Gentlemen, we should post this as a psychological case study about the effects of paranoia and miscommunication in large and small groups.
This situation with x2, Yaskha, Busgliner, and all the craziness is a case of:
1) Not everyone being on IRC.
2) Not everyone taking the time to step OUT OF CHARACTER to establish facts at any point.
3) EVERYONE's willingness to label someone else a traitor and pass judgment about the way to handle it. Ironically, it's happening more between dwarves than between a dwarf and a non-dwarf.
I've had a very, very long chat with x2 and I'm going to have one with Bugslinger. NO ONE has had the entire story up until now, especially me. I have part of the chat log, I'm trying to figure out how to see all of it. I'll make what I have available in the interests of transparency.
So let me tell you a little story.
It's a story about 6 dwarves who went to an island to claim a fort. While many were offline, a human named Cicero came to the fortress. Argus, who is really accepting of all races, even for a dwarf, told the man he could settle outside the pallisades. x2 offered the man our friendship in return for his training expertise.
Then Gaia spoke and said the man would have a home by the small lake south of the fortress. This is what I've been told. (i.e. the man complained to the admins and they made a ruling.)
At this point, Iuro met this man, and being dwarfy and hostile to anyone near our fortress, treated him as most dwarves would in that case. He supposedly took things from the human. Argus, who had dealt with the human in good faith so far, defended him against Iuro. Iuro felt he had the right, and I think most of us wouldn't disagree.
Then Horatio showed up, and Bugslinger, sides were taken, blows were exchanged. Cicero disappeared eventually and Argus took up residence in his house.
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I'm going to stop the story here. There's a lot of mistrust between some dwarves, on both an RP level and on a meta level. Dwarves have killed dwarves both thinking they were in the right. That's gotta stop. I won't stand for infighting in Abaloddom. If you can't solve your differences, you're all threats to the peace of this fortress and you'll be banished, I don't care which side of if you're on. And yes, I can claim the moral high ground since I've yet, in two games, to harm a fellow dwarf.
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On with the story. Today, a human named Yashka showed up at the fortress. I suspect they are, yet again, someone we've dealt with before who really has a hard on for getting into our fortress, because we don't let anyone in.
They made a lot of big talk about having been in both forts as they please, yadda yadda. I gave them my normal reaction, which is "good for you, next time it's your ass."
And then not five minutes later, Yashka used a teleport stone, and ended up at a rune circle in HFS. He came down the North Gate where he met Argus and Bugslinger. Argus didn't want ot let him in, but Bugslinger, who I havent' spoken too, supposedly let him, citing it as an extreme circumstance.
Right about then, Horatio, who has a grudge against both Argus and Bugslinger for past misunderstandings, comes on the scene. He informs me what's going on. My response is, kill that bastard, because I JUST warned him he wasn't allowed in. Horatio acted, COMPLETELY WITHIN REASON, and Bugslinger, in a repeat of what happened before, attacked Horatio because he was attacking a "guest."
I'm going to stop the story here. again.
#1. What does extreme circumstance mean? It means a person KNOWN TO THE FORTRESS THAT WE CONSIDER A FRIEND IS IN GRAVE DANGER AND NEEDS SAFETY IN OUR WALLS. Everyone else, let them starve, burn, be eaten by undead. I thought this was clear but apparently some are still interpreting it liberally. NO NON-MEMBER SHOULD EVER BE INSIDE THE WALLS.
#2. Again. I respect people's right to RP being noble, or less than noble, or more dwarfy, or whatever. But people's willingness to fight first and ask questions later is the cause of a lot of this.
#3. Yashka was and has been playing our ignorance off of each other. This is why we created the IRC channel. To dispel confusion. Some of us have been using it. Some have not. If you're not going to use IRC, remember, you can always (OOC) something. I prefer that to people killing each other.
#4. I think you guys know my leadership style pretty well by now. I'm all for killing people, but I think it through. When I say kill someone, it's because I'm damn sure they should be dead. Horatio, even though he acted with probably a bit too much zeal, was entirely in the right, and I'm sorry, Bugslinger was in teh wrong. Yashka may or may not have known where his TP would take him. But he basically lied his ass off left and right, because he knows me and he knows I'm paying attention, so I don't believe anything he said.
On with the story.
Bugslinger hits Horatio in defense of Yaskha while he's following my orders and the rules of the fort. (Although bug kind of threw a wrench in that by being nice.)
Right about then I show up and do a terrible job of trying to kill Yashka, while Horatio demands Bugslinger and Argus kill him, while Yashka tries to bargain his way out of the mess by offering to show everyone secrets we already know about, that we technical could own if we wanted ot.
So, out of all this insanity, Yashka is eventually escorted out. During this time, we're all practically screaming at x2 in IRC "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!" and he's not responding. Apparently he changed his nick and got dropped from the channel, and was not seeing anything we were saying.
I have a quick, unsatisfying RP chat with Argus where I basically warn him that a lot of suspicion is on him and bug, for this and prior things.
But other members, just about everyone including senior members, convinced me we'd let this go on long enough. So I banished Argus, and was by default planning on it for Bugslinger.
But x2, FINALLY, got back to me and we had a 30 minute chat.
What is at issue is that 1) the people that tend to be involved in anything have a grudge against each other and don't talk it out, they just arrpee the blood shedding, 2) we have a quasi infiltrator who basically keeps coming back to our fortress one way or another, 3) some people are very close through IRC and some people are oblivious. Use IRC. Be informed. Fuck RP-justified ignorance, it's just causing drama, and 4) some RP playstyles/characters are not sympatico with the fortress. Some people are just more forgiving and accepting of non-members than others. But let's be clear for the 1,000th, no non-members in the fortress, period. A non-member friend of the fortress is someone that has posted here, and shown themselves to be a trusted friend over a long period of time. NO NON MEMBER HAS YET FIT THAT DESCRIPTION.
I am willing to re-instate Argus back into the fortress under these conditions:
1) He agrees that he lets no-non member into the fortress, regardless of his RP inclinations. He's not actually guilty of this, but the perception is that he is, because of the Cicero incident.
2) Bugslinger, Horatio, and Argus agree to NOT EXCHANGE BLOWS OVER HONOR. Yer dwarves damn it, act like it. Bugslinger I need to talk to, but Horatio was in the right in most of these incidents as I read. You all need to agree to a truce for this to work.
Following this:
We're going to create a council, so there's a little more debate and we got more viewpoints than just crazy-eyed dwarf xenophobes. More on this latter.
Phew. I sympathize with the goddamn Warren Commission all of the sudden.