Tuesday started like any other day, but it would be the last day for so many. The mayor, with a mind heavy with worry, showered and dressed himself. He ate a breakfast consisting of two eggs, toast and beans. Finishing his Earl Grey, he put on his hat and started on his way to the courthouse.

Knowing only four people remained he went to each and every house of theirs on the way. He first stopped in at Eskimonoise’s house, knocking loudly on the door. There was nothing but silence that greeted him. Peering in the windows, he saw nothing stir within and so concluded he must be already on his way to the courthouse. He left and went to LoC’s house next. LoC was just coming out on his porch, locking his door when the mayor walked up his path. They nodded grimly to each other and continued their walk on to the house of GMG. No answer at her house as well.

The two of them continued their stroll to the last door, cool_drool’s When LoC knocked on it, the door creaked open. Warily, telling LoC to wait outside, the mayor stepped into the house. A sickly sour smell immediately attacked his nose. He covered his mouth with his handkerchief and almost turned back, not wanting to know what caused that noxious odor. But he pressed forward. He searched through each room, coming to the kitchen last. He peered through the swinging door and almost vomited at the sight greeting him.

The Serial Killer had taken his last victim and had made it spectacular. Not only were cool_drool’s organs hanging from the ceiling, but so was cool_drool. His arms and legs were both tied and nailed to the ceiling, holding his body up. His head was pulled back, his mouth gapping open in an eternal scream. His eyes were wide with terror and pain, but he was clearly dead. His skin from throat to navel had been split and pinned back to the ceiling. His insides were completely carved out, leaving a gaping hole in cool_drool’s chest and stomach. There were flies everywhere. When one landed on cool_drool’s eye, the mayor had seen enough. He promptly vomited in the corner. Wiping the bile from his lip with the handkerchief, he took one last glance at poor cool_drool and then quickly went and searched his house for any hint of who cool_drool had been. The mayor found nothing and could only conclude that Cool_drool had been just a normal townie. He hurried outside. LoC was sitting on the steps. One look at the mayor and he knew without having to be told. Both white as ghosts, they gathered themselves up and headed into the town square.

When they arrived, they saw GMG milling about on the other side. She was obviously in distress, so they ran closer to her. The nearer they came, the more they could see why she was upset. There, on a table, was eskimonoise. It seemed that he had been tied splayed to the table. The bad part was the table was a bed of nails. It appeared, judging by the footprints on his crushed chest, that his killer had jumped up and down on him, over and over and over, until he was impaled wholly by the nails. They came out of his chest. Eskimonoise’s eyes were open in terror as well, staring blankly at the heavens. He was dead as could be. Next to the table, his things were piled neatly. There on top was a lock-pick, but nothing else could be found. Eskimonoise had been a normal townie, but he had been a thief. The giant purple pentagram on his chest showed he was the last victim of the Chattering Order of Saint Beryl.

LoC put his arm around gmg, comforting her as best he could. She shoved him away and screamed.

“It was you! I KNOW IT! You did all this, you killed them! FUCK YOU!”

LoC stood flabbergasted. His jaw dropped in protest, but before he could utter a word, GMG punched him in the mouth. The mayor stepped in, grabbing gmg from behind, holding her tight. LoC held his hand to his mouth and saw blood coming from it. He spat the blood on the ground and spoke.

“No, gmg, fuck you! You’ve been prancing around here, acting innocent as a cute little kitten. But you’ve clearly got claws.” He spat again. “You’re a fucking murderous bitch. You may have had everyone else fooled, but not me! You’ll fucking hang for this.” He spat blood into her face.

The mayor let go of gmg and stepped in between them.

“Look. We have to finish this. We have to find out who did this. I can only assume that if we had a vote to see who to lynch you would both vote for each other. So I’ve come to a hard decision.”

They both looked at the mayor as he dug through his coat pocket. The last thing they were expecting was the gun he withdrew.

“My decision is that you’ll both have to die. You can hang yourselves, or I can shoot you. This is the only thing you have to vote on.”

Disbelief, then shock, then anger danced across both their faces. LoC started for the mayor, but stopped when he cocked the gun and held it straight at him. Gmg sputtered madly.

“This is insane. Shoot him, he’s a god damn weirdo nutcase. Kill him!” When she tried to walk away, she was stopped by a bullet hitting the ground one foot in front of her.

“I said” they mayor explained, “you’re both going to die.”

Gmg and LoC looked at each other, fear coming across their faces. The mayor grabbed gmg by the arm tightly and pointed the gun at LoC.

“Move.”

He marched them over to the fountain where there were two ropes waiting. He watched as LoC climbed to the perch, then commanded gmg to do the same. When they were both up there, he ordered them to put the nooses around their throats. They both protested, but another bullet ricocheting off the fountain convinced them to comply.

When they were both trussed up, the mayor shot first LoC and then GMG in the knee. They both collapsed, falling from the perch, knocking into each other as the ropes tightened around their throats. They struggled wildly, staring each other in the eyes as they clawed at their throats, blood running down their legs. Eventually, they stopped moving and the mayor, just to be sure, shot them both in the head.

He pulled them down one by one. First LoC. Searching his pockets, the mayor found a big, shiney, sharpened serving spoon. He also found several pairs of panty-hose. The mayor looked down at LoC and then spat on his corpse. LoC had been the new serial Killer, the former vigilante. The mayor searched more. As he removed LoC’s shirt, he saw tattooed over his heart a giant purple pentagram. Not only had LoC been the serial killer, he had been the last remaining member of the Chattering Order of Saint Beryl. He had played the cult like a fiddle the entire time.

Feeling disgusted, but wanting to get on with it, the mayor pulled down Gmg’s body. Searching her he found nothing. When he removed her shirt, he saw a stethoscope drapped over her neck. It had been hidden by her clothes. GMG had been a normal townie, but she’d been the good doctor.

The mayor sat on the ground next to the corpses, staring off into space. He lit a cigarette and thought heavy thoughts between each drag. When the cigarette was finished, he put it out in the grass, rose to his feet and walked out of the square. He walked into the courthouse, and there, on the judge’s bench, shot himself in the head.

The town of Lower Tadfield lay silent. There were birds chirping, the sun was warm, the temperature a lovely 73 degrees with a chance of showers in late afternoon. No one lived to see that evening, but at least the town was clear of weirdos, the apocalypse adverted. Yes, the town had won, achieving their goal of clearing out their town of the weirdoes. By their winning, the rest of the world also won. The birds chirped louder, the wind blew freer, and the sun shone warmer, as if to tell them all thank you for their sacrifices.

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And that, my friends, is that.

Please feel free to post any PM’s you received during the game. I didn’t save a lot of them, so if you want them shared, you’re the source for them.

Here are the google groups!
http://groups.google.com/group/the-chattering-order-of-saint-beryl
http://groups.google.com/group/the-witch-finder-army
http://groups.google.com/group/the-sensible-horsemen
http://groups.google.com/group/the-sensible-dead – This is where all the dead people went. That’s why there were so many ghosties around.

Still haven’t figured out how to post my spreadsheet, but there it is, guys. Thank you all so much for playing! Your dedication to his long game is what kept it interesting!

Any questions, please ask. Clarifications, etc. Please, please ask!