The decay of the Town of Salem (Collaborative Project)

My name is John Dough. When I moved to to the town of Salem (population turned out to be 16, I expected a little more, but this town was just starting out when I moved in), so many things just seemed off. No one had a name that sounded reasonable, most just had some nickname. To protect the identities of the members of Salem, I have given them some fake names. When I moved in, I really thought I would end out becoming a town member. I was a member of the town, but the mafia wanted a leader. These 2 men named Samuel Sewall and Samuel Parris were the first to greet me. They claimed to be a simple hitman and a person who can frame the town for us. At least they were being honest. One night the town discovered the mafia was present. We refer to this as the start of the events: Night 1. Night 1 is the start of the events and my journal, the Town of Salem.

• Night 1: Since I was not very experienced I told Samuel Sewall to pin the blame on anyone he wanted. Samuel Parris could kill anyone they wanted, just as long as they avoided the veteran. What mattered was that my men would do something immediately. 

• Day 1: Samuel Parris ended out killing a man named Deodat Lawson. He was the vigilante. That day, Samuel Sewall committed suicide. He was our Framer. Our chance at wasting the town's investigators time. We decided to lynch a man known as Giles Corey, but someone thought they were a jester. If we lynch a jester, it is more than just our time we lose. 

• Night 2: Now that we had our framer gone, it was one less man for me to boss around. Samuel and I conferred over killing the jester, but we decided to go for another random town member, James Bayley. Besides, Giles sounded like a target more suitable for the serial killer. 

• Day 2: As I predicted, Giles died by serial killer and James was shot by the mafia. Giles was acting like a jester, but he actually turned out to be a doctor. James turned out to be an escort. And Samuel Sewall showed up as a framer. I took an advantage of this situation."Well that's one less problem to deal with!" We discovered a new person named James Russel who was acting like a jester. A wise person named Steve greeted us, and I felt like he was a man of trust to us and the town. He seemed worth holding onto, but I still had to keep in mind about that they say about wise guys.

• Night 3: If Steve could be trusted, he might come across as the voice of reason. I pointed to his name on the list. Samuel said that there might be a lookout coming to spy on the visitors. If Samuel was caught, the tables could turn real fast for us. We ended up killing Cotton Mather, someone who sounded like an unimportant town member.

• Day 3: Upon heading out to the town square, we noticed the corpse of Cotton. He was killed by the Mafia and the Serial Killer. Further investigation revealed to us that he was the lookout. No more worries for us about who we kill. Steve shortly blurted out "And no I'm not serial killer, what a good lookout he was". Cotton's will stated that Steve was the Godfather. We decided to hold on to this advantage for a little while. This day, the town lynched Thomas Danforth. During his trial, he claimed investigator, but provided no evidence. The town lynched him, and there was no will. To make matters worse for the town, he was the actual investigator, and it is a generally trusted endeavor to make a will based off findings.

• Night 4: Now, we decided to target Steve. He was one of the last voices of reason for the town. When we get rid of the smart town members, we could start messing with the town. Unfortunately for us, he was in jail, so our attack for the night could not proceed.

• Day 4: The only new member of the graveyard was a man named John Hathorne. He was found stabbed by the serial killer. His will revealed that he was the sheriff. We caught a break, since he did not interrogate any of us before his death. Steve quickly blurted out that he was attacked, but stated he was in jail. I decided to see if I could spark a random lynching and get another townie dead today. I and 2 other men voted to send John Willard up, but that was not enough support. I put my vote away, and decided to wait until night to make my next move. 

• Night 5: We were tempted to kill Russel next, since we reasoned he was the jester. I actually decided to kill someone else. I had a feeling we knew the serial killer, but the only way I could speak up about it was if I mentioned they were immune to an attack. The town's only killing was already dead, so it would exploit me as a mafia. If we chose to kill the jester, that would be worth a few more days alive, but our priority was getting the town out first. Samuel ended up suggesting we kill John Proctor, and I decided he would be a good target.

• Day 5: Willard and Proctor were gone. Willard was the doctor. Samuel had decided to leave a note near the corpse of John Proctor. What he said was that Steve was immune and that he was the serial killer. All the odds stacked up against Steve. He claimed to be the town's Medium. He was either that or the Serial Killer. The serial killer always manages to win over the mafia, and if we lynched a town member, it would be one body closer to our goal. Unless he was Jester, we had nothing to lose. He actually ended out being the medium. The last town member was gone.

• Night 6: I managed to figure out the odds tonight. One Serial Killer, Two Mafias, an Executioner, and one Jester. Samuel figured out who was who- Jonathan Corwin was the executioner, a man named William Phips was the serial killer, and Russel was the jester. All we had to do was arrange the odds to our likings. 

• Day 6: Unfortunately, the Serial Killer narrowed down the roles too. Samuel was dead. My last partner in crime was found stabbed by the Serial Killer. Samuel did manage to deduce the roles correctly, as Russel and Corwin confirmed their roles. Corwin told me that since he had finished with executing his target, he was willing to help the mafia. Russel told me that he was the jester, and as long as I sent him up to the lyncher, he would help the mafia win. I was uneasy. If I did lynch him, he could haunt me, and if I killed him at night, as the Serial killer always trumps the Mafia. I chose to vote James Russel up and have faith. The serial killer cast his vote first. I could not decide if I should vote too. If I voted guilty, it is possible that I could be haunted to the point where the only way out was committing suicide. I at first cast an innocent vote, but at the last moment I decided to abstain. The jester was lynched because one person voted guilty- the serial killer. "The jester will get his revenge from the grave!" That was all I needed to hear.

• Night 7: Even though the executioner was helping me, I had to attack him. For all I could know, he might have become a jester, and he might have been pulling off a decent job. I had to test that he was not the jester. Even though I would finish up successfully, I had to silence him in the rare case something was wrong. He was immune to my attack. That was a good sign to me.

• Day 7: As I walked out to see Corwin still alive and a dead serial killer, I knew I had been victorious. Samuel Parris could rest easily knowing I had fulfilled one of his desires- the mafia took over Salem. For Samuel Sewall, he left too soon to see the mafia come to victory. The executioner got his enemy lynched. and the jester got the gratification of being lynched. I could feel the anguish of the serial killer. He was the only man foolish enough to vote guilty on the jester when we were pretty much shouting about getting the jester to haunt him. Last night, he probably could not get over the guilt of stabbing so many innocent lives, and lynching the jester was his biggest problem now.  My work was finally finished.

To anyone who may find this journal- Please note that the town was a bit off indeed. To protect the reputations of the town members, most of the people were renamed. If I am dead, you may share this journal. If I am alive, you may share this journal, but please note John Dough was just one of my pseudonyms. Since you now know of that name, I must switch to a different fake name now. Thank you for taking a look at my journal.

Jacob Bacci