, but the Lebowski just shakes his head. "You sir will be tried in court. Meanwhile we'll have to hunt down Maw. But I suspect he's already gotten far away." "But in the Very Near Future there's a More Pressing Matter to attend to!" retorts the other detective, and every begins to run for the dock. They pile aboard the detective's vehicle as the Leviathan's reactors begin to reach unstable temperatures. The ship is shaking like a 7.0 earthquake now and everyone is being jostled around like eggs in a washer machine. "Uh oh Starkey's dead, there's no dockhand! Someone - someone will need to open the doors." A silence. An awkward pause, more like. Then Fleur wrestles free from his handcuffs and bursts out of the doors. "A captain always goes down with his ship! Get that Mivvelton bastard!" Most people's memories at this point become that of a strobe light. Fleur hits a button. Ship breaking apart into a flaming mess. The vehicle jettisoning out in the nick of time. Explosion. Shock wave. Two vehicles descending to Earth at different points. A rich artist in the Bahamas enjoying a pina colada. A punk kid hitch-hiking his way back to the orbital residence units. Two detectives hunting in vain. A jungle chief and a businessman discussing the expanding mercantiling prospects of Shoshth while a woman gets drunk. A woman that used to be rich getting married to the man she truly loves, her ex-servant. A bounty hunter who lost his memory, now doing freelance photography. A robot making a living by designing complex space craft for populating new planets. And a dockhand's kids going to college. And bloody remains of the Leviathan crashing into Earth in tiny little pieces. Maw smiles wickedly. The End.

lantern

tempest reagent phobiac maniacs release powerup majesty darkish murkish hemlock myanmar acquire abysses mercury execute excrete exclude mexican redtide markers emblems statues ecstasy burnout trippin shrooms acrobat tankard freedom scarlet sorry if I went overboard If you're not using that excel program or some other program, you don't have to do all those haha, just do the first five haha

Yes I did delete several to open up new space (the PM limit is pesky) but for days now I've always had at least one open slot, thus you could have started a new conversation with me. I currently have an open slot (98% full). But nothing has been revealed yet, so just curious, who was your guess going to be? Maw, Al or Mlaku?