The Witch's Game (From Umineko no Naku Koro ni)
The Witch's Game is a pure battle of wits using nothing but text!
The game is played between two teams, the Humans and the Witch.
The Witch is the Game's Master, and everyone else plays on the Human team with the goal of defeating the Witch.
The Game Master will weave together a tale, creating a scenario in which one or more people are murdered in a mysterious fashion.
The game is centered around these mysteries.
The Witch's goal is to convince the Human team that the mysterious events can only be explained through the use of a Witch's Magic!
The Witch is allowed to use any amount of deception and illusions in their narrative to accomplish that goal. However, a witch can't be trusted!
After all, there's no such thing as magic right? The illusions shown in the narrative must have an explanation!
So, the goal of the Human team is to come up with an explanation, ANY explanation that explains how a human could have possibly committed the crimes.
The Human team wins if they are able to explain the crimes through human means.
However, isn't this too easy? You can just come up with any crazy explanation and claim that you have won...
But the Witch is given a single weapon to fight against these crazy theories!
That weapon is the Witch's
Red Truth!When the Witch speaks in red, it will be the truth.
When the Witch speaks the truth, it will be in red.By using the Red Truth, the Witch is able to cut down opposing theories and preserve the illusion of magic.
Red statements are the only trustworthy words that a Witch will speak. They are the only absolute truth within this game.In other words, if it's not in red, you have every right to doubt it!
The Witch may use the Red Truth at his or her own leisure.
If the human team asks a question, the Witch can choose whether or not to answer it in red.
If the human team asks for a statement to be repeated in red, the Witch has every right to refuse should he/she choose to do so.
It's the Witch's ultimate weapon!
However, isn't this a bit unfair, again?
If the Red Truth is the one thing in this game that can be trusted, what if the Witch never speaks in red? What if he/she just never drops a single solid footing for the human team to stand on, and vanishes forever within the shadow of illusions?
With no lead, the humans stand no chance, which is why they are given a weapon of their own!
That weapon is the counteracting
Blue Truth!A blue statement must provide a complete theory on how a mystery is possible for humans.
If the blue statement is valid, then it MUST be countered in red, or the Witch must forfeit that mystery to the Human team.In other words, if the Human team can land a Blue Truth for every mystery in the tale that the Witch is unable to counter, it is their win!
There is no limit to the amount of Blue Truth you can say, as long as it provides a valid human theory, you can fire away.
That's the game's premise. If it doesn't make sense to you, don't worry. Once you give it a try you'll understand how it works very quickly.
The remaining rules are just some logistical guidelines to follow.
There will be one Witch and Game Master for each game session.
The Witch's Red Truths will be spoken in
Bold and the colour "red".
Everyone else is on the Human team.
The Human team's Blue Truths will be spoken also in
Bold and the colour "dodgerblue" (This one you have to type out).
Should the human team win, the person who lands the final blue truth can decide the next Witch.
The last thing is a guarantee of fairness in the game. As this must be a fair game in nature, the Witch must have an appropriate line of "logic" for the Human team to find. In other words, to be a fair game, the human team needs to have a fair chance at winning.
Any situation where a Witch's red truths make it truly impossible to construct a blue truth is called a "Logic Error". It is the one thing the Witch cannot allow to happen on their gameboard.
In any situation where you don't trust the game itself and suspect a Logic Error has occurred, we can call in an "Observer".
The Observer will check that the Witch's Logic is still valid and does not contradict any of the prior red truths.
I feel we should be able to trust each other enough to avoid this happening though. There really shouldn't be a reason to cheat.
Understand? Then let's give this a shot!
I will be the first Game Master. Since I've done this before it's best this way to give everyone a chance to figure out how everything works.
I won't be holding back, so come at me with everything you've got!
The First GameIt's in the middle of the summer holidays. You're on a road trip with three of your older cousins: Bill, Bob, and Fred. (Your cousins have some really common names, don't they?)
You've been on the road for a while, and one look at the sky tells you it's about time to find a place to stay. Fortunately, Fred has already made arrangements to spend the night in an acquaintance's house along the way.
Eventually it appears that you've arrived at said house, as Bob starts to pull the car into a long driveway.
When the house comes into view, you drop your jaws.
The house is MASSIVE. It's a full blown mansion. Whoever lives here is obviously incredibly rich.
Bob parks the car in front of a large gate. Everyone leaves the car and walks over.
Fred rings up the pager. You hear a few quick words exchanged, and then a loud click as the gate is unlocked.
There's an ominous creak as Fred slowly opens the large gates. Upon closer inspection, the whole mansion is incredibly eerie. The garden is overgrown, the paint is peeling off the walls, and the whole place looks almost abandoned.
"Don't tell me there's only the one guy living here?" You ask nobody in particular.
Bill grins and answers. "Yeah. He's a bit of an eccentric. Don't worry, despite everything he's still a pretty nice guy."
"And it's okay to just stay in this place overnight? For free?" You're somewhat skeptical of the idea.
Bill laughs. "No, we'll be staying in the guesthouse just around the back. He doesn't let anyone into the actual mansion."
All of you walk up to the front door anyways. "We just need to pick up the key to the guesthouse," Fred explains.
He knocks on the door, once, twice, three times. You hear a raspy voice coming from the other end.
"Yes?? Who is it??."
"It's just us. We're here to pick up the key to the guesthouse."
The door opens and suddenly there's a face staring you right in the eyes.
"And WHO are you??"
You shrink back intimidated. You try to answer but your voice catches.
Bob drops a hand on your shoulder and you relax a little bit. "He's just our little cousin. He'll be staying with us tonight this time."
The face smiles. "Ahh, is that it? I know, I'll trust the key to our little newcomer, why don't I?"
He hands you a key. You take it timidly, still a bit unnerved by the strange old man.
"'ank you..."
"Yes, thank you." Fred takes you by the arm and makes for the guesthouse. Everyone else thanks the man as well and follows after you.
As you leave, you hear the voice one more time. "Have a good night. And watch out for the witch..."
You soon reach the guesthouse, and are surprised to discover that it looks much nicer than the rest of the property.
The paint isn't peeling off the walls, the garden looks well maintained... The contrast with what you just walked away from is almost creepy.
"C'mon, open the door." Bob points to the entrance of the guest house.
You hold out the key, which glimmers slightly in the sunset. It's shiny enough to match the rest of the guesthouse.
The lock clicks and the door opens easily. The inside of the guesthouse looks just as welcoming as the outside.
The space is relatively small. As far as you can tell, only one floor exists.
Right as you enter the guesthouse you see a common room with a small table and a kitchen only just large enough to prepare a simple meal. A couch sits next to a tiny stone fireplace, where a stack of firewood sits in a neat pile.
Apart from the entrance, there are three more doors that each lead to a small bedroom. There was barely enough room for one bed and a small closet in each room, so you are surprised that each room has its own bathroom.
With only three beds, you sigh as you realize that you'll likely be the one stuck with the couch. Just as you finish your exploration, you hear Bob calling for you.
"Foods up!"
As it's getting late, dinner is just a simple sandwich. As you sit down to eat, you ask everyone the question that's been on your mind.
"So who is this "Witch" that we should watch out for?"
Fred explains. "They say that in this very guesthouse, there lives a Witch who practices dark magic..."
You gulp as you listen to stories about mysterious events and missing people.
Come to think of it, maybe that's why the guesthouse feels so different. All of a sudden, it becomes easy to imagine a Witch living secretly in a hidden basement, listening to our conversation even now...
Just as you're thinking of this, Bill stands up suddenly and declares that it's time to sleep. "Gotta hit the road early tomorrow, right? Let's try to be up by 8am!"
Just as expected, the three cousins quickly claim one of the guestrooms, leaving you in the central room on the couch.
Bill is to sleep in the room to the left of the entrance, Bob on the right, and Fred takes the room in the back.
You hear a click, then another, and one more as each of them lock their doors behind them. You gulp, terrified at the prospect of staying alone during the night with a Witch in the house. After locking the front door and checking that you still have the key, you lie down on the couch and close your eyes.
Despite being a bit scared, sleep comes swiftly. Before you know it, everything goes black.
In the dead of night, a Witch cackles to herself. "What have we here? These boys dare trespass on MY property?"
The Witch stands alone in the center of the dining area. She glances at the sleeping face on the couch.
"Hmm, this is a new face. Mayhaps I shall let you off today."
She turns to each of the guestroom doors.
"But what excuse can be found for the rest? Did they not heed my warnings last time?"
"Tonight, they shall learn the limits of my patience. And let it be a warning to the little one, not to show his face again."
She walks slowly over to Bill's room. The door is locked, but that means nothing to a Witch. She traces a pattern with her hand and disappears, rematerializing on the other side of the door.
The Witch is not here to show mercy today. A knife appears in her hand, and without hesitation she plunges it straight into Bill's heart. He doesn't have time to wake up or scream. An instant death.
One by one, she repeats the same motions with the other two cousins. Then, with one last cackle, she fades into the night.
You feel the light shine on your eyes, and wake up. Despite everything, you actually slept quite well. You glance at the clock.
9:00am.
Wasn't the time to wake up supposed to be 8? Why isn't anyone else around?
You walk over to Bill's door and knock. "Bill? Are you up?"
There's no answer. You call out again to no avail. You try the doorknob, but the door is locked.
In the pit of your stomach you begin to feel a sense of dread.
You dash over to each of the other rooms, calling your cousins' names. Silence is your only answer, made stronger by the rattling of the doorknobs as you try each door.
You recall the stories from last night. Those who stayed in the guesthouse have never come out alive...
It can't be. Those were only stories right? Is there really a Witch? Did she do something to them!?
You have to make sure.
You unlock the front door, and run around do Bill's window.
Then you scream.
The curtains are open. And lying on the bed is a body that can only be Bill's, in a pool of red liquid that can only be blood.
You panic. You rattle the windows but they're locked from the inside.
With no other option you grab a rock and smash the window. Reaching the lock inside, you open the window, you climb in.
There's blood everywhere. In the middle of it all is a body, which you recognize can't be anyone but Bill. You yell in desperation and swear revenge at the attacker.
But there's nobody in the room.
You realize that Fred and Bob didn't answer either.
You rush around the outside again and smash each of their windows to get inside. The situation is the same for all of them.
A huge amount of complex emotions eat at your mind.
Sadness over the incomprehensible thing that just happened.
Anger at the unknown assailant.
But most importantly, fear... Fear that you'll be next.
You rush back into the guesthouse, slam the door shut, and lock up.
Hiding under the table, your thoughts turn back to what you just witnessed.
Who could have possibly done this? You remember that the windows and doors were locked, so it couldn't have been just anybody...
In the first place, you locked the door to the guesthouse. How did they get in? And they must have passed you in the common room, so...
Why aren't you dead yet?
These thoughts lead you to an inevitable conclusion... That the story about the Witch is true, and that this is only possible through the use of dark magic.
But can you really believe that? Just accept that magic exists?
.....
It is now 12:00 PM. Let us begin our game, humans.
