gunsmith.

[foxhounds]

GUNSMITH Instead of waking up in the jungle, you wake up elsewhere. This is the ruin that's been chosen, because someone has come to meet you. You've been given a special role, even if it's a bit late. After all, this is your chance to save yourself. You have a little while to think about who you'll pick tonight, but don't think too hard, since you only have until dawn. "So? Who do you want to give it to?" the woman asks, so clearly, she's not going to let you think on it that long. rulebook character statuses profiles All night votes will be due before the next day post.

Comments

night two

[foxhounds]

[ Rather than waking up in the ruins described above, about halfway through the night, he'll suddenly find that he's not alone. There's nothing to announce her presence other than her sudden voice. ]

Good morning, darling. I've got a job for you if you want a chance to get out of this alive.

[ The woman looks like Ivan— In fact, she could be her twin. But she's dressed differently, and she speaks differently and carries herself much more confidently than the one that Royce sees during the day. She seems like a different person. ]

[bywolves]

[ Royce has had a hell of a night already, and so when the woman approaches him, he very nearly attempts to slip Alverstone through her ribs. He doesn't, if only because her offer gets his attention, as much as he hates to admit it.

So, back against a tree, ignoring the dull, throbbing ache in his leg, Royce eyes the woman in front of him. Ivan is innocent. That echoes in his head as he looks her up and down. ]

... What do you want.

[foxhounds]

[ She smiles, seemingly glad that she has his attention, but her smile is confident, almost cruel. ]

Like I said, I have a job for you. This needs to go just a little bit quicker, since there's another batch heading in right behind you, you know. So—

[ She reaches in her jacket to pull out a pistol, the very same one in included in that box of executioner's tools, but it's held between her thumb and index finger, as if it were something dirty. She's dangling it, clearly not intending to use it. ]

I'm giving you a chance to give this to someone every night after this one. I want you to be my gunsmith.

[ She cants her head with a smile. ]

If you can give it to someone that will kill another person here other than our dear General, I'll let you leave. Alive.

[bywolves]

[ Another batch. Royce's expression twitches.

The gun puts him on edge, even if she's visibly not intending to use it. He doesn't want to touch it - doesn't trust it. Doesn't trust her, either. ]

You want to give me a gun, in order for me to give that gun to someone, in order for them to kill someone else. [ He sounds annoyed. ] Why not just give someone the gun?

[foxhounds]

I am.

[ She moves her hand so that the gun swings between her fingertips. ]

You're never getting this gun, Royce. You tell me who you pick, and I give it to them, but they'll never see me, and they'll never know it was you that picked them. Unless you want to tell them, of course. But I wouldn't recommend that, since the General doesn't really want competition.

[ She shrugs. ]

I'm not on the General's side, dear. I want them dead. Don't you?

[bywolves]

[ That... sounds a lot more interesting. A lot safer, too. ]

I don't care about the General being dead. I care about not being killed. [ Royce pauses, thinking. ] You're not on the General's side, but you want me to pick a person who will kill someone other than the General.

[foxhounds]

[ She nods ]

Narrowing the field. You're running into a problem of probability, right? These odds are in your favor. If someone happens to kill The General, then that's good enough, and you win. But if someone is frightened enough to kill someone else, you still win.

[ She shrugs ]

Like I said, I want the Hunt done more quickly. Two people a day isn't quick enough.

night three

[foxhounds]

[ She's waiting when Royce wakes up, and gives a scoff first. ]

What a shitshow.

[bywolves]

[ Royce is still agitated even after he wakes up, groggy at first and then immediately active. His voice is sharp and irritated and he's just... going to pace. ]

Never mind that. You said you were going to give the person the gun tonight, correct? They didn't have it last night.

[foxhounds]

[ She nods ]

That was Shijima, darling. She wasn't feeling creative with Reimu.

[bywolves]

Right. [ That's what he thought confirmed, at least. ] And I assume she got the gun from you. Did it work the same way as this? She gave you instructions on who to kill and you did it, or did she do it herself?

[ Asking a lot of questions he doesn't think are going to get answered, but he wants to know, the info-gathering hoarder he is. ]

[foxhounds]

So to speak. Zaroff gets access to as much as they want.

[ She shrugs ]

All the rest, why do you want to know? [ It's not a "no" at least. She's in charge of this game, so she can reveal what she wants. But she's also not really inclined to do so. ]

[bywolves]

Call me curious. [ His tone is almost sweet - the kind of sweet that comes from someone trying their damndest to be polite. ] She's dead and out of the running, what does it matter to you?

night four

[foxhounds]

[ When he wakes up, it seems like she's got something to say right away. ]

Like I said, you wouldn't be disappointed. Yasusada took care of one of The Generals last night. How lucky for you.

[bywolves]

[ It's just going to be a habit of Royce being agitated every time he wakes up from now on. Especially tonight. ] Lucky me.

Generals? There are more than one? [ His brain's working a million miles a minute - he has to figure out how to keep himself from being murdered tonight. ] Was it Orion? [ A beat. ] And I broke apart the swords, too. One less vote.

[foxhounds]

[ She nods ]

You got it, darling. There's quite a few of them, and that gun you gave Yasusada got one of them killed. But it's anticlimactic to learn that there's more than one General that way, isn't there? That's the exception that the puppet was talking about.

[bywolves]

The puppet. [ Royce watches her sharply. ] You're not Ivan, then.

How many more Generals are there?

[foxhounds]

[ She laughs ]

No. Of course not. But it's convenient to look like her if I need to make a special appearance.

[ The Judge is an asshole, basically. ]

Five. Your group really loves to trim down the innocents so far.

[bywolves]

Five remaining? Or five from the start? [ He's taking this information and storing it away. ]

Is that why we were able to vote for Ivan the one night and not the next? [ A beat. ] Can you tell me how many of each role there are? Five Generals - foxhounds, foxes, whatever else.

[ And he looks vaguely amused at this: ] Am I the only gunsmith?

night five

[foxhounds]

You're doing pretty well. Color me surprised.

[ She does seem genuinely pleased, at least. ]

No suggestions tonight. Pick who you want.

[bywolves]

[ Well, hey. She's pleased, that's weird. He'd thought she would've been mad that he went and told Matt everything after she said what she did, but.

Royce thinks about it. ]

No suggestions, huh? [ That's fine. He thinks he knows who he wants to have it anyway. ] The lawyer. Matt. [ Maybe he'll actually tell Matt he's not a Fox. Maybe. ]

And how many questions are you going to let me ask you tonight? [ He grins a little. ] The number of Generals was very helpful.

[foxhounds]

I had a feeling that's who you'd pick. Consider it done.

[ She shrugs ]

Maybe. I'm in a good mood, so what do you want to know tonight?

[bywolves]

Is Auger actually a Fox? [ ... Honestly, that's all he wants to know. No, wait. ] If I die, is my role going to be announced to the rest of them?

[foxhounds]

Yes, and no. The puppet doesn't know who you are, so she'd have an issue announcing it by that reason.

[bywolves]

[ A pause. Maybe he has more questions than he thought. ] And who are you, then? You're not Ivan.