OK, then, 9:00 AM it will be (which also works slightly easier for me).
And since I’m here,
storyteller0910 2 (Prof.Pepperwinkle 11, Mahaloth 27)
Prof.Pepperwinkle 1 (storyteller0910 16)
Thinking about this while lying awake due to jetlag, I believe there’s another way we can use the alphabet tiebreaker: both ProfP and Story are claiming to have names high up in the alphabet. If Mahaloth is the villain and both are innocent, we’re screwed whichever loses a tiebreak. But if one of them is a villain, they are lying about their name, and there’s a decent chance it’s further down the alphabet than Bianca or Cardinal Bourchier, and whichever is the villain will lose the tiebreak if votes are even. Therefore, I think we should ensure ProfP and Story have equal numbers of votes at the end of the day.
On that basis:
Vote Prof.Pepperwinkle
The problem with that is, should Mahaloth decide to vote me as well, I’m screwed (and so is Town). It’s the last election we have a choice. Next time, it’ll be one player v. one player, and whoever’s closest to A wins.
Oh, and congrats to Mahaloth for making it this far into the game!
That is a really interesting idea. The one flaw I can see is if one of us is lying about his name but not its place in the alphabetical order (I’m not, but you have no way of knowing that).
I may be thinking too hard about the game design elements of this tiebreaker, but it seems to me that it was included expressly to add some spice to endgame - in a typical game (at least, most of the ones I’ve played), the Scum analogue team wins without any fuss if they reach an equal number of Scum vs. Town. Not so here.
But if I were designing the game, I would still want to reward the Villains for reaching a tie - at that point, they’ve generally played well, right? So giving the Villains the absolute first name on the alphabetical list (We haven’t seen anyone that would be higher than Angelo, right?) makes sense. The second known Villain was Macbeth, right smack in the middle.
What I can’t decide is where I (as a hypothetical game designer) would place the third Villain name in the order. It’s probably not toward the end. Everyone has speculated on Iago, obviously, and that would make sense - near-ish enough the top to give the Villains a decided advantage but not so near the top as to make that advantage extreme.
Interestingly and kind of funnily, if there is only one Scum player left and it’s Iago, the winning play for Town would actually be to banish DemonTree toDay (based on her claim of a name low down in the order). that would mean that no matter who Iago kills toNight, he can’t win the tiebreaker toMorrow. Obviously too many untested assumptions in there to actually consider as an approach, but why not spitball as we wait for tomorrow.
Much more important than the random musings above, in the last day or so I went through all of the posts in the game so far three separate times, each time assuming a different remaining player was a single Villain (if there are two Villains left I think we’re screwed, honestly, so I think it’s really not worth considering as an option).
I want to point out two more things about Prof.P, which further cement my own suspicion:
- He has shown significant interest in character names, especially since the death of Thing Fish. It hadn’t occurred to me in exactly these terms until I was re-reading, but if we started with three Villains then the only realistic way the third was going to win the game was via tiebreaker, and their concern throughout would be gently guiding the Town toward ensuring that was a possibility.
- He has claimed Bianca, lover of Cassio, from Othello. Consider that a Villain would need to choose a false claim name somewhat carefully (especially once [s]he is the last one standing!). There is a very large list of Shakespearean characters from which to choose, but choosing the same name to false claim as was already possessed by someone in the Town would be an incredibly frustrating way to lose. While you can’t completely eliminate that risk, you could mitigate it - say, by choosing a character who is from the same play as your “real” role and one who has the same name as a much better known character from a different play. For example, if you were Iago, you might perhaps choose Bianca.
…and now I realize that both of those things actually apply to me, too, since I was the first person to bring up mass claiming and Cardinal Bourchier is from a play with another obvious choice for a Villain (Richard III).
I….think you make a great point here. A great one, one I definitely had not thought of. And also one that I don’t think scum would point out. It’s very pro-town.
Unvote Storyteller
Vote Prof. Pepperwinkle
Oh, do they? Great. I still think a scum would not say this strategy out loud, so I’m going to maintain my vote on Prof. for now, anyway.
Scum will point out anything if it’ll win 'em the game.
Wine in front of me, indeed.
I’m not completely settled.
storyteller0910 1 (Prof.Pepperwinkle 11, Mahaloth 27-46)
Prof.Pepperwinkle 3 (storyteller0910 16, DemonTree 42, Mahaloth 46)
In case it helpeth my case:
You are Bianca, a minor character.
BIANCA
And I was going to your lodging, Cassio.
What, keep a week away? Seven days and nights,
Eightscore eight hours, and lovers’ absent hours
More tedious than the dial eightscore times?
O weary reck’ning!
- Othello, Act 3, scene 4, lines 195-199
Yes. I actually considered suggesting this, but it would give up our chance of eliminating the villain today, and I think the possibility of the villain having a name high enough in the alphabet that they can win anyway (or some other unforseen result) makes it not worth giving up that chance. I was also hesitant to bring it up, in the probably-forlorn hope that the villain hadn’t thought of the possibility.
(And if there are two villains, we’re screwed anyway at this point.)
Well, I can do this:
Unvote Prof.Pepperwinkle
Vote storyteller0910
Which I’m doing because I’m not super convinced by Mahaloth’s reasoning.
But I’d like to look through the names and see if there is any pattern, and think about this a bit more; I’ll try and make time this evening.
storyteller0910 2 (Prof.Pepperwinkle 11, Mahaloth 27-46, DemonTree 52)
Prof.Pepperwinkle 2 (storyteller0910 16, DemonTree 42-52, Mahaloth 46)
One hour left.
Welp, I accidentally fell asleep at 8pm last night, and only got up briefly to clean my teeth and go to bed properly.
I just spent an hour writing down who everyone is/was, which plays they are from, reading up on characters, and trying out various theories (in between eating pancakes for breakfast) - and my conclusion is that if there’s any pattern, I can’t see it. So I’m not going to change my vote.
Fingers crossed for the reveal. 
It’s a bit nail-biting, yes.
Enter Mahaloth
MAHALOTH
Cassio’s a proper man. Let me see now:
To get his place and to plume up my will
In double knavery—How? how?—Let’s see.
After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear
That he is too familiar with his wife.
He hath a person and a smooth dispose
To be suspected, framed to make women false.
The Moor is of a free and open nature
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,
And will as tenderly be led by th’ nose
As asses are.
I have ’t. It is engendered. Hell and night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.
Storyteller0910, who played the role of Cardinal Bouchier, a minor character, is banished.
Prof.Pepperwinkle, who played the role of Bianca, a minor character, is slain.
DemonTree, who played the role of Vincentio, a minor character, is banished.
Mahaloth, who played the role of Iago, a villain, survives, and the Villains win.[/b]
Exeunt all, pursuing a bear
Congratulations to Mahaloth and the rest of the villain team!
Well played, Mahaloth, and Pfui!
Bianca comes before Bouchier… why was I slain?
Great game, Chronos! Thank you so much!!
Rah! Rock it out, Mahaloth.
Damnit. I was suspicious of him all along, but everyone said he’s normally like that.
Congratulations to Mahaloth and the villain team!
Bourchier was exiled in error, you were killed in the night by Mahaloth for your high alabeticity, and I was banished the next day for losing the tie.