The Syndicate

DAY 0
DAY 1 POLL
NIGHT 1 POLL
DAY 2 POLL
NIGHT 2 POLL
DAY 3 POLL
NIGHT 3 POLL
DAY 4 POLL
NIGHT 4 POLL
DAY 5 POLL
DAY 6 POLL

Breaking news tonight out of London. Details are still emerging at this time but it appears that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is dead. As Mr. Assange was revealing his latest batch of hacked emails from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's personal email account, when some kind of explosion occurred behind him on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London where he has been confined for the last four and a half years.

British authorities have not been able to determine the cause of the blast yet and are reviewing security footage to determine whether the blast came from inside the embassy or if some kind of explosive device was thrown at the balcony. CNN can confirm, however, that Mr. Assange was not killed instantly by the blast. Sources inside the embassy have gone on record stating that the mortally wounded Assange crawled to his laptop and uploaded one final transmission to the WikiLeaks website.

CNN is trying to confirm the accuracy of that final transmission. We want to stress that, at this time, what we are about to report is unverified information but it is nonetheless information that our editorial staff feels should be relayed to our viewers in the interest of journalistic integrity.

According to the final document cache uploaded to WikiLeaks, it appears that Texas Senator Ted Cruz may have solicited private donations through his wife's position at Goldman Sachs. The released documents suggest that email messages from Senator Cruz's private and senate office computers under the pseudonym Jackofhearts2005 solicited several million dollars in donations to a secretive group using the initials VRWC in order to fund operations to harass, diminish, and impede the incoming Hillary Clinton Administration.

CNN is reaching out to Senator Ted Cruz's office, as well as to Goldman Sachs executives to confirm or deny these details.




Scotty has been lynched. He was... Jackofhearts2005 has been implicated in a conspiracy against the Hillary Clinton Administration. He is...

Marmot wrote:None of the Post links in the OP work.

That's because there are no Post links yet, just the word Post, waiting for a link to be added. It's on my list of things to do.

Epignosis wrote:I still have fewer points.

There's a processing fee on restored Hillary Points.

Epignosis wrote:

G-Man wrote:

Epignosis wrote:Scotty has less than two hours to tell me more about his magic coin.

Fewer. -1 Hillary Points.

And you are wrong.

Less is also used with numbers when they are on their own and with expressions of measurement or time, e.g.:

His weight fell from 18 stone to less than 12.

Their marriage lasted less than two years.

Heath Square is less than four miles away from Dublin city centre.

Very well. 0.5 Hillary Points restored.

Epignosis wrote:Scotty has less than two hours to tell me more about his magic coin.

Fewer. -1 Hillary Points.

Long Con wrote:Ok, so:


Jack


Not Sawyer

... damn, that didn't help.

If you want to get really technical, even this guy is not Sawyer because it was just a pseudonym for a job:

Epignosis wrote:

Long Con wrote:

thellama73 wrote:
Jack


Not Sawyer

Fixed.

Fixed it for you. Sawyer was his nickname. His real name was James Ford, not Sawyer.

Epignosis wrote:I'm really looking forward to hearing some Nickelback today.

+1 Hillary Point for being inclusive of the artistic expressions of other cultures, no matter how inferior.

Elohcin wrote:I'm going to vote for the next person who quotes the picture of that disgusting naked creature. I will never revisit page 5 again.

+1 Hillary Points for making me laugh. How do I nominate this quote for next year's Sockeys?

Hillary Clinton appreciates those who exercise their right to vote. After all, votes got her elected president. +1 Hillary Points to everyone who voted in the Day 0 poll.

Hillary Points Standings:

+4 Points: S~V~S
+3 Points: thellama73
+1 Point: Dfaraday, DrWilgy, Elohcin, FZ., Long Con, MacDougall, Marmot, notsawyer540, Scotty, TheFloyd73
0 Points: Epignosis, Jackofhearts2005
-5 Points: Quin

Several men sat around a conference room table in a dimly-lit room. The door opened and another man walked in. He surveyed those in attendance and made a sour look as he counted the number of empty chairs.

"Thank you all for attending. Perhaps we should invite a few more people to be in on this?"

"I think the most loyal of us have showed up," another man said.

"Bill," the standing man said, "what about Martha, Ainsley, or Jenna? Couldn't we bring them in on this?"

"Don't go soft on us," Bill replied. "The major players are here. Let's leave it at that. Besides, if we never invited Greta or Megyn, then why would we even think of inviting those three?"

"Our numbers are just thinner than I'd have hoped," the standing man said.

"As the senior member of this establishment," another man said, "I understand your concern but our dwindling numbers makes it imperative for us to proceed as is. We don't want to dilute the purity of thought here. The time to act is now. The harder and more successful our strikes, the more hearts and minds we'll change. They'll start crawling back to us and begging to be a part of this. This disruption at the inauguration gives us ammunition on many different levels. Let's use it to our advantage while it's hot."

"Very well," the standing man said. "Let's get down to business."


Hillary Clinton sat in the Oval Office, reviewing the events of the day and the stories being spun in the media. This was supposed to be a good day; a day of vindication even. Now there were questions, rumors, and outright lies all over the airwaves and internet.

"Any luck on tracing the source of that transmission?" Hillary asked?

"Not yet, Madam President," said one of her aides. "Interpol is looking into it on their end as well."

"How can something broadcast globally not be traced?" Hillary asked.

"It's complicated and very technical, Madam President."

"Then never mind. I don't have time for a tutorial. We need to act fast to find the source of this transmission and bring them to justice."

"And what about the press, Madam President? Everyone is waiting to hear more from us about the claims in the video."

"What more do they want? I don't know anything about this Operation Cobalt thing and we've already said so. I'll repeat it until I'm blue in the face. Have we located Pamela Brown yet?"

"No, Madam President. She's been on leave of absence from CNN for months."

"Well if it's true that she was masquerading as Tiffany Trump, why don't we start with obtaining information on her whereabouts after that accident. We're the federal government for crying out loud. Let's use our investigative tools and figure this mess out!"

Epignosis wrote:

G-Man wrote:Hillary Clinton hadn't even been sworn in yet and the day was off to a rocky start. Rumors swirled for days that she planned to pardon the Wisconsin election workers whocharged with conspiracy to commit election

Committing election is unforgivable.

+1 Hillary Point for pointing out a mistake.

-2 Hillary Points for doing so in public.

Quin wrote:Who is Hillary Clinton?

-5 Hillary Points for Quin, even if he does live in one of the 14% of alternate universes in which Hillary Clinton lost the election.

S~V~S wrote:

G-Man wrote:S~V~S and Llama have exercised wisdom. This game is supposed to be lighter in tone than its predecessor and more tongue-in-cheek as well.

Two Hillary Points to each of them!

Yay

Hillary Clinton appreciates genuine displays of appreciation. +1 Hillary Points for S~V~S.

S~V~S and Llama have exercised wisdom. This game is supposed to be lighter in tone than its predecessor and more tongue-in-cheek as well.

Two Hillary Points to each of them!

Hillary Clinton hadn't even been sworn in yet and the day was off to a rocky start. Rumors swirled for days that she planned to pardon the Wisconsin election workers whocharged with conspiracy to commit election fraud but now the speculation in the press as to whether those pardons would come day one of her presidency was at a fever pitch. To make matters worse, at 5:00 a.m. EST, Julian Assange made good on his promise to release the emails of a member of the Clinton campaign.

As vital as John Podesta had been to the Clinton's and their political careers, he now found himself at a lukewarm arm's-length distance from the incoming administration. Once the news media got a taste of Assange's highlights, they moved in like piranhas. Liberal outlets were up in arms with the contents of some of Clinton's Wall Street speeches; centrist outlets admonished the campaign and DNC chair Donna Brazile for colluding on debate questions; and conservative outlets went off the rails with any little thing they could, from perceived efforts to undermine religious groups to Clinton campaign staffers' unsavory opinions of Chelsea Clinton. Nobody seemed too concerned with Podesta's recipe for creamy risotto, which is quite satisfying. Within an hour, Podesta's name was conspicuously absent from the list of people holding the title of Counselor to the President.

And now it was time for her to address the nation. For someone who lived in a fishbowl, Hillary Clinton hated being the center of attention. There was no diverting attention today, or so she thought. She sighed as she stared out the tinted limousine windows. The car was nicknamed 'The Beast,' a moniker whose eschatological meaning was not lost on fundamentalist Christians and their warped view of reality. If the car was 'The Beast,' did that make her the Antichrist? The very thought made her chuckle and crack the first smile of the day.

The parade route was full of people, though crowd size paled in comparison to those of her predecessor. She wasn't as charismatic as most former Presidents and the election was rife with controversy even within her own party. It didn't help that it was overcast with sporadic light showers expected throughout the day. Nevertheless, the show of emotion and support in the crowds endeared her. Women from all over the country had brought their daughters to witness a historic event for women in America. All that joy and pride would soon lead to confusion and questions, though no one could have predicted it. Well, one person saw it coming. Planned it even.

All the pomp and circumstance flowed as expected and as scheduled. Photographers lined the hallways of the Capitol, members of Congress, dignitaries, and special guests reached out to shake her hand as she made her way. Tim Kaine was sworn into office by Chief Justice John Roberts. In an unprecedented move, all three of the top court's female justices took part in swearing in Hillary Clinton as President of the United States. The crowd cheered, Hillary smiled, waved, and approached the microphone to make her first address as President.

"Thank you. Thank you. I am humbled by this show of support. All morning, people have been reminding me that history is being made today. I see it in the faces of all the mothers, daughters, and grandmothers- let's not forget them- who have come here to be witnesses firsthand, as well as those watching at home or at work. Today we can finally say that no job is off limits.

"But while today is historic for women in a good way, we're also living in historically negative times as well. It goes without saying, but this election has cast a light on how fractured America has become. Having different opinions can be good, but not when the differences between us become our focus. If we break down barriers, communicate honestly with each other, and respect each other, then together we can make America whole again."

Suddenly, an explosion of feedback overcame the speakers at the Capitol and across the Mall. Video feeds to all the viewing stations up and down the Mall flashed static. No one among the sea of people knew it but audio and video feeds were being disrupted by every network broadcasting coverage of the inauguration. When the torrent of feedback stopped, all video coverage showed a live feed of a gaunt but pretty blonde woman. Try as they might, no one would be able to stop the high-jacking feed.

"Good afternoon," the woman said. "My name is Pamela Brown. You may recognize me from my work as a reporter on CNN, where I have worked for several years. Recently, however, I took part in a covert mission called Operation Cobalt. Conceived and funded by power players with both ties and interests in the Democratic Party, Operation Cobalt's goal was to destabilize and sabotage the campaign of Donald J. Trump. Our mission was not to kill Mr. Trump, nor were we connected in any way to Jared Kushner or his assassination plot.

"In March of 2016, I was recruited to act as a replacement in Operation Cobalt. In July, I underwent plastic surgery to alter my appearance. My assignment was to replace Tiffany Trump on the campaign trail. I was called into active duty in mid-August. Our operatives abducted Miss Trump and I seamlessly took her place with other Operation Cobalt members embedded within the Trump campaign. Since the demise of Donald Trump's campaign, I have had plastic surgery to return my appearance to normal. All other embedded members of my team have since had similar procedures and returned to their normal lives and occupations.

"My conspirators and I came from different walks of life and different fields of work. We were united under one common goal- undermine the election to ensure Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes President. Polling data before Mr. Trump's death suggests that we were well on our way to succeeding. While I was proud of my work with Operation Cobalt, I cannot keep living a lie. My conscience will not let me live in peace. How can I report on politics and hold government officials accountable when I myself committed one of the most egregious political crimes in the modern era?

"You may consider me a whistle-blower but really I am just a traitor to both the media and to the nation. I am fully prepared to face the consequences of my actions and I am willing to assist prosecutors in exposing and bringing to justice everyone involved in this great injustice. Thank you."

After a brief blast of static, audio and video feeds returned to normal, revealing a stunned Hillary Clinton trying to make sense of what she just heard. When she tried to assure the crowd that she knew nothing about what Pamela Brown said, she broke into a coughing fit. Somewhere in the crowd, Debbie Wasserman Schultz did her best to remain calm and fight back tears. This was going to get ugly.

REVEALED ROLES


CIVVIES:


HUMA ABEDIN
Hillary Clinton's right-hand woman and a vanilla civvie.


SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL
Counselor to President Hillary Clinton, long-time Clinton strategist and confidant, and now Counselor to the President. Vanilla civvie.


BILL CLINTON
Former President of the United States and currently serving as First Gentleman, Bill still has plenty of the charisma that launched the Clinton political dynasty. Only losing three of 12 votes in his political career (House, Governor, and impeachment), he has a 75% chance of surviving every time he collects the most votes in a lynch poll. His ability to survive lynches has no impact on a tie lynch if he is involved with one. Tied lynch polls result in no lynch.


CHELSEA CLINTON
No one in the Hillary Clinton administration knows why she came back to the White House with her parents. She holds no official roll in the administration and is a vanilla civvie.


BRIAN FALLON
White House Press Secretary and a vanilla civvie.


VICE PRESIDENT TIM KAINE
Vice Presidents are like mushrooms. They're kept in the dark and fed crap. Vanilla civvie.


CHERYL MILLS
Longtime Clinton ally and Hillary Clinton's Chief of Staff. Vanilla civvie.


ROBBY MOOK
Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign manager and now Counselor to the President. Vanilla civvie.


JENNIFER PALMIERI
Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign communications director and now the White House Director of Communications. Vanilla civvie.



THE VAST RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY:


SENATOR TED CRUZ
Still bitter about a stinging election defeat, you have sworn to prevent the Hillary Clinton Administration from making any meaningful change for the nation. Member of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy and a vanilla baddie.



WILDCARD:


JULIAN ASSANGE
Founder of WikiLeaks and an expert at stirring the pot, you are no fan of the United States government. Each night, and also Day 0, you will receive a dossier on any player of your choice, learning their role. You may not abstain from receiving these dossiers and you may only keep up to two dossiers a secret at a time. Once you have dossiers in your posession, you may choose to either implicate or expose one of the dossier subjects. Implicating exposes their role in the game thread. Exposing them will eliminate them from the game. While you have no love for the Republican Party, you can win with them, so long as you do not implicate or expose anyone on their side. As long as you keep implicating and exposing Democrats, the Republicans will not be able to nightkill you. Should you implicate or expose a Republican, you will have to win as a last man standing. At the beginning of the game, you may select one player to bring down with you should you be lynched or nightkilled. You must make this decision before receiving any dossiers and your decision cannot be changed. If this player dies before you in the game, your selection will not be made known to the rest of the game thread.

RULES AND WHATNOT

GAMEPLAY
1) Day periods last 48 hours. Night periods last 24 hours, but all PMs must be sent to the host within 23 hours so night posts can be written in a timely fashion.
2) Day 0 will last 24 hours but may be extended to 48 if not everyone has checked in/read their role PM.
3) Votes in the poll are the only votes that count. It's helpful but not mandatory that you declare your vote in the thread in a way that stands out to the host.
4) All votes are changeable. Per Executive Order #13767, all votes are now final. Votes may not be changed.
5) A tied lynch will result in no lynch. Votes matter.
6) Standard alignment wincons are in effect.
7) Dead is dead; you don't get to come back from that. Dead players will have their BTSC right removed.
8) Roles will be revealed upon death.
9) All players get to vote via PM for game MVP at the end of the game.
10) This game is closed setup.

RULES
1)Respect your fellow players, your host, and your MOD.
1a) Don't be an asshat.
1b) Don't get butthurt.
2) If youfeel like another player is out of line or making/taking things personally, contact the MOD- Dom.
3) No BTSC regarding the game outside of the game thread(s). Players are told in their rolecard if they have BTSC. If you don't have it, don't engage in it. Violating this rule will result in a modkill.
4) No editing or deleting posts.
5) Self-voting is not permitted.
6) Double-targeting is not allowed.
7) Info-dumping and role-claiming are forbidden.
8) Off-topic posts should be in OT Green.
9) Dead players are to post in Dead Red.
10) Non-Players should post in Non-Player Blue. We'll have a spectator chat if you're really interested in game details.
11) This is the host's color. Do not post in this color.
12) Participation is mandatory. Anyone who misses two votes AND fails to post during that time will be automatically replaced. If no replacements are available, a modkill may occur. If you sign up, please play. If you can't play, request replacement.

PLAYERS:

Alive:


Epignosis- Posts
Long Con- Posts
notsawyer540- Posts
thellama73- Posts


Dead:

Scotty- Posts- Lynched Day 1- Julian Assange
Elohcin- Posts- Killed Night 1- Jennifer Palmieri
S~V~S- Posts- Lynched Day 2- Tim Kaine
FZ.- Posts- Killed Night 2- Bill Clinton
Jackofhearts2005- Posts- Lynched Day 3- Ted Cruz
Quin- Posts- Lynched Day 4- Sidney Blumenthal
TheFloyd73- Posts- Killed Night 4- Cheryl Mills
Marmot- Posts- Lynched Day 5- Huma Abedin
MacDougall- Posts- Killed Night 5- Brian Fallon
DFaraday- Posts- Lynched Day 6- Chelsea Clinton
DrWilgy- Posts- Killed Night 6- Robby Mook

THE STORY SO FAR:

RED vs. BLUE and pre-game posts: BLUE vs. RED game posts:
Day 0: Inauguration Day
Day 1: Rise Up (morning)
Day 1: Can't We Just Drone This Guy?- Scotty is lynched. He was Julian Assange, an indie role.
Night 1: I Wish- Elohcin is forced out of the administration thanks to John Podesta's emails. She was Jennifer Palmieri, a vanilla civvie.
Day 2: I Think Life is Sacred- S~V~S is lynched. She was Vice President Tim Kaine, a vanilla civvie.
Night 2: Cheers to the Fall- FZ. is kicked out of the White House for fooling around with interns. She was former President Bill Clinton, a nearly unlynchable civvie.
Day 3: Cruz Control- Jackofhearts2005 is lynched. He was Ted Cruz, Republican baddie!
Night 3: Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic- No one dies.
Day 4: Every Decision That They Take Has Enormous Consequences- Quin is lynched. He was Sidney Blumenthal, a vanilla civvie.
Night 4: Suddenly I See- TheFloyd73 quits the Clinton Administration. He was Cheryl Mills, a vanilla civvie.
Day 5: There's No Detail Too Small for Me- Marmot is lynched. He was Huma Abedin, a vanilla civvie.
Night 5: Brave- After calling out reporters as 'fake news,' MacDougall leaves the administration. He was Brian Fallon, a vanilla civvie.
Day 6: Most People Are Really Nice- DFaraday is lynched. He was Chelsea Clinton, a vanilla civvie.
Night 6: Takin' Care of Business- DrWilgy is forced out thanks to more Podesta emails. He was Robby Mook, a vanilla civvie.
Endgame: Stronger- Long Con (Hillary Clinton) and Epignosis (Tom Perez) resign from office. The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy has won!