Prologue
Mille redemptoris lapsi vertigine Solis annis centenis septem, Alberto Sambonifacio regente, sub Siginfredo episcopo, Jesu sanctissimi nominis die, Mercurii die.
After the sunset the earth started shaking so vigorously that the water of river Po created an archway in the air and then it loudly slipped back into its riverbed. The damage that this tremendous tragedy dealt to our county is immeasurable. The amount of dead people and animals is ever-growing. The number of buildings destroyed is appaling. All the embankments that protected us from the floods of river Adige are no more. Most of our churches and monuments are severely damaged or even completely destroyed. Many trees have been uprooted and even more furrows have appaered on the ground. The Arena is now a bird with a broken wing, major scar on the center of Verona's face. The clergy, directed by bishop Siginfredo, claims that all the sins committed during the feast of Asinaria have brought all this destruction upon us. Yet our Count has already found an even better scapegoat, or so it seems. Fact remains that Verona is now nothing, but a graveyard in ruins.
Mille redemptoris lapsi vertigine Solis annis centenis septem, Alberto Sambonifacio regente, sub Siginfredo episcopo, Sanctae Faraildae die, Iovis die.
Lord Romeo Montecchi, head of his house, was found guilty of the murder of his wife, the wretched Lady Giulietta Capuleti. She was found dead in their stables last night with her husband right beside her. Nevertheless every person provided with a functioning mind cannot help but consider this a mere political maneuver to stabilize the now more than ever questioned power of Count Alberto. It's widely known that the family of Lord Montecchi is a fierce supporter of the Emperor, while house Sambonifacio has always been a strong ally of the Pope. Alberto himself was the main vassal of Matilda di Canossa, not to forget that Pope Onorio II himself granted him the title of Marquis of Verona. Nevertheless the proofs and witnesses were too many and the hatred and anger in the hearts of our fellow citizen were too big and ready to explode. Many people heard Lady Giulietta Capuleti begging for her life and Lord Romeo Montecchi's screaming against her. Moreover a foreign merchant, that was trying to save his merchandises (and also his life) by fleeing the city, claimed to have seen Lord Montecchi suffocating the poor and crippled lady. She was in fact half imprisoned under the fallen roof of the stables and her right arm and both of her legs were utterly broken. He did not defend himself and therefore he will be burnt at the stake in two days' time, the day of Jesus' Epiphany. All the inhabitants of our ruined city will behold the execution of Verona's scapegoat.
Mille redemptoris lapsi vertigine Solis annis centenis septem, Alberto Sambonifacio regente, sub Siginfredo episcopo, Sanctae Amatae die, Veneris die.
In the afternoon lord Romeo Montecchi asked to be brought before our noble Count Alberto Sambonifacio. The latter firstly denied this request, but the guard insisted claiming that the prisoner was really firm in asking it. Over and above that the Count's courtiers highlighted the possible political benefits of this meeting. After spending an adequate time to take a more accurate consideration of this case, he accepted. Noone could have expected the matter of their discussion and the outcome that Alberto's choice brought upon us.
"So, the uxoricide Romeo Montecchi has come to admit his hateful sin and crime then."
"No, even better. I am here to make an offer. If I manage to rebuild the entire Arena this night, you will have all your false accusations against me dropped, you will let me free and publicly ask for my forgiveness."
"Ah, one day in prison and you have already become a lunatic. Well, let's hear what will happen if you fail?"
"I will admit before the whole city that I invoked Satan himself to cause the earthquake and that I then murdered my wife with this very bare hands. I will swear that I am the one responsible for this tragic event that was intended to please my egoistic desire to get rid of my wife and get away with it."
"You are all witnesses of this agreement my courtries. Yet, you will need more than Satan himself and all of his demons to achieve such a deed."
"Guard, you will escort lord Montecchi in the center of the Arena at nightfall. Bring with you as many soldiers as you wish and do not dare to leave him alone for a single moment. If he escapes your families will suffer the punishment that was meant for him."
"Yes my lord."
First day
"Guards, what happened? Where is Romeo Montecchi? "
"We don't know your highness. He is probably still inside with....."
"Th, th, the Arena..."
"Yes, when we woke up it was already in these conditions."
"Part of the external wing is still..."
"You, run, go, bring the Bishop here, no human being can be the author of such an undertaking. Tell him to bring all the crosses, the relics and all the holy water and oil he can, right now, or I will have your head on a spear in no time."
"Yes, your majesty."
"Soldiers, do not let anyone and anything enter the Arena and if something or someone tries to leave it, kill it on the spot."
"Aye."
"The Bishop will be here soon, he has already gathered most of the priests..."
"Very well, once he arrives you will create an holy perimeter with every sacred things he has managed to bring."
"As you order."
"What's the matter of this... What, what happened to the Arena? It must be a miracle. It was..."
"Coleus Sanctus"
"Watch your mouth, brother Lorenzo. It is the day of the Epiphany of our Lord after all."
"Forgive me, your highness."
"I want you and your priests to consacrate me and my personal bodyguards with all you got. Moreover I need you to bring with us your most pious and devoted priests and all the relics you have, only God knows what is behind these walls."
"What's the meaning behind all this rush and requestes and what about all the masses we need to celebrate today?"
"Consider all of them cancelled. You will have your explanation once we get inside or you want half of Verona to start panicking."
"Why should they...I see, this mustn't be one sign of God's benevolence. Look at the birds, only crows are perched on the Arena, while the other do not even fly over it. Oh,...very well, I will... I will wait, but don't be surprised if your friend Onorio will heard of this event."
Mille redemptoris lapsi vertigine Solis annis centenis septem, Alberto Sambonifacio regente, sub Siginfredo episcopo, Epiphaniae Domini Die, Sabbath, Aurora.
Yesterday, at sunset the whole Verona fell in a deep nightmare. When the city wake up, Piazza Bra had already become an altar, filled with most of Verona's sacred objects. The altar of a Crusade. There had never been so many soldiers in the city center, not even during the burial of the son of Enrico IV. A huge crowd of confused, quite frightened and sleepy people started gathering there. They all kept staring the repaired Arena. A considerable section of the external wing was still missing, yet most of it was standing right in front of them. The mass as a whole couldn't make up its mind, too shocked by the event and the unexpected surprise after a night full of terror. All the bystanders couldn't help but stay with their mouths open with half a smile on their faces, while their eyes were trembling in a strange fear, memory of the night passed. Inability of discerning reality from their last dream after a sudden awakening. Then a continuous and unstoppable hum started. The elders were debating the possible cause of this miracle. The children started playing and shouting. Normality was finally back; noone knew that the real nightmare had just beginned. Count Alberto assured everyone that God forgave them. He claimed that to show us that our Holy Lord decided to miraculously repair the Arena. Yet he added that noone was allowed to enter it before he and the Bishop could examine the interior and then have this event celebrated with the long and usual holy rites. Once he finished his speech he entered the building with Bishop Siginfredo, two priests and his personal guards. They were all filled with crosses, amulets, relics, teeth and finger of saints, as if these objects could protect them beyond that entrance. Lasciate ogni speranza o voi che entrate.
"Over there, in the center of the place. I can see Lord Montecchi. It seems that there are some bodies too."
"Who are all these people? Are they alive?"
"Yes, they are only unconscious, but..."
"YOU FILTHY TRAITOR, WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?!"
"Soldiers, stop your count. A dead witness won't talk and I deserve my explanation."
"S, sir, t, th, the g...huhhuaa"
"What happened to this wretched guards?!?"
"They, they..."
"Are dead for sure."
"Their throats,...their arms....all this blood..."
"Yes, but who or what can have done this to them and..."
"Their smiles,...their eyes,... I, I want to get out of here."
"Silence, noone will leave this place alive without my permission."
"You, you can see their faces too. You can see these demonic symbols drawn with their blood on the sand and in their flesh."
"Utter another word and you will escort Lord Montecchi in his journey to hell!"
"My Count, no human or animal can have done something like this to these poor souls."
"Their eyes are completely black, what souls can these miserables had once they died."
"Their burnt skin is covered in demonic symbols. Their innards are all over the place."
"NOT ANOTHER WORD!"
"Now. Montecchi, you have ten minutes to explain us what happened."
"We are all doomed."
"The desperated emptyness in his eyes."
"What on Earth has he seen to be in such a condition."
"SHUT UP!"
"They are here now."
"Who are you talking about?"
"The archifoe and his lieutenant. The Lightbringer and He who is many. Satan and Legion."
"Demons, here!!"
"Yes."
"ENOUGH WITH THIS MADNESS! MY PATIENCE IS SHORT. TELL US THE FULL STORY FROM THE START. IT'S AN ORDER!"
"Dead humans can't give orders, can they? Yet I don't want to leave this world without saying to someone what happened here.... While I was waiting in my cell, I kept invoking him. I was full of anger and controlled by an unimaginable desperation. I didn't want to die as a common bandit, a sinner,...an uxoricide. I wanted to obtain my revenge and I was ready to pay for it with my soul. He took control of the body of the guard that was keeping me under surveillance and proposed me this deal. My soul in exchange for my revenge. I accepted. He explained me his plan and I acted according to it. Yesterday, at sunset, after our meeting he brought all his demons in this city. While the weak ones kept all of the inhabitants of Verona asleep in their nightmares, Satan ad his strongest servants started rebuilding the Arena. In order to do so, they possessed the bodies of those who were nearer to this building. Their demonic power granted them such a strength that they would have ended their work far before the dawn. I felt on my knees, I was terrified by the future and present outcome of my decision, by the cold eyes of those wretched, compelled to sing blasphemous songs. Poor humans who lost their souls because I had eventually become the person who was punished of the crime I didn't commit before. A murderer. I started praying and my prayers found merciful ears. The Dawn started two hours earlier. All the demons started falling back into the abyss, but,... but, Satan and Legion did not accept their defeat. They laughed at me. They started drawing all those signs on the sand and on their skin, burnt by the purifying rays of the Sun. All that blood and they were smiling.
Their smiles, the cold emptyness inside their black eyes while they committed such a joyful suicide. And now they are still beside us hidden in two of these humans. Yes, they are still here, trapped here, but not for long, once night come we will be all doomed."
"There is no way this is the truth, you, you are lying."
"You have seen the guards, haven't you?"
"He must have killed them and now he is trying to trick us."
"Yeah, and in the meantime he rebuilt more than half of the entire Arena, he kidnapped these people and had the whole Verona fall asleep at sunset."
"Yet, if that's the truth then..."
"Kyrie eleison."
"STOP HIM!"
"It's too late. He cut his throat open."
"Well, he simply prevented me from doing it myself. You will burn his body later, now wake them up."
"Are you sure my Count? Shouldn't we kill all of them while they sleep and then burn their bodies?"
"It's too risky. The Demons could escape from their mortals bonds and who knows what would occur then."
"We can not let this happen and I can not afford to have all of them killed. I will be ruined if words of it reaches my enemies. Put these crosses and relics on them and wake them up. Once they are all awake inform them of their situation. I will have all the remaining means necessary to try to at least deal with this menace ready in less than an hour. Noone leaves, but me."
Mille redemptoris lapsi vertigine Solis annis centenis septem, Alberto Sambonifacio regente, sub Siginfredo episcopo, Epiphaniae Domini Die, Sabbath, post meridiem.
Lord Sambonifacio had a carriage filled with wood be brought inside the Arena. Two stakes were prepared. One for the bodies of Sir Romeo Montecchio and the two dead guards, one for the sunset. The cold morning ended, the mass that had gathered vanished as it was formed. Suddenly. The normal life of the broken city continued as usual. Tired and devastated men and women were busy repairing their ruined houses, gathering and burying those who died, finding something to eat. There were no tears that day though. Not even the grey clouds above these wretched or the grinding smell that had haunted Verona for days could overwhelm the crumb of hope that a rebuilt Arena granted them. Inside it, those who happened to have been possessed were brought before the Count, the Bishop and the two priests. They interrogated them twice by noon, yet to no avail. The only things that they managed to verify with a certain degree of certainty were their names and jobs. The first to be interrogated was Galfrido, a wandering mercenary, a master in the use of the crossbow. Then there was Aiulf, a huge man that was once a renowned swordsman, that decide to leave his dangerous, but remunerative job to spend the rest of his life in his small pig farm not far from the city with his son, his wife and his friend Lupo. He was followed by his dear and old friend, the noble Mercuzio who was dominated by an enormous love for hunting wolves. Just behind them there was Villanus, a farmer in name and in deed and the best cook in his village. Falier dal Pettine was the fourth. He was a currier, a really hard and renowned worker. The famous itinerant fighter with the hairiest chest in the entire Holy Roman Empire, Francesco was questioned after him, followed by the mysterious Muccio and the popular painter Alberto. Last, but not least there was Castiglione, an archer so skilled that the stories about him overshadow the legend of Robin Hood.
"We have not managed to find in which bodies the Demons are hidden, but this doesn't mean that we will kill you all. Every sunset you will decide who shall be burnt on the stake. Your only contact with the outer world will be a carriage that every morning will provide you with food and wood for the stakes. You will leave this place when we are sure that all the demons have been killed."
"What will happen if we try to exit this building?"
"You will die. All your souls have been corrupted by the demons that were and still are, in two cases, in you. Once you reach the holy perimeter the bond between your body and your soul will vanish. The latter will inevitably fall into Hell."
"Why can't you just remove the evil presence inside our souls then?"
"I fear that there is no exorcism strong enough to send Satan back into Inferno. It will free him...and this will allow him to possess whoever he wishes. We can't let this happen."
"There is still one thing I can't understand, why haven't you burnt us alive already? If what you are saying is true you had better kill all of us and be done with it."
"We are not completely sure that burning you on the stake, the holy perimeter and all the precautions we took will work. We need..."
"Some scapegoats."
"Yes. One person whose skin burns in contact with holy water is the perfect scapegoat."
"You have till sunset to decide who shall be burnt alive."
"What, what will happen if...we reach a draw?"
"These dice will decide and know that Demons will probably be able to easily control the result of them."
"May God guide your actions and may he grant this once wonderful, blissful and prosperous city some relief."
"Et in Arcadia ego."
Game Rules:
The Golden, Paramount and First Rule:
Please remember that this is a game and your main objective is to have fun! Be considerate of each other, don’t get personal, and enjoy the game.
General Gameplay and Etiquette:
-Read all the rules before starting to play.
-Feel free not to obey Xardob's requests, but read and respect these rules, your host/moderator and your fellow players. I highlighted this aspect twice to be Chrystal Clear.
-You may not quote private Moderator-supplied information (either real or fabricated) of any kind.
- Roles must remain personal as long as the role itself doesn't say otherwise: the Demons know each other's roles for example. Read the Roles section for further information.
-There is no editing or removing of your posts. Please use the preview feature before you post.
-There is to be NO personal communication outside of the forum postings except for night talks.
-If you have a role with a Night action your choices are due to me by the posted deadline. If I do not receive your choice via PM by the posted deadline you will forfeit your actions.
-Any player with a Night action may instead submit a “No Action” PM to let the Mod know that you do not want to perform your expected action that Night phase.
-In order for all players to play at least one game day this game will start with a Day phase.
-As a general rule you should aim for one post every 24 hours, to keep the game moving.
-Immotivated boobs and noobs lynching is prohibited.
Voting, Deadlines, and Player Death:
- Once a player reaches a clear majority (more than 50% of the players) he is lynched, there is no No Lynch. If a draw is reached my dice will decide, but an external force may interfere(I am not talking about bribing the host, but I won't stop you from doing it). You have been warned.
-Votes should be bolded and in the lime green color or they may not be counted (e.g. Vote: Player).
-Vote revocations should be bolded and in the lime green color or they may not be counted (e.g. Unvote: Player or Unvote). Unvotes are not necessary before changing votes.
-Votes/Unvotes that are bolded and lime greened correctly and are unambiguous (with respect to player nicknames/abbreviations) will count.
-Once you are killed (either via lynch or night kill) you may no longer post except for a brief “Bah!”-type post and not game-relevant posts in small amounts. The best "Bah!"-type post will be chosen by the host at the end of the game. So show us all your creativity!
Miscellaneous/Mechanics:
- The first post after this doesn't have to start with a vote.
-Votecounts will be posted once per page or once per day, whichever is less.
-If you have an issue/problem with the game, please PM the Mod privately. Do not post issues/complaints in the game thread.
-The Mod may make mistakes - please point out any mistakes gently. Mistakes will be corrected where possible, but sometimes mistakes are made that cannot be reversed. These will stand as final to be commiserated over after the game.
-Please bold all requests to the Mod so that they don’t get missed.
-Prods of missing players will be issued upon request or on the 3rd day of no activity. A player who has been prodded 3 times is subject to possible replacement without further notice.
- Memes are art and every form of art that respect Taleworlds's policies and regulations is well accepted here. Memes connected to the ongoing game are more than welcome.
-Rules violations will be dealt with according to their severity, up to and including a Modkill. Modkills may be accompanied by a change to day/night.
-Any situation not explicitly covered above is subject to Mod discretion and will be handled as the Mod sees fit on a case-by-case basis.
- The host is free to intervene and take part in off-topic chat that will probably (who am I kidding, they will happen for sure) take place, but won't utter a single word concerning the game, roles, dead an alive players' strategies and lies, night talks,... He will only answer questions concerning the game if they are not game breaking.
-If you anticipate being unavailable for more than a 24-hour period please post a notice to that effect in the thread or let me know through a pm. Treat this game as a commitment. Be considerate – don’t leave us hanging.
- The first one to read all the rules and write "IloveWerewolf" will receive the honorary title of Rule-Breaker, which will grant him or her the power of breaking one non-game-breaking rule for the entire day 1. Before using such an ability the Rule-Breaker needs to pm the host to check if the rule he wants to break is breakable.
Roles:
In this Werewolf game some players will have a special role that only her or him and the host know. You cannot reveal your role to anyone: you can claim to be someone, but you cannot tell anyone the abilities connected to your role in any way. There are two factions: the Demons and the Innocents in this case. Yet there is also a karma system: the Renegade has bad karma, while being an innocent, while the Traitor has good karma, but he wins if the Demons win. Once you die everyone will know your karma, I will add some special hints connected to your role, but nothing too obvious (in general, there will be some clear exceptions). If you have some questions regarding your role pm. All roles and their features will be revealed by the host at the end of the game. Nevertheless here are some notes concerning them that you all can already read:
- There are two Demons and their abilities rely on the souls of dead (lynched or killed at night) Innocents (and the Traitor's one) to work. A dead Demon loses the souls he hasn't used. Souls cannot be traded.
- The Demons know each other;
- There is one Renegade and one Traitor;
- At the beginning of the game the Traitor doesn't know the Demons and viceversa;
- There is only one major special, someone with purely positive feautures/night actions;
- There are two minor specials with positive features balanced by negative features.
- The two remaining players are simple citizens with no night actions or features and they don't know each other's and the others' role.
Last, but not least remember that God doesn't play dice, but I do (No, I am not talking about gambling).
Players:
-SootShade aka Galfrido.
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-Xardob aka Mercuzio.
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-
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-Moose! aka Muccio.
-Dark_Hamlet aka Alberto.
-Arch3r aka Castiglione.
Feedbacks concerning the narration are welcome.
Some songs to create the atmosphere. Feel free to contribute.
https://youtu.be/n7BLGt0wU48
https://youtu.be/bgkD-GPjIRI
https://youtu.be/2ZOIahJvP2Q
Perfect song for the night: https://youtu.be/ttl_C6fd9mw
*coughcough* not really historically accurate, even though I know it wasn't supposed to *coughcough*
