Ready, Aim, Fire! (Round 4) (Ghost Town)

[Silkenfist]

Three scavengers roam the sky over Western Utah. Some time ago, there had been a great feast for them, but since then, times have been dire and they would soon need to find prize again. In wide circles, the vultures fly over the desert, searching. A number of small shapes below catches their attention. Keeping their height, the vultures narrow their circles, hopefully following the trek.
A few dozen feet below the birds, a band of riders is travelling west. They have endured the scorching sun for the last few days and they are just as tired and dried as their steeds, that trot at a slow pace to conserve energy as long as possible. The road to the western coasts has usually been used by the settlers who were better prepared to travel large periods without water supplies. The band of riders, however, had neglected to enhance their usual loads of potable water. With the next town being only a few miles away, however, their parched calamity would soon find an end.
We take a closer look at that group and their hardened faces. A few months ago, they had been cowboys, being employed by the farmers of the Great Plains to lead cattle drives from their Texan Ranches towards the settlements in Kansas. It was an easy life for them, since the ever growing population caused a high demand for the meat, only the cowboy treks were able to meet. Year after year there would be more cattle drives with even more cows. Then, in the year 1875, several farmers agreed to form one big cattle drive together. They employed a large number of cowboys and wranglers, assigned them a herd of twenty thousand animals and sent them North. This was the biggest mission, each of the men has ever been entrusted to and the nervousness between them was evident. For the first weeks of the trail, everything worked perfectly and as they were passing the second border, their flurry was gone. Then, disaster struck…
Late in the evening, just as the cowboys were going to camp, they spotted thunderheads, approaching them rapidly. Hastily, they broke camp immediately and began circling the herd but they were not fast enough. The thunderbolts rolled over them, striking the trees around them again and again. Quickly, panic spread within the herd and helplessly the cowboys had to watch the stampede begin. Experienced as they were, they knew what to do: They backed away from the rampaging herd and rode in front of it to try and bring it into a circle. However, the density of the vegetation, the downward slope and the repeated strokes of lightning crushed their feeble attempts to control the gargantuan herd. They proceeded to rush downward, even running over one unlucky herder. As the sky cleared, the cowboys saw the aftermath of the storm. Thousands of cattle had escaped, and even more of them had gone down one of the deep gaps, killing or injuring many of them. About half of their trek has been lost, which would undoubtedly infuriate their owners, as soon as they would hear of it.
This has been several weeks ago. The cowboys concluded that it would be a good idea to be far away, when their former employers got word of their failure. Together they formed a caravan in order to move west and try to begin a new life there. This has led them on the desert road through Colorado and Utah to the Western Coast and its young cities where there would be no bounty on their heads. And even Lady Luck seemed to be on their side again as they finally reached a town. The silhouette of a small town becomes visible on the horizon, causing mute cheers to escape from the cowboy’s dry lips.

To be continued...


How does this game work?

1) Each round, each player sends me a message with his action.

2) There are three possible actions. Shoot yourself, shoot in the air or shoot someone else.

3) Shoot in the Air: This has no effect on you, anybody else or anybodys action.

4) Shoot yourself: If you shoot yourself and noone else tried to shoot you, you die.
4a) If you shoot yourself AND at least one other player tried to shoot you too, you remain alive and all assailants die instead.

5) Shoot someone: You have to specify a certain player that you want to shoot. You shoot that player and they die
5a) Exception: If your victim has tried to shoot itself, you die instead (See 4b)

6) After each round, the survivors are put together in a new standoff and the next round ensues. This continues until there is only one player left.
6a) If all players die simultaneously in one round, that round is repeated.

7) One round will last for about 48 hours, with each update there will be a deadline for your submission.
7a) Players who don't submit an action within the deadline are treated as if they shot the air.
7b) Players who don't submit an action twice in a row are removed from the match.

8) You can't join during a match but once a winner has been determined, there will be a new match with new signups

9) Don't take games too seriously and have fun.


Registration for the round is now open and will end on Sunday 7 PM Eastern. Register by replying here.

Previous Winners
Round 1: DarkLightDragon (14 contestants)
Round 2: B-Man (8 capos)
Round 3: Bookman (12 pirates)

Possible Themes for Future Rounds (All suggestions are welcome)
Feudal Japan (Samurai, Ninja, Shogun)
Thirty Year's War
Pop-Science-Fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars)
Highwaymen (Richard Turpin, Tom King)
Cavemen
Matrix
Fighting Jackie Chan style (Drunken Mastery & arbritary use of improvised equipment)
Royal intrigue (Roman senate, Hamlet scenario, Japanese daimyo...)

Contestants
Lucky
Tom McFaerwain
Kantur
Moon Called
Alarra
DarkLightDragon
Bookman
Atreyu, the Masked Llama
weebl
Jamie Swiftbow (still known as Lord Herman)
Selrahc
B-Man
Deckmaster
Beta
Captain van der Decken
Altharis

[Lucky]

MEMEMEMEMEME!!!!

[faerwain]

Slowly slapping the dust out of his clothes, Tom "Tame Poodle" McFaerwain enters the game.

[Kantur]

Oooooh! Me! Me! Me!

[Silkenfist]

Oh, and I have three good news for you:

1) I've abandoned my other contest (The work to participation/fun/interaction ratio was horrible) which will leave me with more time and energy to put into this little thing.

2) After 5 rounds, I will have enough data to calculate player statistics. They won't make your calculations easier but I hope they add another level of outsmarting each other.

3) I accept suggestions for the theme of Round 5. What kind of battle do you want to see?

[Mr. Moon]

Meh, why not. Got nothing better to do.

Maybe Round 5 could be sent in Fuedle Japan, or Renisance England?

[Alarra]

Count me in.

[DarkLightDragon]

I'll play!

[Bookman]

I'm in.

Let's keep a perfect record

[Atreyu the Masked LLama]

dang. The western llama is still in production. Ah well, I'm in.

[Alarra]

I'm sure ceika could speed up production on that one. You really don't have a western llama already?

[Weebl]

I'll be playing in scottish mode!

[faerwain]

Why don't we do a contest ? The winner of every round decides the theme for the next round.

And here, I relist my suggestions from the last rounds:

It is Scot's versus English! FREEEEEDOM!
Or is it Star Trek? KHAAAAAN!
Or Aussies versus 'Roos? GOOOEEEE!

What about a 18./early 19. century robber-and-soldier-theme? You know, "Richard" Turpin, Schinderhannes, that kind.

Now excuse me, have to clean the horse and feed the Peacemaker..

[Lord Herman]

Put me on the list.

And for next round, I suggest a Star Wars theme. I already have my avatar!

[Selrahc]

I'm in. Again.

Lets see if I notch a victory this time

[Silkenfist]

Why don't we do a contest ? The winner of every round decides the theme for the next round.

Because I try to embed the storyline into history as far as possible and I wouldn't be able to provide a scenario on a notice too short. I'd like to prepare things several days in front, which would be impossible that way.

To your suggestions:

Renisance England: Sounds nice but since the Renisance was firstmost defined by its cultural advancements, it might be hard to find a scenario violent enough.

Feudal Japan: Will surely be done sooner or later, as both Samurai and Ninja are quite popular AND have potential for violent stand-offs. Also there might be room for intrigue between the daimyo and the shogun. We might visit Japan more than once.

Scotland/England: I would love to place you into those times, but the problem is that I need a scenario where you all are fighting each other. Any war or territorial conflict would be hard to implement. Of course, there are some exceptions like the Thirty Year's War or any other conflict with more than two coherent parties.
(The same would also apply for Aussies/Roos)

Star Trek/Star Wars: I see a lot of potential there and probably a good fanbase that would appreciate. The problem is, that I have absolutely no knowledge about their fictional histories. I could brush up on that, but for the next one or two rounds, it won't happen. But we WILL do a science-fiction-theme sooner or later.

RICHARD Turpin/Schinderhannes/Highwaymen: Ooooh...this is one I like (and would not have found myself). Will be used definitely.

[Lord Herman]

Fuedle is spelled 'Feudal' :p

Other ideas for themes:
- Prehistoric. Bashing each other's skulls in with clubs and rocks.
- The Matrix. Ready, Aim, Fire in bullet time!
- Poorly dubbed kung fu movie.
- Shakespeare's Hamlet. Thees, thous, and lots of backstabbing.
- Roman politics, also quite Shakespearian.
- All-out penguin deathmatch!

[B-Man]

Ah, what the heck. Sign me up... again... this time I'll get Bookman!

[Deckmaster]

I'll try this out.

[Captain van der Decken]

You still recruiting? I'll try.

[Beta]

Don't forget me!

As for theme suggestions, I've already heard just about every good theme I could come up with myself. I would like to suggest, however, something to make one game last a little longer. It's just over too soon for my taste. Maybe increase everyone's HP from 1 to 2? Or something random that makes not every shot hit automaticly. Just an idea, what does everybody else think?

[Lord Herman]

I've been thinking of some extra rules myself, but I think it's best to keep them the way they are. The rounds can be over pretty quickly, but that means the people who are shot don't have to wait too long for the next round.

[Silkenfist]

As for theme suggestions, I've already heard just about every good theme I could come up with myself. I would like to suggest, however, something to make one game last a little longer. It's just over too soon for my taste. Maybe increase everyone's HP from 1 to 2? Or something random that makes not every shot hit automaticly. Just an idea, what does everybody else think?

Well...

1. Well, one reason the games are over so quickly is because you guys have a great tendency to attack each other. Other boards/groups have much more airshots than you. Also, I am opposed to the multiple HP theory for the same reason as Javie/Herman.

2. Special rules are something I already thought of when writing up the mafia scenario (Nobody may shoot the air twice, the mafia don't like cowards, etc...). However, the game itself is so simple that each additional rule would have too great an influence on the gameplay. Maybe there will be a special round with extra abilities in the future, but that would be the great exception.


Concerning Javie/Hermans suggestions:

- Caveman clubbing standoff: Cool idea. I'll put it on the list.
- The Matrix: Are you thinking what I am thinking? No, not the Lederhosen, Pinky. Remember the scene from Matrix I on the rooftop, where Smith forces Neo to the ground with several bullets, which engages him so much that he is easily offed by Trinity? THAT'S what this game is about. Will be on the list.
- Kung Fu: There is a lot of potential in it, but adopting it to shooting yourself might be tricky. I'd put it down with Jackie Chan because that would give me something to work with.
- Hamlet/Romans: I would merge them with the daimyo to the bullet point of political intrigue.
- Penguin deathmatch: Actually, I DO have a realistic idea for that: Emperor penguins who are approaching new fishing grounds oftenly face the fact that other predators like seals might be lurking in the water. The birds would stand at the edge of the ice and wait for someone else to dive in first. If noone volunteers, impatient penguins start pushing others into the water.
OK, but seriously: I might do a wacky round with penguins, bunnies or tortoises, but they won't be put onto the list.

[Lord Herman]

*snip* Well, one reason the games are over so quickly is because you guys have a great tendency to attack each other. Other boards/groups have much more airshots than you. *snip*

I think the people here, like me, have figured that shooting in the air doesn't accomplish much. It doesn't protect you from getting shot, and it doesn't kill your opponents. When shooting someone, you don't risk much, and you have a good chance of killing them. In some situations, the chance of getting shot is great enough to merit shooting yourself. Only in finale battles shooting in the air might make sense, if you expect the other player to shoot him/herself.

v, Blood for the blood god! Skulls for the skull throne!

[faerwain]

I think the people here, like me, have figured that shooting in the air doesn't accomplish much. It doesn't protect you from getting shot, and it doesn't kill your opponents. When shooting someone, you don't risk much, and you have a good chance of killing them. In some situations, the chance of getting shot is great enough to merit shooting yourself. Only in finale battles shooting in the air might make sense, if you expect the other player to shoot him/herself.

Thank you Jarvie/Herman, I wasn't able come up with an elegant, reassuring, eloquently worded and reasonable-sounding paraphrase for "bloodlust".

[Altharis]

Me please!

[Lord Herman]

Okay. *shoots altharis*

By the way, does the three post rule also apply to threads like this? The thread itself is not really a game; it's more like a discussion thread about the game.

[Silkenfist]

Well, I would not apply the rule here but I am no moderator. Still, the actual game is not played in the posts, so I think you are safe.

Considering the use of airshots: The thought behind them is that you let the others kill each other. You don't risk being countershot by a suicidal target, while the only disadvantage is that you don't reduce the number of opponents directly. Still, in a round with many homicidal and many suicidal dudes, shooting the air oftenly is the best action.

[Silkenfist]

The predators have kept circling above the small caravan for hours, following them on their journey. From up high they recognize familiar shapes. The riders lead them to the place from where they came…
Below them, the cowboys, having spotted the silhouette of the town, rejoice but they are too tired to cheer loudly. They empty their flasks of water right away in the prospect to refill them soon. Just hours ago, they had cursed themselves for foolishly choosing the path through the desert without taking proper supplies with them. But now their anguish seems to have come to an end. They empty the remainders of their flasks in the prospect of refilling them soon before riding into the small group of houses, a small sign at the road labels “Cactus Town”
As the group of riders passes the first houses, they quickly notice the absence of residents. There are no people on the main street and no sounds can be heard from the houses. An uncomfortable feeling infests the group, but they shrug it off quickly. Clearly, a large group of armed riders would frighten the townspeople and they would have to act calmly to avoid being shot by a panic-stricken inhabitant. They agree to announce themselves at the sheriff’s, but first they would have to get water for their desiccated mounts. They quickly locate the drinking trough, tie the steeds to its railing and pump up enough water for all of their animals. The water smells earthy but the horses drink it reluctantly.

Dehydration is a serious danger for anyone journeying through the desert, men and animals alike. Even with so much as 3 % of their water volume lost, humans are severely impaired by the lack of water, causing them thirst, fatigue, dizziness and limpness, ever increasing with progressing dehydration until paralysis and death set in at a loss of about 12 %. With the body losing two and more gallons of water per day in a desert climate, the danger is obvious.
The cowboys have left their steeds behind and stroll through the town, trying not to look threatening as they search for an official to introduce them and their needs to. The ongoing silence starts to irritate them – wouldn’t someone have the courage to talk to them? They approach the Sheriff’s only to find the building locked and empty. Even after calling out for someone, nobody is coming out to greet the group. They decide to pay a visit to the local saloon, where someone had to be. The cowboys find the bar, announce themselves as peaceful visitors, then enter – only to find another empty lifeless building. The saloon is dark and quiet and completely vacated. Growing impatient, the group starts searching the saloon and the rest of the town for any signs of life, but they find nothing. But what they find alarms them more and more. There are the burial grounds behind the town, where they find several fresh graves. There is the grocery store that is completely broached, while the rest of the town is not. Also, there are two cow skeletons, lying just outside the town, already picked clean. The cowboys look above to the vultures and the vultures stare back.
Finally, the riders come to the well to at least refill their flasks before renewing their search. But as they draw up the first bucket of water, they notice a familiar earthy stench. Dipping their fingers into it, they carefully taste the water – and realise immediately what had happened. Head over heels they run to where they left their horses…

The Sevier Lake in Northern and Western Utah is part of the desert area of Utah and had once been a large water supply for the area. However, its endorheic nature – in combination with ever decreasing amount of condensation – has caused the lake to dry up more and more over the years. Its surface area became smaller, but that was not the problem: With more and more water evaporating, the salinity of the remaining water increased more and more. Good drinking water for humans should not contain more than one grams of salt per litre, two being barely tolerable. Horses and other animals can tolerate slightly more, up to ten grams per litre. Ocean water bears thirty-five grams of salt per litre, thus being undrinkable for men or animals.
Lake Sevier, when measured in 1872, showed amounts of 86 grams of salt per litre with the salinity still increasing with further evaporation. Its water, even in small amounts, would become toxic for anyone. Now this is no problem for the towns around, since their wells go down to the groundwater, which is very much drinkable. This was until later 1872, when Owens Valley earthquake in California struck – causing minor tremors in an area of several hundred miles – including Lake Sevier. The basing, containing the Lake cracked – causing the salty water to intrude into the streams of groundwater below, slowly increasing their salinity until they too became toxic. Any town with wells connected to that stream would quickly face a serious problem…

Hastily, the cowboys arrive at the trough, where they left there horses but they come too late. Their steeds overcame their nausea and ingested the foul water, even furthering their dehydration. Helplessly the cowboys stand there and watch as one after another of their mounts start to stagger, become agitated, then fall to the ground in convulsions. Grief-stricken, they lead the horses to separate places, hoping that at least some survive the night.
Why is seawater deadly? For humans and animals alike, a rapid intake of salt will not directly kill you of dehydration. Still, you consume large amounts of salt, that are passed through your organism. The kidneys, having only one way to rid the metabolism of excessive salt intake, increase urine production, further adding to dehydration while large quantities of the sodium remain in the body, intoxicating the blood. A rapid intake of so much as 40 grams would surely kill any human or animal – which is less than half a litres worth of groundwater intruded by Lake Sevier….

The sun rises again, shedding its light on the cowboys who kept watch by their horses for the full night – gathering all potential water sources in the town to keep their steeds alive. But as they check their condition in the morning, they find that half of the animals had expired already, with the others being unable to get up and – without further sources of hydration visible – surely doomed. Only one of the horses is able to get to its feet again and keep standing. The cowboys look at the lone survivor of the night, that would not support more than one of them on the way out of the desert. They look at each other and come to one conclusion. Sixteen times, cold steel chafes against leather as they draw their revolvers.


Note to self: Make shorter descriptions

The shootout begins now. Please submit your action until Tuesday, 7 PM Eastern.


Contestants
Lucky
Tom McFaerwain
Kantur
Moon Called
Alarra
DarkLightDragon
Bookman
Atreyu, the Masked Llama
weebl
Jamie Swiftbow (still known as Lord Herman)
Selrahc
B-Man
Deckmaster
Beta
Captain van der Decken
Altharis

[evnafets]

argh. Too late! Damn work and its keeping me from surfing the messageboards today!!!