Ok, I decided it was important to go back and read the names, and I discovered...well, a lot.
Alkend, on 15 April 2012 - 03:40 AM, said:
I read that as more that the Dreadfather has the potential to wreak havock on the thieves but is currently allied with them. Which isn't to say that the allience will be permanant through the game. Would make sense since there's another role out there, I'd guess they'd be semi-allied with the Houses of Agreement as well.
Also, if you take a look at the bazaar you'll see that the Riddle of Despair has been marked at how much it's been used, which is all the actions except the last.
Well, this is an interesting post. Why do you think the alliance with the Thieves (and by some extent, also the entire Beggars/Vultures/Nepeth "side") would be temporary? All it actually says about him in relation to alliances and Thieves is this: "It will chafe on him that his allies are the Thieves he usually hunts." This already sounds permanent - the contrast between "his allies
are the Thieves he
usually hunts." Now, if we're talking in the context of actions taken by players in this game (which we are, not only because the only other paragraph dealt with the death of a Roled player, but, well, be patient), this can't be just idle background but actual actions. "Usually" leads me to believe he been using his actions on the Thieves - capital T, the "house" in the Guild of Beggars - most of the time so far. Now, what actions could those be? Obviously they're negative - the scene says it will "chafe" him and later describes their alliance as "It is like a hunting cat teamed with hares: a recipe for disaster." This sounds like he could probably destroy any of the the Thieves easily and if the cat eats all the hares, well, let's just say the Guild of Beggars would probably be hurting. "Are" implies nothing but simple fact, not possible change or any equivocation of who his allies
are.
Oh yes, I forgot to explain who "he" is. The Dreadfather is actually "Mage Hassan the Dreadfather" of the House of Terror - which just so happens to be part of the Cult of Vultures faction.
It even slipped by me but he's referenced as a member of the Cult in this scene. So, we know their alliance isn't temporary - the OP clearly states that the Vultures, Nepeth, and Beggars were clearly allied together and all against the House of Agreements - two sides like we've been saying.
And then Alkend says this "Would make sense since there's another role out there, I'd guess they'd be semi-allied with the Houses of Agreement as well." Wait, what? "Another role?" Why would he assume there's just two mystery roles in the game? Also...the OP states:
"Mystery factions have their victory conditions in a seperate PM. Mystery factions can be on either side of the equation."
If you're playing this game at all or know about the previous one, it's obvious that probably every player is Roled from the master list (minus the ones who died last game, of course) and Roles are very, very different than Factions. Each Faction usually has a good number of roles - many around 15 Roles or so - so it's very clear that most of the players in this game will belong to one of the four main factions listed in the OP.
More evidence:
"Nevertheless, the tight discipline that is Hassan's one rescue line hasn't yet snapped."
The list of players actually says that Mage Hassan is the Dreadfather. And line also implies something else, like Hassan (who must be somehow in charge or highly involved with the Thieves) has an ability or item or condition that is holding his little group together. And maybe it's totally unrelated to the Thieves, I have no idea; it could be some other condition for the Cult of Vutures.
On a separate but related note, from the OP:
"In the days to come, he [Huassan ibn Qolat, of the House of Luxury, of the House of Agreements, the current Defterdar] and his supporters would seek to outwit the grand alliance opposing him through legal and illegal means, and they [Vultures/Beggars/Nepeth] would seek to do the same to him. He would have the vastness of his resources and connections and, very importantly, the initiative, they would have numbers and the opportunity they craved.:"
Ok...so we are getting numbers information here. The House of Agreements appears to be up against a "grand alliance", and his opponents (Vultures/Beggars/Nepeth) have the advantage of numbers (obvious) and opportunity (not sure what this could be, but it has to increase their "opportunity" to elect the next Defterdar, as they have already been trying to hold new elections, which prompted ibn Qolat's request to be Defterdar and solely in charge, with no Council, which is the act that catalyzed this game and the circumstances of its factions). The HoA, on the other hand, probably have boadloads of cash and/or goods (hence the title purchases) and "connections", which almost implies off thread communications.
That's a lot of info. And I do this to say, Alkend, how could you make so many obvious mistakes? Referring to and assuming the Dreadfather was "a mystery role" and was probably allied with the HoA as well, just like the "other role"? Either he's had contact with the Dreadfather and didn't realize he was a Cult member (or maybe he just never bothered to look up the name), or he's actually got knowledge of this supposed "other role", which is "probably also allied with the House of Alliances." There is just too much info here that has to come from somewhere else.
And even though he could be aligned with either faction and be able to make the post above, my real suspicion is that he assumed the Dreadfather was a "mystery role" like he was and misspoke when he implied there were only two of their kind. If he's somehow allied with both "sides", that would make a lot of sense too, or if he was able to switch his allegiance. In the last game we had single-Role Faction members whose VCs were very much out of their hands; for instance, they aligned with the Faction of the first player that died. Not much of a choice. Also, he would probably be more likely to slip up and talk about "mystery roles" if he was the one person from a mystery faction. Seems like he is or could be aligned with either faction if he chose to, though, unlike the previous game. You wouldn't assume something like that had changed...unless you had good reason.
So Alkend, you did disappear, you have low-posted, and I accuse you of making massive slipups that reveal you know more than a lot of people and should be considered extremely dangerous as a "mystery" element.
I can't remember what the rules are for the weekend, but
Vote Alkend
If that needs to be redone on Monday to be valid, then this was just for emphasis.
edit - added the word "goods"
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