>>2256505
Nice to see you back, Vox.

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>>2256505
You bring Bifrost and your armor into the bathroom, and the Rook doesn't question it. Like the rest of his apartment that you've seen so far, it's neat and clean in here. There's even women's shampoo & conditioner in the hanging rack stuck to the wall with suction cups, there with the men's. For a moment your brain goes 'something's fucky with that' until you pick up a bottle and realize it's completely full.

For guests, then.

You lock the bathroom door and shower with Bifrost in whatever hand you aren't using to scrub yourself down. You also take some time with the wet wipes beneath the sink to wash down your coat, knowing you'll have to give it something better later. Without a whole lot of second choices, you get back into your dirty, bloody clothes (note to self, shower again when you get home) and pad back out, boots in your hand. You set them next to the door, with the Rook's own steel-toed stompers. The Wizened has pulled his couch out into a futon and set the worry doll on a pillow. There's even a comfortable down comforter, which strikes you as odd until your brain catches up to the bit where he has the AC here cranked as low as it can physically go. It's chilly in the Rook's home, despite - and probably because of - the burning Summer outside and his running machines.

"I'll be in my room after my shower," the Rook tells you. "...And remember, you can wake up from the dream if you need to. It concerns my memories of the Fairest of Lands."

And with that, he vanishes into his bathroom. You hear the click of the lock behind him.

"Nothing for it, I guess," you murmur. You drape your twilight mail over the back of the futon and settle down to sleep with Bifrost's hilt in your hand. Drifting off to sleep takes most of the Rook's shower, but the worry doll does its job, pulling you into the dream contained inside.

The first thing that hits you is the sound.

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>>2256547
You're in some kind of vast tent - tent, you call it, as if the big top isn't so high, so stupidly and absurdly high that there are clouds inside of it, on which dance Lost and Fae and shrieking mortals kept form falling by chains of wind and moonlight - but even here, in the press of bodies fae and Fae, you can hear more outside. Barkers invite people to try a game of four-dimensional darts, voices over loudspeakers announce faaaaaaaaaaaaaabulous prizes! above the din and the press. You hear voices like silver bells, voices like slabs of lead, feel the press of some chrome nightmare dripping greasy oil -

You push yourself forward to the front of the crowd and catch sight of the Board. It is the size of the tent floor. It is the size of an entire world. It is the size of a fold-out chessboard, the sort of kitzchy thing you get at the Dollar Tree. You hold yourself up on the railing, letting your brain tease the three conflicting sensations out.

Arcadia. The Rook hadn't been kidding.

At either end of the Board, on seats like towers, are Fae. One, playing white, is an elegant Lady, all points and angles, who lounges in her seat with a bored expression that is belied by the glint of predatory glee in eyes that whip and whirl in her skull. Long blonde hair spills from her scalp, all the long miles down towards the floor, where it twines with the collars of her slaves. Her opponent leers from its side of the Board, a pair of white eyes - cartoonish and blank, half-moon things that hover above an ornate collar of silver - suspended in a cloud of roiling darkness. Every now and again, the darkness shifts, revealing pulsating organs.

The roiling darkness speaks, its voice tearing paper arranged into words: Knight takes pawn.

Down on the Board you hear a voice, a woman's - "Matthew!"

She's a pretty thing, with red hair and a scattering of freckles, though you aren't used to the idea of disheveled Fairest - her armor, all of woven bones, has more holes than protection, and she clutches her left wrist with her hand hanging limp. She has violet eyes, and you follow their gaze to someone else.

Someone with television-screen eyes. He doesn't have his headphones yet, or the fiber-optics, but he stands with his hand in his white coat's pocket, his face a mask of cold rage.

The Rook's square expands, sketching itself out into an arena of sand, littered with stones and blown by a cutting wind. A huge Ogre comes charging at him, dressed in black livery. The Rook hurls a stone at his head, and when the Ogre dodges left to get away from it, your Wizened friend pulls a flintlock from his pocket and fires. The Ogre topples, clutching the spray of blood his groin has become, eyes wide with unthinking pain.

The Rook beats his skull in with a rock, that calculating anger never leaving his face.

"Pawn takes Knight," the elegant Lady announces. "Pawn, name your reward."

"Heal her," the Rook declares, pointing at the red-haired Fairest.

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>>2256576
The Lady waves a hand and it is done; wounds fill in, armor repairs itself, even the exhaustion evident on the Fairest's face drains away.

"Matthew no," she pleads. "What about you?"

"I'll make it," the Rook answers, his expression softening as he reassures her. "I have a plan."

Those words! A flurry of betting erupts, the sound of it enough to make you clutch your ears and fall to your knees in front of the railing. You watch the Board go back to its previous state, see the Rook move one square forward with a slow formality.

The moves blur, in the dream. Changeling pieces are sent, directed, ordered. Some contests are combat; others are games, or challenges. You see two compete to track down a butterfly; the loser is exsanguinated on the spot, fed to the elegant Lady, who drains them with a lazy gesture. Through it all, the Rook and the red-haired Fairest keep their eyes on each other, watch one another, expend their boons on each other. A wish from the Rook gets the Fairest a long spear of dark oak, tipped in smoking circuits. A boon from her gives him headphones that squeeze his ears, protecting him from the screeches of an upcoming foe.

The bets fly; that the Pawn will die before he crosses. That he will die in battle. No, to a riddle. That he will betray the Fairest for his freedom. Pawn wins, but the Lady loses, and more - bets on how the battlefields will change themselves, about how this move will affect the next game, about more and more.

And then he does it. Your friend crosses to the other side of the Board.

"Pawn, name your promotion," the elegant Lady demands.

Your friend picks himself up over the ruins of his opponent, a fellow Wizened, dead in agony. He laughs, bitterly, and spits a gob of blood. "Rook."

The cacophony of elation and despair from the betting Fae and Lost in the crowd is deafening. The bookies that move through the crowd laugh in hollow voices as they rake in strange payments and dole out Tokens, souls, keys to shackles. You see a teenage catch something golden and glimmering and touch it to the collar on her neck; she fades away, laughing in pure-hearted triumph.

"White claims a bonus movement," a voice booms. The Lady lifts her hand, only to stop herself; the Rook has gestured sharply at his friend.

"Pawn takes Queen," he says, clearly. "Rook takes player in five moves."

"You lie," the Lady answers, dismissively.

"In Your name, I speak no lie. Pawn takes Queen. Rook takes Player in five moves."

The Lady's gaze looks to the Fairest.

"I trust Matthew," she says boldly. "I can do it."

There is a long hush, so pregnant with anticipation that some of the audience even forgets to bet.

"Pawn takes Queen."

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>>2256604
The dream blurs again, time or something like it whipping by in a haze. The Fairest crosses the board, claiming Bishop as her title; she is graced with a white stole, trimmed in purple. The Rook begins to take command of the game, suggesting moves to the elegant Lady, whose whip-whirl eyes follow him with interest. Pieces vanish, murdered or disabled (the wounded are dragged, screaming, into a game box to the side of the Board, where they beg to be let back out into the light in pleading voices that can only ever be heard when the crowd is quiet).

"Rook takes player," the Lady announces. The glee in her voice is childish and cruel. "You lose! You loooooooooose!"

That tearing-paper voice: I will enter the Board and confront the Rook. I refuse the forfeit.

The red-haired Fairest bites her perfect nails, her eyes locked on the Rook. She sways from side to side, her face white with terror.

"I name Russian Roulette," the Rook answers, calmly. "Does the Player know the rules?"

No, comes the answer.

The bookies cackle with glee as they are swarmed under by gamblers, by desperate souls, by slaves yearning to be free.

"Six-chambered revolver. One bullet is inserted. The chamber is spun. The weapon will be fired at each of us in turn until one is shot by a bullet. The one shot loses." As the Rook speaks, a table forms on his square, with two chairs; the cloud of darkness settles into one, and the Rook takes the other. "You are the challenged. Who is to be shot first?"

I will be shot, the dark Fae answers.

The Rook picks up a revolver from the table. He opens it, showing the Fae the single bullet, and then spins the chamber.

Other eyes in the room miss it. You see the Rook palm the chamber with an empty hand, just before it slides back into the gun.

A great deal of people lose their bets when the Fae is gunned down in his seat.

There is silence, whole and complete, in this tent-world, as everyone bends their attention at the Board.

"Rook, name your reward," the Lady tells him.

"Give me the Bishop," he answers, pointing at his friend. "And then deal me in."

You wake in a cold sweat, the sounds of the Carnival and the Board ringing in your ears still. You fumble with Bifrost, lashing stupidly at the air before you remember where you are, what you were doing. You're on Earth. You're not in the Fairest of Lands. You're home, you're home, you're home.

The Rook sits in his computer chair, looking at you with that flat, television-screen eye.

> What do you say?

>>2256620
> You must have lobed her very much. Is she still there?

I wonder where is disdain for fairest came from.

Okay, going back to the point where Rook mentioned this stuff before:

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/1813361/#p1826060

> "...You've sharpened your Wyrd. The dreams, they just get worse. The deeper you go, the more you reach your hands into the tangle of Time and Fate, the more you remember, for better and for worse. Usually worse. Maybe John never knew you at all. Maybe he did. But he couldn't forget any more. And he couldn't live with remembering."

> "Are you sure you're talking about John?" you ask, softly.

> "I know I'm not." The Rook coughs and sucks in a shuddering breath. "...Her name was Izzie. She had red hair, and this flickering smile, like she was afraid someone might see. I loved her."

> "What happened?"

> The Rook is silent for a long time. When he answers, his voice is barely a hoarse, wet whisper.

> "She banished me from the Fairest of Lands."

I guess the red-headed fairest was Izzie? And she used a reward to free him?

>>2256711
Sounds like it, maybe she did it as a slight. Who knows

>>2256725
I bet that Rook's plan was to have him be the grand poobah piece of the Lady, and banish Izzie into the world, only to have the tables turned instead.

I send ten doe-eyed prisoners into the pot.

>>2256725
Well, he's talked about her memory, so it's entirely possible she's dead. Or she's still in Arcadia, which isn't really any better. Either way, from the way he talks about her I doubt it was a slight.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/1718417/#p1726792

> Vickie looks at the Rook while Forum desperately tries to signal to her to look anywhere but at the Rook.

> "I have loved one woman in my life who did not birth me, and I will tolerate your insult to her memory this one time," the Rook rasps.

>>2256620
Hey I found out that Multisorb is a lung dessicant, and they can intubate with dessicants for fluid in lungs.

Just gotta make sure you muco the fuck of the tube.

>>2256620
There's also Thoracentesis which is done while the patient is awake and alert

> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=noDxydboLrA

It only dawns on me now that Colours' Motley was a party of Expendables when it was formed. Where they even expected to succeed in the investigation ?

>>2256961
Politically they were expendable, but not capability wise.

Rook is the disgraced but still powerful and knowledgable player who is looking to rebuild.

Colours has the ear of the freaking Spring Court queen, but is unpopular with the majority of the Fae as a Forsworn oathbreaker and needs to recreate herself.

Vicky is a darkling looking to be more than a hatchetwoman

Forum is a rookie who needs to rank up.

Overall it's a good mix of experience that fucked up politically, and inexperience that needs to grow.

>>2257007
>Forum is a rookie who needs to rank up.
How ? He doesnt seem inclined politically or magically (ie showing great potential as a sorceror)

>>2257189
> "Colors hasn't just had an extremely public and messy falling-out with two thirds of her own Court after years of bitter politics," Forum speaks up. The Troll leans forward and stands, slowly. He's a lot bigger than he looked, hunched over in that chair; Forum's nearly seven feet of rubbery muscle, with an intense look in his all-black eyes. "She isn't a youngblood like me, or unwilling to do the job, like you."

Honestly? I think Forum is just kind of capable. He can use technology easily for one thing, which is rare among the Lost.

He's just gonna rise to middle management, because that's when you get to do the INTERESTING thing in Winter. They got ranks, yo. And a strict need-to-know basis.

>>2256620
I should probably also post something for us to say.

Um.

I guess
> That fairest, the bishop, that was Izzie. The one who sent you back. She used her reward to do it?

>>2256620
>> What do you say?
Remind me never to play against you. ... what happened to the Bishop?

Called, writing.

>>2257265
This, to a large extent. Winter's culture is one where they invite participation, rather than compelling it. Stepping up to do work indicates that you might want more work. Forum's willingness to take on the mission, paired with his current status as relatively low-rank & expendable, made him an ideal candidate in Winter's eyes. That he lived & performed well was good for his career as a Winter courtier.

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>>2256620
You sit up slowly, shaking the dream out of your head. A shudder works its way up your spine, cold and distant in its horror.

"I am sorry," the Rook rasps. "...I didn't know how else to explain. I deeply regret the choices that led me to have this dream, and the others. I remember more of the Other Place than I want to. More than I should."

You nod. The table next to the futon has a cup of cold coffee on it, and you take it for a steadying sip. "...That Fairest, the one who became a bishop. That was Izzie, wasn't it?"

"Yes." The Rook's voice is small, a scratchy whisper from a tight throat.

"What happened to her? Why did she send you back?" The Rook flinches, as if you'd hit him. He looks down at the floor and is silent for a long time.

When he does speak, he doesn't look back up at you.

"There was a plan," he explains. "It started when I became a player at the Board. I took possession of the pieces the Player I defeated owned. The goal was simple: free as many of them as possible. There is so much I am missing, but I know it was working. We played the game in a new way."

You nod. "Did she - I mean, she was clearly helping, but, I -"

"You can say it," the Rook murmurs. He rumbles a cough into his sleeve.

"Did she love you back?"

"I think so. It's...difficult for me to tell, through the haze of fog and dreams, and because of the circumstances. Maybe in another life we would have been called a couple, but...we were together. Closer than friends or lovers." The Rook coughs again, looking more tired than he did when you went to sleep. "It was going so well. And then I had her take the Player on the other side, and..."

"She had you banished," you reason.

"She replaced me, Warlock Knight. She claimed my seat at the table, and then had me thrown out into the Iron Lands like garbage. I haven't seen her since."

You slide off of the futon and leave Bifrost there on top of the blanket. Gingerly, you approach the Rook; he tenses up, but doesn't shy away. You lay your hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," you murmur.

"For so long I've seen the throne as where the Player sits," the Rook whispers. "More and more, I think I've misunderstood the game. Raven knew. And he knew I wouldn't listen. And now I flap in the wind, my power broken, swept from the board. I need back in, Colors. I can't just sit by and do nothing."

> But you've been doing so much already. You're helping Vickie, for starters.
> If you're not after the throne, why get confirmed as Prince again?
> Maybe you don't need back in, Rook. Look where being in has gotten you
> Write-in?

>>2259042
>> But you've been doing so much already. You're helping Vickie, for starters.

Hah, I knew she probably spited him

>>2259055
That seems to be how Rook perceived it. But that and reality aren't always the same thing. After all, his perception of the entire power struggle to be the next Autumn monarch was fundamentally off. And for most changelings, being "banished" from Arcadia is something they would (and probably have) killed for.

But this does explain a lot, for example the strange nature of his enmity toward Zoe. He seemed to think that she was soft and weak, despite her being a sadistic pyromaniac. Now, I'm thinking that has to do with him projecting some of his thoughts about Izzie on to Zoe. A fairest oathbreaker with fire for hair? Who responded to one of Rook's plots with an offer of an alliance? That probably hit pretty close to home, and it explains why he reacted so poorly and tipped his hand.

>>2259042
> But you've been doing so much already. You're helping Vickie, for starters.

Rook's problem is that no matter how good he is at playing games, sometimes he doesn't understand what the game he's playing even is, or what it should be. He thought the power struggle was just him getting rid of pretenders to clear the way for his rightful ascension, when really it was about proving who would be the best for the freehold.

He's already back in, in a better way than before, he just doesn't see it because he's still focused on a game he both lost and wasn't playing properly in the first place.

>>2259074
>That probably hit pretty close to home, and it explains why he reacted so poorly and tipped his hand.

Had to hurt that's for sure

>>2259042
> Maybe you don't need back in, Rook. Look where being in has gotten you.

> At least until you understand the game, or what you actually want out of it. Because to me, it doesn't look like you actually ever left.

>>2259074
IMO his problem is that he's more focused on the game and "winning" that he hasn't bothered to figure out what winning actually means.

>>2259042
>Maybe you don't need back in, Rook. Look where being in has gotten you.
>At least until you understand the game, or what you actually want out of it. Because to me, it doesn't look like you actually ever left.


In other words, backing >>2259108

>>2259042
>>2259042
>> Write-in?
The Fae simplified it and made it a game. But it's not a game, it's leadership, people, power struggles, politics, bonds. All the dirty little details that are never a game.

The Fae don't get the courts, all the importance of all the small bonds and people they toy with, and if you treat the Courts and the throne as a game you're taking the same approach. You took that approach already.

If you're going for the throne go for it not as a game, but because it's the best thing for the Court. If that's the case you'll have support, more support than you did before, and realize it's never a game.

>>2259298
What? No man, the Fae are consumate players of the actual game.

That's what the Rook did, play the Meta-game in order to change from a piece to a player.

Just not good enough in the end.

But is being a player within the game the only kind of power?

>>2259380
Mmm. I feel a lot of what we've seen about the Rook is that he views the world and different parts of it as games with rules, and he is Very, Very Good at those.
Which is a great strength to have, but a limitation if he cannot move beyond that and see the world and his goals as more than just scaled-up games with rules.

>>2259443
Well that and he seems to be playing more for the sake of the game than anything else.

I mean what power did it really give him, that it didn't tie him down. Does he really want everything to be just a game?

Because we aren't willing to be just a game piece, but I don't kow if we want to play the game if there's nothing we want to win from it.

Gotta work a close tonight, so I'ma leave this vote & discussion open.

>>2259042
>> Maybe you don't need back in, Rook. Look where being in has gotten you
I'm remembering the idea of the king of the bean.

>>2260146
The what?

>>2260301
>There was a tradition, once, far back in the past, called the King of the Bean.
>A special dish was served to all the men in the clan on a certain day of the year. It contained one small hard baked bean and whoever got the bean was, possibly after some dental attention, hailed as King. it was quite an inexpensive system and it worked well, possibly because the clever little bald men who actually ran things and paid some attention to possible candidates were experts at palming a bean into the right bowl.

Terry Pratchett, Nightwatch

>>2259042
>> Write-in?
> "Being a Player in a Freehold doesn't require being its ruler. This isn't Arcadia. Here, we're not playing some grand Game, where there are only a few Players controlling the board—there are many players, and all it takes to be one of them is to make the decision to be so, and act accordingly."

I was rereading and I just noticed he said that Ramona is trying to recruit him.

>>2263298
Not really surprising, considering that she was willing to take Colors in. Ramona seems to have a bit of a soft spot for strays.

>>2263344
Seems pretty cheeky though. Going after a Prince of Autumn?

>>2263491
A disgraced prince of autumn who lost an eye, an arm, his political power, and his popular support. He's in a pretty sorry state right now.

>>2263564
Not to mention he lost two friends. and meeting the Lady of the Lake again is basically a death sentence for him, even more so than for others.

>>2259042

>I think she loved you.
>...
> You dont have to be on the throne to make an impact Rook. You dont even have to be on the throne to make the largest impact.
> You have made quite an impressive one already.
> On our group, and others.
> Your already back in, and in a better way than before, but your focused on a game you both lost and weren't playing properly in the first place.
> I left the hounds because I couldn't stand what they were turning me into, and I didn't see it until I almost lost myself.
> Then I joined the court of desire to remind myself that the REASON I am fighting is more important than the actual fight.
> I think Izzie and the Raven tried to give you the same wake up call. Or at least I think they thought they were.
> For what thats worth.

Called, writing.

>>2265002
Okay, still called but this is gonna take more writing than I ended up having time for. Thread's open for discussion & questions.

What contracts have we learned from the raven again?

Also how pissed is Rook going to be? I mean... its kind of brutal... but he DID open up about this.

>>2266925
You're currently in the process of learning Fang & Talon (Canines) from Misery Monroe, though that's just a starter course.

>>2267006
Can you tell us more about the lady of the lake? She sounds rather well known.

Are we going to get the option to buy a police dog soon?

>>2267086
The Lady of the Lake was first spotted near New Avalon approximately a year ago, plus a few months, during the Spring. Arthur clashed with her over the blade he now claims to be Excalibur (you can find the details in King of New Avalon Quest here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/710213/).

Since losing Excalibur to Arthur and being betrayed by the Privateer she'd hired (Erin Peters, now a member of the Freehold on severe probation), the Lady and her minions have haunted the local Hedge, attacking vulnerable Lost, compromising Hollows, and generally being pieces of shit. Her activities ramped up during the Autumn of that year, where the Freehold gained firsthand intelligence of the spread of Hobgoblins & Hedge Beasts she commands that appear to be drawn from Welsh, Irish, and Scottish legend, including and especially a high-voiced Dullahan that murdered two Winter Courtiers (details are in Scarred by Thorns, here: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/904794/). Though her direct assaults on Freehold members and property have slowed, she's still very much a slippery and known hazard, made more complicated by the swamps in the Hedge near New Avalon.

She remains extremely pissed about Arthur.

>>2267098
Well his name IS Arthur.

How did The Valks raid on the school go? Will it be publicized?

>>2267006
It was a long break. How did we end up learning that Contract? Where are we going with it?

>>2267006
>Fang & Talon (Canines)
Why even. That seems like not so useful for Colours.

>>2267180
> How did The Valks raid on the school go? Will it be publicized?

Successfully, and no. That's bad optics no matter how you slice it.

>>2267201
>>2267664
As you may recall from earlier, Colors expressed an interest in supplementing some investigative & perceptive skills. Misery has chosen to start at Fang & Talon (Canines) for a few reasons, but the most direct is that the second Clause lets you imitate a dog's sense of smell, which is useful for tracking, for investigating a scene, and for teaching a callow apprentice that sometimes powers can come with back-end difficulties like sensory overload that you need to be cautious about.

Gonna finish writing tonight after work. My apologies for the delay, work's been in...flux, due to the upcoming end of the fiscal year in February.

>>2267753
I'm just going to mention right here, dogs DO NOT perceive things that we think smell bad like we do. So if you're going to do the "Oh the dump is too awful ow my nose" please research it a bit more.

>>2267885
Its the wyrd. It can and will screw with you, even when it doesn't make sense. Its what it DOES.

>>2267930
And I'm explaining biology, if it's explicitly a canine's sense of smell that isn't how it works. At the point they're at things cease to smell good/bad

>>2267948
We don't know how exactly the contract works, but consider this: It gives access to a canines sense of smell. Nowhere (presumably) does it say where this is linked into our system.
It might be the whole shebang, in which case you might have a point, or it might only be the actual sensory capability - but not the processing, which might remain constant, or constant but only adjusted for the volume and depth of information but not the kind.

Also: Sensory overload can stem from neutral or even positive sensations - it is not a thing of dislike, but sheer volume. Compare for example an epileptic episode (not entirely the same, of course, but similar-ish in nature): whatever triggers it, might not be unpleasent. It is simply too much, or the wrong kind of information.

>>2268013
Right right, if it's say, a human brain which isn't equipped to use a canine's sense of smell suddenly getting it, it would be overload. Eventually though your brain would get used to it, I may have come off more confrontational than I wanted to, sorry.

>>2268023
I might just have reacted a bit... strongly. If that was the case, I'm sorry, as well. Your words reminded me of dogmatic rhetoric, but I think that's a personal association.
No harm done, I'd say?

But yes, you've a point in the adaption.
The point was, as I understood it, less that the problems would be a thing and more that the could be a risk to the unprepared.

>>2267753
I'm afraid to ask how smell works in the Hedge, especially wit that Contract, but I'll ask anyway.

>>2268294
The real answer: Pretty much like anywhere else.

The terrifying answer: Exactly how you THINK it works.

The true answer: You probably don't want to know.

Fuckin' writing at last. Went through the votes and there's some interesting/good writeins. Gonna be doing some combining here.

>>2270069
> Vox comes back, says our write-ins are good and interesting, starts writing, and then goes away again
Why must you be such a tease.

>>2270697
Hes gotta get it juuuust right.

Power is out in my room. I may have offended a witch.

>>2271367
>tfw XS is starting a witch quest

The omens are grim

>>2271367
Or the power company.

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>>2271369
>>2271367
But which witch was which?

>>2271367
>Hit the witch before they can complete the witch-sign!

>>2271751
> Hit Beatrice

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>>2259042
You take a long drink of your coffee and turn the Rook's words, and his dream, over in your mind. Every now and again a new shudder shakes its way down your spine.

The Rook touches his left sleeve, up high near the shoulder, and waits in silence.

"You don't need back 'in', Rook," you say at last. "Look at where being in has gotten you already. You tell me that you are unliked and unloved. You lost your arm and your eye reaching for power, trying to sit the table, and for what? If the people in the thrones are the only players of the game, how did Rachael and Zoe become contenders in the first place? How did you?"

That cold rage flickers across his face. Maybe once you wondered where he gets it all. Now you know.

"Rook," you continue, more gently. "Power is not an end in itself. You tell me that people despise you but the person they're seeing is someone accumulating power just to be powerful."

"That's never been true," the Rook interrupts, his voice ragged.

"I believe you. But I'm not the one you have to convince. You've done so much good for others just since I personally have met you. You saved us from the Fairest of Lands and those kids too. You showed humility before the Freehold to defend your Court's honor and sacrifice." You pause. "...You helped Fancy, who I think still didn't really...get it, before you thought of her. You put on this grim mask to do your work but you care. You don't need a crown to care."

The anger on your friend's face drains away, replaced by that tired, worn expression you've seen a few times before. "I could be doing more."

"You could be seeing to your health, Rook. What do you want?"

"I really don't know. Revenge. But then what?"

"The rest of us can't help you until you figure that out, Rook." You get off of the couch and pick up your twilight mail to shrug into. It's warm. Comforting, even. "...I do think she loved you, Rook. I think Izzie and Raven have been trying to pull you back from this cliff you came running at with all your will and cunning. Maybe ask yourself if that advice is worth listening to again in another light."

The Rook wipes at his eye with the back of his hand. "Thank you. For doing this thing for me."

"Think nothing of it."

* * * *

August 29th (Present Day)

The four of you have settled into the Aquarium to wait out the end of Misery Monroe's oath. Forum brought Chinese, which has made an interesting combination with Vickie's decision to bring doughnuts. The Darkling has been dipping chunks of glazed pastry in her noodles, twining them around it, and eating the whole thing in one bite. From the look on the Rook's face, he's with you on wishing her and Forum would not do shit like that.

Where the hell did he find Chinese this early anyway?

You feel a lightening in your chest, a soft flutter, of the Wyrd releasing you from your troth. The others stir, feeling it too.

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>>2272821
"Alright," Forum swallows what's in his mouth. "Now what? We still in this?"

"I am," Vickie pipes up. She straightens up from her sickle-like hunch over her food. "I dunno about the rest of you but it seems like we make a good team. And y'all seem cool. Even if Colors fucks Pixie Chasers."

"Vickie!" you scold. "I haven't been laid in nearly a month!"

ThatwasthewrongthingtosaytothehornyDarklingfuck.

The Rook coughs. "If we could not be derailed by you being too gay to live? Yes? If we're all -" he stops to cough in a distinctly less 'I am getting your attention' manner. "If we're all in this, we need to decide the form of our oath."

"Don't see a problem with the standard form," Forum proposes.

"I would like to incorporate the dreaming task," the Rook proposes. "No obligations, just the option."

"Not sure I'm down for that one." Vickie spears some shrimp on a fork and then the food vanishes, presumably into her mouth. "...Those're my dreams."

"I'd have to disclose it to Monroe," Forum says with a shrug.

"...So would I," you realize, after a moment.

> Incorporate the Dreaming task into the Motley Pledge, letting each member access the others' dreams.
> Do not incorporate Dreaming.

AND

> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a martial fashion
> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a social fashion
> Let someone else shape the Blessings (who?)

>>2272831
> Do not incorporate Dreaming.
AND
> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a martial fashion

We shouldnt ned outside help to take down enemies (outside the motley). And getting together will strengthen the social bond anyway.

>>2272831
> Do not incorporate Dreaming.
> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a martial fashion

When chips are down. And all else fails. Having a good friend with a strong arm can make all the difference.

That or money.

>>2272831
>> Incorporate the Dreaming task into the Motley Pledge, letting each member access the others' dreams.
>> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a social fashion

>>2272831
> Do not incorporate Dreaming.

> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a social fashion

We already have a lot of martial skill. We need to be apply to apply it better. Think force multiplication.

Like have you ever played an online game using mics vs. without them?

>>2272831
The only reason I'm not voting for dreaming is because Vicky seems uncomfortable with it and Rook seems not too concerned.

>>2272891
It should be noted that you can always form a separate Dreaming pledge later if it becomes relevant, though that of course comes with the issues attendant to swearing one's word. Contracts of Dream can also be used to enter someone's dreams, with or without permission.

>>2272903
That's my reasoning.

Pledges are easier to make than break.

>>2272831
> Do not incorporate Dreaming.
> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a social fashion

Also, ham. Remember to bring the ham.

>>2272831
>> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a social fashion
> Do not incorporate Dreaming.

>>2272831

Would it be possible (and practical) to incorporate the Dreaming task, but with a clause specifying that each access must be consented to in some meaningful manner?

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>>2273090
That's just asking to make someone into pic related.

>>2273146
I don't think anyone in this motley has anywhere near that kind of power.

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>>2272831

>Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a social fashion
>Incorporate the Dreaming task into the Motley Pledge, letting each member access the others' dreams.

>>2272888
>We already have a lot of martial skill
We needed help against Rainbow John and only won the fight against that renegade Motley without casualties because Rook forced a draw.

>>2273382
Rainbow John actually lost because he put too much faith in his mantle and we shanked him with skill.

So maybe we should get better at stabbing and planning.

Besides our enemies are magnitudes of power above us, so we aren't going to outpower them directly anyways.

This isn't a game you can rollplay easily.

>>2272831
>> Do not incorporate Dreaming.

AND

>> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a social fashion

>>2273382
Also, remember Spring is a social court, and all our motley is working on social things more or less. Our own rival outright told us we need to be more socially capable to deal with her.

>>2273748
I totally forgot about cherry pie, we still need to get a taste.

>>2273768
It would be a spring way of settling things.

>>2273791
I dunno, Spring might also just have the delicious hate sex and go back to being pissed off.

>>2273966
That's fine too.

>>2273966
good enough

Mmm. Honestly Id rather share our secrets by our will. Not through dreaming.

I feel like were missing the full implications of this. Changelings almost dream of their durance (nightmares). Would we be able to interfere with that?

That seems like it could be helpful.

>>2274126
In theory, yes. All Lost are lucid dreamers and you can influence the dreams of others if you're in them. But much like Zoe's dream in July at Christmas, some dreams are more intense than others, more powerful, less able to be controlled. That's just the way of dreams, Lost OR mortal. You being there to support someone through a nightmare might end up being the limit of your power, depending on the dream.

>>2273748
>Our own rival outright told us we need to be more socially capable to deal with her.
True, but we made a deal with the Satrap to stave her off,
The concepts of a honorable knight and a catty backstabbing bitch also clash with each other.

>>2274520
This game is literally about being a contradiction.

The answer is don't worry about it.

But if you insist, then I'll have to point out that there is no honour in being a "backstabbing catty bitch" by proxy through Molly. And that if you had worked on your social abilities more then you would know that being a backstabbing catty bitch isn't actually an example of good social skills. I hope you're simply in highschool because then I can give you some good advice which is to get a liberal arts degree and be super social while doing so and then you get to be the person making bank while managing other people.

Ill change.

> Shape the Blessings of the pledge in a social fashion

And called, writing.

By the way, what was up with 'wrapping up our Fetch in barbed wire and drowning it'? Seems far too cruel to be in-character for Colors. Even her Dog Days seem to have been in pursuit of justice.
Had her Fetch hurt her dad in some way? We should go meet him.

>>2275093
> Even her Dog Days seem to have been in pursuit of justice.
They really weren't. The hound tribunal isn't about justice. It's about being mad, staying mad, making other people mad, keeping other people mad, and killing anyone who gets in the way of those things.

>>2275099
>This is about it.
>They tell themselves its about justice though.
>Perhaps. In another free hold they are.

>>2275093
>Legit summer recruiting tactic.
>Kidnap a hedge fresh who looks promising.
>Give them a knife.
>Lock them in a room with their fetch.
>If they win they are "worthy". If they lose, they die. Then the fetch is killed.

Keep in mind the lost consider imprisonment to be worse than DEATH.

>My thought on hearing about her induction into summer was "Somebody must have liked her".

>>2275139
Sure, but it's still out of character. I can see Colors stabbing her Fetch, especially if she felt jealous, but the cruelty she showed doesn't seem to fit her.

>>2275191
The rage seems to fit her though.

See, you're thinking of Colours NOW, not when she was fresh out of the hedge and a totally different person.

>>2275193
This is where I think I differ from people who think it is IC. I need proof of her previous personality, I need to see it peek through this one, I need to see her fighting it and feeling it.
The way it's presented is 'I used to be a monster. No really,' with no sign of it in-game.
That's why I'm pointing it out as OOC, because as far as I can tell, it is. There's no cruelty in Colors now, and there's nothing other than her testimony saying that there ever was.

>>2275196
> There's no cruelty in Colors now, and there's nothing other than her testimony saying that there ever was.

It's because she's going as far possible the other way to distance herself from it. Like how she isn't having sex with ANYONE because she lost control and would fuck anyone that looked normal.

It's a case of over-correction, where her scrupulous avoidance of relapsing is what is telling.

Like how a recovered alcoholic doesn't have even one or two drinks.

Personally I can't wait for Fancy to get capped and have the old brutal Colours come back.

>>2275196
The only question is, does Vox have the balls to make our possible love interest a target and let his players fail to save her, or will he just handhold us through this?

Or will people actually smarten up and actively start to get Fancy up to speed for taking care of herself - assuming she's willing to live that life at all.

>>2275205
>Like how she isn't having sex with ANYONE because she lost control and would fuck anyone that looked normal.
>It's a case of over-correction, where her scrupulous avoidance of relapsing is what is telling.
Sure, exactly like that. Notice how Colors acts practically like a virgin, no casual flirting at all? Easily embarrassed, zero sexuality? 'I'm a Pixie-chaser-fucker, no really.'

>>2275212
You've lived a really boring life, hey?

> Like how a recovered alcoholic doesn't have even one or two drinks.

>>2275217
And yet they're constantly thinking about the drinks they don't have, and Colors doesn't. That's the problem. Things are not just known by their absence, but by the mental pathways that used to be used.
The alcoholic would be cutting off thoughts when they got stressed, stopping the trains of thought when they lead to the drink station.
The sexual predator would be cutting off trains of thought before they flirted with the vulnerable.
The rageaholic would still have cruel thoughts and yearnings, cutting them off before they could come into being.
All of these leave traces that Colors doesn't have.
She's not even a little cruel, not even a little experienced.

>>2275208
>our possible love interest
desu there are many other options, all Changelings,
Interacting with regular people (for me) is only interesting when they are Valkyrie staff, or normies in the Hedge.

>>2275093
>Seems far too cruel to be in-character for Colors
Virtually every Changeling develops a cruel streak during their Durance if they hadnt already.

>>2274614
Please, as a trade school teacher I shrugged off much worse than you weak ad hominems.
Kindly consider keeping them out of this quest and keeping it civil.

I dont even care if my vote "wins" but I'd rather have it win or lose by pure logic and arguments.

>>2275278
>Virtually every Changeling develops a cruel streak during their Durance if they hadnt already.
That's irrelevant to my point, though. The point is that it hasn't been shown how that cruel streak is compatible with Color's personality. There have been no signs of that cruelty other than what she told us. It's just unbelievable. Like your nice old grandmother telling you she used to slit throats.

>>2275219
Actually, we've pussy-blocked ourself every time it's come up, for exactly that reason - we don't want to cheat, we don't want to be the cause of an affair, we are afraid of having sex. Despite her reputation as a fuckign picy-chasers, she doesn't.

>>2275282
>The point is that it hasn't been shown how that cruel streak is compatible with Color's personality.
It has been shown, speedreader. She just has to rationalize it (I'm not like that but this person DESERVES it)

>>2275331
No, not exactly. We've avoided them, yes. We're missing the other side of it. We're missing the raw desire, we're missing the automatic flirting, we're missing the hole that wants to be filled with young pliant flesh.

I have almost no problem with turning down every invitation. I have a problem with having these invitations not be inviting enough.

Back to the alcoholic example, it's as if they offered us a drink and we said 'no thanks', and that was it. Where's the conflict? Where's the appetite? Where's the part of them screaming for a buzz? Where's the import? Why doesn't it matter, that we can so easily wave off the offer of a drink?

Where's the part of us that wants to be cruel? That being cruel helped with? Where is the taint that it left on our soul, and why haven't we seen a rut?

>>2275344
>It has been shown, speedreader. She just has to rationalize it (I'm not like that but this person DESERVES it)


>"The Courts," your enemy wheezes. >"They...they betray us all, lapdog. So many taken...so many..."
>You raise Bifrost over his chest, point-down, in silence. After a moment, Rainbow John nods and lets his head fall back.
>"To Evenhanded Tyr, the blood of the wicked," you murmur, before you thrust your blade into his heart, and then Rainbow John is still.
Such cruelty!

If you want cruelty to be in her guts, smeared across her history, you need at least a hint of it, a prompt, an urge to overcome. I'm saying she doesn't have that. I'm quite happy with her personality as a hero of justice, as a honorable knight. I'm saying she has no cruelty in her and that the way she said she killed her Fetch was out of character.

>>2275353
It wasn't out of character for who she was at the time. That wasn't last week, that was a year+ ago, as I recall. She's worked hard not to be that person, in ways that have stunted her growth in other areas.

Unfortunately, I suspect that wee will see just how truly monstrous she was in due time.

>>2275356
>Unfortunately, I suspect that we will see just how truly monstrous she was in due time.
Hope so, honestly. I like her characterization, it just gets under my skin that who she used to be has never been justified. She's shown no pleasure in pain, she's shown no fear of pleasure in pain. She's shown no thirst for vengeance, nor hole where vengeance should be. She's shown no rage, nor any recoil away from rage.

>>2275363
That's also partly due to being an Elemental. Elementals have three emotional states: OFF, UMM, and ON. They have a hard time with them.

>>2275366
This. Vickie and Rook are the ones that express rage. Colors...doesnt have that role.

Aight, same-paging: saved what I have of the update before work yesterday. Not gonna have time before work today. I'll do my best to update tonight but as predicted earlier the combination of the company's fiscal year ending (today) & the event tomorrow, both of which being at the beginning of a month, is beating our collective asses into the floor.

Thank you for your patience.

>>2278287
>the company's fiscal year ending
Oh boy, I know how that is, Just come back in a few days.

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>>2275366
>>2275363

This is a good piece of context about the setting. Elementals are either on full emotional lock-down, or they're all out. Like how we showed up at Fancy's place with our head all melted and fucked up. It didn't even register that we were messed up.

Also, at what point should Vox override how the players decide to play the character? Besides, as pointed out here >>2275219 Colours HAS had sexual impulses for "bad ideas" like boning the mortal chick that isn't a stripper, or sleeping with Vicky since her and Fancy aren't exclusive etc. Players keep voting against it. Hell, we get a mechanical power up for giving in to it, and people still refuse to. So it's come up less often because it's also not something that is always at the forefront of a persons mind.

>>2275280
Ah yes, the trades, a profession known for their nuance and social skills. Congratulations on knowing the term Ad Hominem, maybe you can one day apply it correctly in the future.

Logic and "arguments" (lol what the fuck is that statement even) are all too often used to justify terrible, terribly stupid, or outright wrong but CONSISTENTLY wrong ideas.

Maybe focus a little bit more on having fun with shit and not being so salty about shitposting. God.

Lol "trade school teacher" nobody gives a shit, how about you stay internally consistent and prove that you can shrug off rough talk by actually doing so instead of trying to establish yourself as an "authority".

I suck off 10 guys for breakfast, but you don't have the balls to be a faggot.

>>2278566
Shit nigga calm down.

>>2278935
It's the same sperg from every thread, just ignore them.

>>2278566
Comments like this reaffirm my anger at /pol/. Fie on't! Fie on't!

>>2281201
>>2278935

The only thing worse than Communism is Fascism.

The only thing worse than calling someone a cunt to their face, is pretending that you're above the argument while participating in it.

>>2279357
> Making fun of neuro-atypical people

Sadly I'm just a run of the mill bored asshole, not special like you.

I mean, you're the guy getting all upset because in a story about faeries and magic, people are getting the concept of how dogs smell wrong.

True, I didn't need to be so vitriolic, but I feel like expressive hatred is the correct response to smug condescension, in lieu of a half brick to face.

>>2281540
The only thing worse is you pretending this is /pol/. Stop posting /pol/ content out of /pol/.

>>2281544
Someones a little sensitive.

The only person bringing up /pol/ is yourself.

>>2281554
Not this guy, who brought the /pol/ talk in? >>2278566
Or you talking about communism here? >>2281540
Your hand is as red as your mud-strewn face. Fie on't, ah fie!

>>2281649
Well, confirmed for troll. Smell ya later.

Hedge animals gotta be wierd. If water is water becuase it agrees to be water, and inanimate things can make that decision, how do psuedo-smart creatures like animals? Can they decide to ... be somethign different?

>>2282085
Hmmm. I'd ike to mention that they are dubbed Hedge BEASTS. closer to nightmares than animals.
Can they enter Contracts with fae if sentient enough ? I dunno. Don't know all the official lore.

>>2283546
>>2281672

Actually No. Just . . . don't feed the trolls man. You aren't looking great here either egging them on.

>>2282664
>>2282085
http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Hedge_Beast

Yes.

Now I can FINALLY FINISH WRITING.

Let's fuckin' do this.

UPDATED AT LAST

>>2285021
>>2285021
>>2285021
>>2285021