Acklow
I am always tired. Don't bother me.
Approved by Lightwolf.
19:00 March 4, 1922. Swiss Alps.
The snowy winter had continued to blast the mountainous region. Residents often claimed that you could hear the howls of a terrifying beast that lived high up in the Alps. Others said that a giant prehistoric creature flew among the peaks in search of human prey. Of course this was because the residents were isolated from much of the rest of the developed world up in the higher elevations. Little did they know that this “creature” or “thing” was none other than a small cargo plane that flew a delivery route between Berlin and Geneva.
Closer to the base of the mountains passenger trains made their usual route through the rough terrain to reach their destinations. These trains often carried the elite of society. Boisterous though they be, many of these elites carried a great grudge among each other because of the recent end of the Great War. Many of them were former members of the Austrian political circle. Others were Italians. The two parties were not particularly fond of one another.
Among these many people, was a lone Soviet ambassador who had a rather strange name considering his background, Acklow Cordois. A strange fellow himself, he had arrived to the station of the train via a vehicle developed by the inventor Nikola Tesla (a personal friend of Acklow). Acklow was sent by the leader of the Soviets, Vladimir Lenin. Though it looked as though Acklow was meant to follow through the proceedings at a meeting in Versailles (there was a discrepancy in the Treaty that was being looked over by nations that took part), his actual purpose was to spy on the people that were in charge of said proceedings. However, because of his Russian heritage, he set apart some time to celebrate on the train with many a pint of vodka.
It was this night that would turn the fates of those aboard this train around. A search with bloodlust. That night would bring not just a single death, but multitudes. And it all began with a few drops of cyanide.
Doctors of that day and age would secretly use cyanide on ill patients who were already in a poor state because they wanted to receive even more money. However, they would inject such minute amounts into their patients’ food, that it would be barely noticeable until the patient was already dead. This was not the case in this situation.
Acklow’s body was slumped over the counter. He did not move, nor was he capable of doing so. The numbness was quickly filling his entire body until he had lost the ability to function altogether. As people in the dining car began to notice the corpse of a dead man face down at the bar table, a quick spread of fear filled the cabin. One by one people began yelling at one another and pointing at each other. The words “He did it!” and “Murderer!” became used to such an extent that it was impossible to distinguish any regular conversation beyond them.
It was at this point that one man stood up. He was distinctly an Englishman, because he was holding a cup of tea in his hand and had a bit of an air around him that made people see that he really was English.
“Ahem! Now, my dear ladies and gentlemen, please calm down. I do believe that we must do this in an orderly fashion. As you can see our friend, the Russian ambassador, must be asleep. Can’t you tell that he drank a lot of vodka?”
Murmurs were heard across the cabin. Another man stood up. It was clear he was Italian. His jet-black hair accompanied the mustache on his face. He was a little obese - little being a word used lightly. As he spoke, his lips seemed to pucker up,
“I think not! I was a doctor in my younger years before I became a politician. This man, is indeed, dead!”
It quickly became the conclusion that he was poisoned through consumption, due to the lack of evidence of his body being mutilated or injected anywhere.
Finally a woman stood up. Unlike the previous two, her nationality was a little more obscure. However as soon as she spoke, her thick accent flew through the air in a whisp. She was Austrian; most likely the wife of one of the Austrian ambassadors aboard the train.
“If he is indeed poisoned, as you say, then the murderer must still be among us on this train! There is no reason that they would jump off in this blizzard with little chance of survival in this mountainous wilderness!”
Indeed, there was lack of evidence aboard the train of any exit by any living being. The conductor of the train quickly took control of the situation. He was Swiss, and naturally being neutral to any hostilities aboard the train, made certain that it was so thanks to his Swiss crewmen.
The question then arose: who was the murderer, and where was he?
Thus began, what would never be recorded in history, one of the most brutal murder mysteries to occur aboard a train.
RULES:
-THIS GAME IS NOC. THIS MEANS NO CONTACTING OTHER PLAYERS ABOUT THIS GAME OUTSIDE OF THIS THREAD UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.
-This game will have days and nights. The cycles lengths will be predetermined by myself, but I will try to make regular updates within a logical period of time.
-During the day, you will have the option to lynch someone. In order to do so, you will be required to include one piece of EVIDENCE you find during your investigations at night. By doing so you can cast your vote by posting the object of evidence, explaining how it relates to <USER>, and the phrase Lynch <USER>. During the day you will also be able to move between any train car freely.
-During the night, if your role comes equipped with any action, you may use it during this time only. You may also have private conversations with only one other user of your choice and that user must be in the same train car as you. In order to do so you will pm that user and will include me as a recipient in that pm. You may only do so a total of three times between each other. This is in order to maintain the feel of an NOC game. Otherwise I would just let you use IRC, but that would ruin the fluidity of this game. You are NOT ALLOWED TO FORWARD ROLE PMs TO ONE ANOTHER. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO QUOTE PARTS OF ROLE PMs TO ONE ANOTHER EITHER. PLEASE DON'T POST YOUR ROLE PM IN THE THREAD EITHER.
-During the night, you will have the opportunity of investigating any object of interest (EVIDENCE) that was included in the update. To do so you may contact me via IRC or PM and let me know what you wanted to investigate. You will receive results of your investigation at the beginning of the day. You may only do so once per night.
-The win condition will remain the same across the board for all roles unless otherwise stated:
“Eliminate the murderer.”
-Upon death, you will receive one last chance at winning the game by guessing who the potential murderer is by telling me in private. If your guess is correct, you will win upon the end of the game, it will not be announced who you guess.
-Remember!! This is not necessarily 100% traditional mafia. Expect the unexpected and twists that you wouldn’t regularly imagine. This game is flavor-heavy. Be prepared to read and write lots. I would also recommend you trying to get into character and attempt a little bit of role-playing if possible to create a realistic atmosphere. Role-playing is not a requirement but it will make the game more interesting and fun if you can do so!!
-I maintain the right to adjust any rules. However for the sake of this game they will remain stagnant until further notice.
For the sake of visual representation and understanding, here is the layout of the train cars:
[[]Caboose[]]-[[Dining Car]]-[[Passenger Car]]-[[]Engine>>
I will clarify a rule real quick:
One rule I wanted to clarify is the guessing rule. Guessing is pretty much the same as a lynch but since this is a mystery game, you get a chance at winning even if you died (there may be cases where you have no control over your death and there is a very high chance of this happening). That is why I have implemented a "last will" or "guess" so that you actually have a shot at winning. You must guess within the duration of a cycle after your death (so you die N1, you have until N2 to make your guess). I will let you know when I'm going to update so you'll have ample time to think up a theory to work with.
In case I confused you about the lynch part of the above paragraph, lynching someone does not guarantee a win. Fulfilling the win condition as stated in the rules does, however. Think outside the box with this game, since this is a murder mystery - mafia hybrid game.