[VFM] Elf Gold Rush - Game Over. Humans Win!

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#7164

EoD4 Flavor

An excerpt from the official history textbook of the Human Empire, Year Six.

Part 3: The Talion Trials – Continued

One of the most common misconceptions about the Talion Trials is the claim that the brief pause in parajudicial killings represents a genuine commitment by Talion’s residents to principles of innocence or fairness. In fact, reconstructed transcripts from the day in question suggest otherwise. Take, for example, this excerpt from a speech made by Cyran, one of the leaders of Talion’s council:

The risk of voting’s simply far too great
For any error risks a final loss.
It’s far more prudent, then, to one night wait,
A death at night will help us get across.

This quote clearly demonstrates that not only were the residents of Talion not concerned with innocence, but in fact, they specifically viewed the death of someone who was innocent even under their own laws as desirable. The “death at night” was not seen as a tragedy, except when convenient to support Talion’s narrative of a human invasion. Rather, it was just another tool to help them determine who the humans were. Their ultimate goal, then, was not even the safety of their town and its residents, but the destruction of human freedom and potential.

Comprehension Questions

  1. What is the most common misconception about the Gold Rush Period?
  2. Summarize the claims Cyran made in his speech.
  3. How does Cyran’s speech undermine the claims made by the Province of Alva about the Gold Rush Mission?

Discussion Questions

  1. Despite evidence to the contrary, the myth surrounding the pause in executions persists. Why do you think that might be?
  2. How does Cyran misuse the concept of virtue in making his argument?
  3. Had you heard any other myths about the Gold Rush Period coming into this course?
1 Like
#7165

End of Night 4 Flavor

An excerpt from the most popular history textbook of the Province of Alva, typically used for children between the ages of forty and fifty.

Chapter 4: The Gold Rush

Part 9: The Reckoning

Key Terms: Councilor Cyran, retrospective divinations, judicial reforms, single accusation system, final deliberation system

With seven residents of Talion left alive, and three human spies still present, it became clear to Talion’s council that more drastic measures were necessary. Together with several of the town’s leaders, Councilor Cyran created a plan designed to enable the residents of Talion to successfully eliminate the spies. He outlined this plan in a speech given on the second Earthday of Dustmoon.

Primary Source Connection

Cyran’s speech is recorded here in full. It was reconstructed through retrospective divinations performed after the conclusion of the Gold Rush Invasion.

The risk of voting’s simply far too great
For any error risks a final loss.
It’s far more prudent, then, to one night wait,
A death at night will help us get across.

My life, I know, receives the greatest threat,
But still my duty’s clear, I shan’t forsake
Or try to flee from that eternal debt:
My dying breath shall gift you life to take.

By reconstructing voting, we at last
Shall manage to eliminate the spies
By confidence alone we’ll put this past,
By confidence alone we’ll smash their lies.

Our votes, once cast, shall ever there remain,
And someday we shall see the stars again!

In his speech, Cyran emphasized the importance of judicial reforms. Chief among these reforms was the implementation of the single accusation system. Under the single accusation system, deliberators were limited to a single vote for who among them was a human spy. Once that vote had been placed, it could not be rescinded or changed. Although Cyran’s prediction of his death came to pass, the single accusation system was immediately implemented in his memory. The single accusation system formed the basis for later reforms that spread throughout all of Alva, most notably the final deliberation system, which is discussed in the next chapter.

Practical Connection!

The final deliberation system, which is used in Alva’s courts today, forms the cornerstone of Alva’s legal system. Many courts in Alva allow visitors to observe court proceedings. Try contacting your local magistrates to find out if something like that is possible in your area. Remember to observe appropriate courtroom decorum, such as responding with the correct notes whenever the judges make a ruling, wearing the traditional courtroom frock and shift, and avoiding the use of magic while the court is in session (in most jurisdictions, the last of these is enforced through temporary mindwards placed upon entry).

Try it at home!

With your class, your teacher will facilitate a mock trial using the single accusation system. Follow their instructions carefully; further instructions and role assignments will be given to you in class. Then, after the trial, answer the following questions:
1. Which roles do you think were most important to the outcome of the trial? Which were least important? Did any of those surprise you?
2. What did you think of the single accusation system? Would it have been harder to conduct a trial without that system?
3. If you could redo the trial, what would you do differently?

1 Like
#7166

Squirrel2412 has died in the night! He was:

Cyran, an Elf.

Day 5 begins and will end in 48 hours, at 2021-07-30T21:00:00Z, or earlier if a majority is reached for execution. With 7 players alive, majority is 4.

AS IT IS LYLO, VOTES ARE LOCKED. YOUR FIRST VOTE IS FINAL AND CANNOT BE CHANGED.

#7167

@clonedcheese
@January
@Vulgard
@Zone_Q11
@min
@City
@WindwardAway

#7168
#7169

Three things.

#7170

One. DO NOT VOTE. If a single town misvotes, the game is over

#7171

Two, I won’t be avaliable for around 6-7 ish hours.

#7172

And three. If a town misvotes or a single person loses us the game, it is fine. We were going to lose 90% of the time anyway

#7173

All three of these posts are NAI. Don’t bother attempting to throw shade on me using them

#7174

…hm. Okay, I need to reconsider my POE.

#7175

I have some thinking to do
I should probably do it when I’m not tired

#7176

You had squirrel in your POE?

#7177

I just feel like I should rethink my options a bit because tunnelling people into LyLo has not worked well for me in the past

Last time I did that, I lost town the game due to confirmation bias and I really would not like to repeat that. I need to make an effort to consider all options and not just some.

I still think off the top of my head that cloned is town and vul is scum for that random vote on January, but Vulgard is actually right and the vote is not entirely clearing for cloned. I’ll think on it for as long as I can before I have to vote because I do not want to make a mistake at this point.

#7178

I thought I made it clear at D4 that my POE was Windward, Squirrel, and one within cloned/Vul/min?

–well, if you didn’t catch that, then my statement about D4 being a waste of time is most likely correct.

#7179

Why squirrel? He was PR 75% of the time, which is way better than 50% of everyone else (from a purely mathematical stance)

#7180

And I probably missed that d4, sorry

#7181

Considering cloned’s vote on January at EOD4, he looks townier than Vul and min, so that must be just it: Windward/Vul/min.

#7182

I was paranoid considering he did nothing particularly towny.
IDK how your math works, but mine says that he could’ve been scum if Aelin + Eli were exactly Doctor + MDet.

#7183

Which is very very low chance.