BackgroundThree thousand years ago, a malevolent entity created a race of parasites to subjugate early humanity. He operated out of a shrine near Stockhorn mountain, which in modern times is named Chalchmädere. A benevolent entity, in turn, gave the nearby humans the means to combat these parasites. He operated out of a shrine in Bürgli hill, near what is now the village of Zwieselberg.
The ancient people mostly destroyed the parasites, though a handful remained hidden in nearby marshes. Though they lost contact with their God, they managed to find the occasional host and breed - just a few at a time over many millennia - until they approached their previous strength.
A week before the gameA medical researcher by the name of Weber, who happened to live in the village, noticed personality changes in the people around him. Though suspicious, he carried on with his everyday business until one day while out on a walk a passer-by accosted him, tearing out her own throat and revealing a parasite entwined with her spine. The parasite entered his body via his mouth, but because of his naturally low body temperature (a one-in-a-trillion genetic mutation), he was not affected.
After the mass suicide, Weber sought to understand the parasites. Finding their nest in the swamp, he studied them. He had a theory that if he allowed them to enter his body, he would produce antibodies that may help others without natural immunity.
Days before the gameThe ranger, Schulz, finds Zwieselberg.
Detachment 10 takes over the situation in Zwieselberg and attempts to quarantine the district of Thun. It sets up roadblocks in the neighbouring towns of Amsoldingen and Reutigen.
Day OneAriel reports via a thermal scan that the soldiers are the only people in the area. This is accurate, as Weber has a low body temperature.
The Parasites attack Zwieselberg.
The soldiers dig a mass grave in the Marshes. This results in Nun being bitten by a bug. The bugs are very early larval forms of the parasite species, which poison potential hosts so that parasites at a latter stage of development can take them more easily.
If the soldiers had dug on the hills, there would have been no risk of infection. (They still would have the opportunity to find and possibly kill Weber later.)
The Parasites also attack Amsoldingen and Reutigen.
Night OneThe following Parasite actions happened:
Delta_Cribs -> Sigma_Kez
Sigma_Jen -> Delta_Minoru
Lambda_Fudge -> Sigma_Ted
Incredibly, Lambda_Clark managed to induct Lambda_False into the Cult on the first night.
Day TwoThe soldiers kill Weber. If left alive, he would have cured Nun and given a description of what happened in town, before departing. His expertise would have eventually helped the soldiers in Reutigen combat the infection more effectively.
Ted, who was really the Parasite Fudge, was killed. Orange's early instincts were spot on: he also outed Cribs on Day One, but was ignored.
The soldiers sweep the cabin for clues. The clues were given via PM, with instructions to describe them without copy/pasting them. (I expected this to result in more theory-crafting than it actually did. In retrospect, I should have allowed the clues to be copy/pasted.)
The personal diary found by Sat was an easter egg. It read:
Im Spiegel, mit unzähligen zappelnden Händen, die sich ausstrecken / Komm, locken Sie jemanden hierher. This translates to:
In the mirror, with countless wriggling hands reaching out / Come, lure someone here. This was both a reflection on the researcher's frame of mind as he observed his own parasite-ridden body, and a reference to the lyric
Kagami no naka de ugomeki nobashite kuru musuu no te de / Saa dareka o koko e izanai nasai in the theme song of
Higurashi. (Unlike the other hints in the game, I obviously didn't really expect anyone to get that...)
Night TwoAriel starts to get very confused and upset about a question it can't answer with its simulations: if the Parasites are a naturally occurring species, why hasn't this happened before? Humans have inhabited the area since the Bronze Age.
Parasites:
Delta_Minoru -> Delta_Mog
Sigma_Kez -> Gamma_Hexx
Lambda_Nun -> Lambda_Sat
Irene patrolled near Kez as he tore out his own throat, and I thought there was a chance he might make a post about it -- it's weird in an AYA? game to have the Witch Doctor role and have someone you protect still die! But I guess to be fair it would have meant revealing his role.
This was the night Clark recruited Hype.
Day ThreeWe had the exploration of the two temples on this day. The temple at Bürgli contains the Cleansing Pool, which kills normal parasites and downgrades upgraded ones. Chalchmädere contains a vortex called the Maelstrom - in which the malevolent entity who created the Parasites lives - which converts normal Humans and kills the Cold-Blooded. It also upgrades normal Parasites to Pupae (in a public fashion, as the increased body temperature is detected by Ariel).
If Orange had succeeded with his puzzle, he would have been given a demonstration of how the Cleansing Pool kills parasites. If Denster had failed his puzzle, the Map would not have been revealed. This would have given the Parasites the opportunity to stealthily kill one of the explorers of Chalchmädere (because the terrain would be less familiar).
Mario became Cold-Blooded, which granted him immunity from infection. He could only be killed by the Pupa.
The Event caused Sykes to become a Parasite, and upgraded Mog to a Pupa. Mog couldn't be killed (except by Sniper shot); instead, the Cleansing Pool downgraded him.
The ghosts who screamed out from the vortex were the people Mog had previously inhabited. I tried to foreshadow this a little when Tomous' soul cried out early on in the game.
Night ThreeParasites:
Gamma_Hexx -> Delta_Orange
Sat's attempt to change hosts to Sykes was interrupted by Sykes becoming a Parasite in the Event, which was incredibly bad luck.
Day FourQikz became Cold-Blooded.
Documents are rescued from the plane. In secret, Sat manages to sabotage an important document describing the crew's orders. If this document had survived, the soldiers would have been given the option to destroy the road to Amsoldingen.
Also rescued from the plane are Binoculars, which gave Sat the bonus role of Tracker; Night Vision Goggles, which gave Growth the bonus role of Patrol Officer; and a Sniper Rifle, which gave Rik the bonus role of Sniper.
Night FourMario is killed by being cast into the Maelstrom by Mog. Secretly, this was 1/3 required to unlock the Imago.
Parasites:
Lambda_Sat -> Gamma_Dan
Sigma_Sykes -> Gamma_Pancake
Dan had already locked in a Patrol near Drum, so the action Delta_Orange -> Gamma_Drum was blocked. This is due to the resolution order of actions outlined in my full rules.
Errkal gained access to Orange's account this night with his Spy ability.
Day Five(I had a migraine more or less all day, so the writing quality took a sharp downturn...)
Mog is downgraded back into a normal parasite, which means that the Parasites have no way of killing Cold-Blooded without spending an action upgrading someone.
The flight recording outlines the pilot resisting an infected copilot. The original Event showed the pilot was infected. This was supposed to be a hint that the Parasites were jumping from host to host. (I probably didn't emphasise it enough, so I blame myself for this being overlooked.)
Hype was punished. Clark, his Cult Leader, decides to enact the Cult Ritual. He sacrifices Hype to turn himself into a Parasite.
Pancake, who was of course infected and not really Pancake, decided to use his Sniper ability on Iron. Because Sniper is a free and not a night action, it succeeded despite Iron being Acting Commander. (I was worried this may have felt unfair, but it was an intended possibility; it was in the rules from the start, and emphasised in role PMs.)
Night FiveFalse was intended to be allowed to recruit a new Parasite from Amsoldingen today, which was a result of the road to Amsoldingen being still intact. (This was an Event consequence.) Because he got Clark, I nullified that ability.
Parasites:
Gamma_Pancake -> Delta_Tiarny
Delta_Mog -> Gamma_Drum
Lambda_Clark -> Gamma_Irene
Gamma_Dan -> Delta_Mini
Growth patrolled near Rik, preventing the action Delta_Orange -> Gamma_Rik. Orange was very unlucky to get blocked twice in a row, and it led to his death.
Day SixOrange was killed, after being stuck in the same body for too long.
Growth sniped Errkal and Rik sniped Edd, making it mathematically possible for the Parasites to win on Night Six.
False got a recruit from Reutigen, which would have been prevented if Weber were still alive. Because of this, Grey became a Parasite.
Parasites:
Delta_Tiarny -> Gamma_Growth
Gamma_Irene -> Lambda_Bob
Delta_Mini -> Delta_Denster
Gamma_Drum -> Sigma_Daz
Though they won on numbers, they elected to launch the flares and win in style.
After the gameThe parasites take over the world, naturally...!