The Executioner and the Arsonist

[Randyxpxp]

Well I’m back again with another executioner tale from the surreal murderous realm of Classic All Any. Yet again, this story illustrates how foolish it is to turn on an executioner as evil, and also how well some of the other evils in this town played. This was one of the more chaotic executioner games I’ve played, where every kind of NK was present and I managed to survive until the day before the last. Here’s how this evil neighbor of mine decided to be unfriendly to me and get themself killed by the werewolf I sent after them.

D1/N1: Two people speak. I prepare my fake claims as usual.
D2/N2: A bodyguard kills the godfather. At the very start of the day, one of the people who spoke D1 whispers my target. They whisper them about three times. I suspect this could be an investigator, or perhaps a jester trying to look suspicious, but I’m hoping it’s another executioner asking my target for a claim. Early in discussion, the whisperer posts a sheriff will that finds my target suspicious, and the sheriff claim says my target won’t claim. I decide to take this opportunity to double down on the accusation, and I claim investigator and find my target as vigilante/veteran/mafioso, then say they must be mafioso. My target claims vigilante, but they are quickly pushed to trial and voted guilty. They say to get me in their last words, and both I and the sheriff claim claim executioner. He seems surprised I also claim exe, and the way in which he claimed exe made me suspect he might be fake, but I don’t say anything about it.
D3/N3: A consort, an arsonist, and the jailor are dead. There is a werewolf and a serial killer. I mention again I’m executioner and will not vote against anyone, and the other exe claim talks as well. I observe that evils likely have majority now (which they do) and that I won’t ask anyone to claim nor do I expect anyone to. I’m just having a bit of small talk now. Basically, I’m letting the evils here know that if they play their cards right, I can side with one of them in the end, and that, for now, I’m going to let it play out. Suddenly, when voting starts, someone votes against me. I am instantly convinced this person is evil, but I don’t vote against them or ask them for a claim. I simply ask someone to kill them and observe they’re being unfriendly to me.
D4/N4: The mayor is dead. The retributionist has revived a dead sheriff who died at some point. (My vigilante target was still in the game, so I don’t know why the ret didn’t revive the vig.) I welcome the sheriff back and inform them the town is doomed, and that everyone else is likely evil besides themself and the ret. There is some discussion, but no one is lynched.
D5/N5: I am set on fire by an arsonist, an investigator and the retributionist are dead, the arsonist who ignited me (and voted against me) is mauled by the werewolf, and the second exe claim is the werewolf, who is also set on fire. The arsonist proceeds to flame me and admits to having doused me, even though I claimed executioner and stated my neutrality. They clearly have some kind of vendetta against me for some reason or another, but they’re dead now too and, as there is no other arsonist alive at this point, they can’t win, while I’ve already won. The sheriff and the serial killer hang the mafioso, then the serial killer murders the sheriff and wins with the dead executioner D6.

Once again, an evil in the town decided to be unfriendly to the local executioner, and this only harmed the arsonist in the end. Not only would I have sided against them in a kingmake, but it is apparent to me that the werewolf (who faked exe) decided to kill the arsonist because the arsonist voted against me, and I asked someone to kill them. Had the werewolf and I survived, I would have been inclined to side with the werewolf given how well they played and the fact they did not maul me and also mauled someone who was hostile to me. The arsonist explained that executioner is an evil role, but so is arsonist, and regardless of the grudge this arsonist seems to have held against me, they wasted a douse on an executioner and got mauled by the werewolf the executioner sent to kill them. I was, it turns out, the only neutral evil in the town. The other exe claim was fake, and I was the only person alive who could win with the arsonist. It still doesn’t cease to amaze me that these players actually take the time to play the game if they’re only going to screw themselves over like this. I’m not even one of these executioners who randomly votes against people and pushes people for roles after my win. I’m just a neutral observer. I’m just here to see how this drama transpires, and perhaps have the chance to kingmake a faction in the end. That’s how executioner is designed. You can kill them, but if you keep them alive long enough, you may get them to side with you actively or passively. But the executioner’s curse doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. Evils will continue to harm their own chances to win like this out of spite or folly, and the executioner will continue to win whether it lives or dies. Had this arsonist kept a low profile, they might have managed to win, even by getting me to side with them. Instead, they were dead set on making sure I perished, and for what? So I have a less enjoyable game? I’ve already won. What does it really matter at that point? The werewolf in this town was the complete opposite of this arsonist. They knew how much value the executioner held to them, and the werewolf’s plan to gain my favor would have worked had it not been for this pesky arsonist and their vindictive ways… In the end, the lone serial killer emerged as the sole survivor. They kept a low profile, didn’t vote against the exe, didn’t really claim anything at all, and they won, and surely enjoyed themself a bit…