jennafans | Between The Lights, Session 4: Cleave (Reply)

This is an actual-play writeup of a game I am running on the Jenna Moran fanclub on Discord.

Impurity is perpetuated by excuses. You are a Noble. You have no reason to desire love. You have no reason to fear death. If you perpetuate these feelings, you are letting a wild horse drag your cart behind it, when at any moment you could sit up and take the reins.

- from The Book of Purity, by Samsi Mandaru

(A bit late, but better than never, right? Also, note that Sonja's player was absent for this session.)

Familia Kethredamen has been advised to meet with one of the Shepherds. Because things happen so quickly on the Internet, and the Digital Cleave therefore needs an incredibly fast turnaround time on defense and cleansing, the Shepherd of the Digital Cleave just so happens to be the only Shepherd that can be found on the order of weeks rather than years.

Unfortunately, the easiest way of getting to him is through his Cleave.

Which is filled with impolite and disrespectful Nobles.

Timeskip

The next few weeks, waiting for a meeting of the Digital Cleave, pass relatively quickly. Personal projects happen in the meantime:

Lionel helps out with fixing things Heat broke. Apparently the Power of Glaciers appreciated it.

Sonja has shut herself in with a space heater and a selection of books about modern times, and has been reading them alphabetically by topic. So far she has gotten to "buses".

Sasha is still working at the 7-11. (Apparently they happened to have a fireproof suit with the company logo in the back room.) Eventually she stopped being on fire. And has been spending her time doing Unspecified Mental Yoga, or something.

Maddie canvasses the length and width of Russia. She does not find Devil's Lake there.

Whatever, Duke

The Familia Kethredamen formally requests to attend the pre-meeting reception of the Digital Cleave. The request is accepted. So they head over to the Chancel that is home to one Duke of Telephony. Or, well, Sasha and Lionel head over. Maddie sends her mother Grace Clarkson, so she can beg off the social stuff and continue looking for Devil's Lake. (Lionel quietly Unblemished Guises himself so he can observe without immediately being recognized as a Noble.)

<HG> The Chancel the Digital Cleave is meeting at is a series of treehouses. Rather opulent treehouses. All perched on top of telephone poles. It's the Duke of Telephony's turn to host, apparently.

When they arrive, they are ushered in by the Baron of Startups ("Mark", apparently), and promptly accosted by -

<Maddie> "I'm Grace, here on behalf of my daughter, the Domina Fog. You may have heard of her... spelling bee."
<HG> "I would totally have wrecked that spelling bee if I was invited. Why wasn't I invited?" pipes up a thirteen-year-old wearing a gaming headset.
<HG> Mark sighs. "That's the Duke of Telephony."
<HG> The Duke of Telephony pipes up: "My name is Bophades Updag!"
<HG> "Whatever, Duke," says someone else from deeper into the treehouse.

The Duke of Telephony, in the manner of certain young teenagers on certain online gaming services, apparently interacts with people entirely through insults and memes. (Not even good memes. Anyone who calls themselves "Bophades Updag" has terrible taste.)

<Maddie> Grace is conferring with Maddie to learn the meanings of what Bophades has been saying. Her frown only deepens.

The group awkwardly tries to ignore Bophades and his constant stream of racist insults. They are thus introduced to others from the Digital Cleave. First, the long-suffering Dominus of Wires, one Olive Biskli:

<HG> The individual in the other room pulls a bead curtain or something open and strides in. He holds out his hand for a shake. "Olive Biskli, Dominus Wires, at your service."
<HG> "Forgive Duke. He's thirteen."

Sasha begins talking with him. The Dominus Wires happens to dislike Sasha. Part of it is because he disliked Aliki. Part of it is because he dislikes noobs. And part of it is because he's heard a thing or two about Sasha from Soil's-Regal.

Jason

As the reception goes on, the Cleave takes a good look at Sasha, Grace, and (Guised) Lionel, and are not terribly impressed by what they see.

<HG> Olive looks around, then goes back to addressing Sasha again. "You said you'd be bringing your Familia along. Who are these people?"
<Sasha> "Anchors, mostly."
<Sasha> "Poor Maddie couldn't make it, so she sent Grace in her stead."

Maddie's mother tries to peel off to the other corner of the room and find someone more sympathetic. Unfortunately, she finds someone less sympathetic. Turns out that Jason Wong, the Power of Booleans, is a stupendous misogynist.

<HG> "We're not sending a bunch of Anchors and a girl to go meet Toby Houston," says Jason. "He doesn't meet just anyone."

Lionel decides that this is the time to intervene. He drops his Unblemished Guise.

<Lionel> "You should reconsider your attitude towards my familia."
<HG> "O-oh," says Jason. "I didn't realize you were... well, why do your familia want to meet him anyway?"

Sasha attempts to take control of the situation. She fails.

<Sasha> "We have business concerning the integrity of the Society of Flowers. To speak freely of it would invite the hearing of unfriendly ears."
<Sasha> And I think she manifests the Raven on her shoulder just to add to her gravitas.
<HG> Somehow Jason continues to ignore Sasha. Bophades yells into the other room: "Hey Toby, some b**** wants to meet you for some reason!"
<HG> Olive sighs. "Duke, we still have an hour. Maybe don't alienate them yet."

Maddie, who has been listening in via her mother, wreaths said mother in the Divine Mantle of Fog and tries to convince her to punch Jason. Grace is less enthusiastic about the punching thing.

Jason (continued)

Sasha uses a Persona miracle to not lose her temper, and then gets through to Jason. For a moment.

<Sasha> Sasha spends 4 PMP to give herself the Affliction "My heart breeds apathy."
<Sasha> Then she uses 2AMP for a Aspect 2 miracle of Skill: Listen Up, Bitch
<Sasha> "I am a Noble of Familia Kethredamen. I am a Power of the Dark. I am one of the bastions of reality, same as you, and you will treat me with the respect I am due or come to regret it."
<Sasha> There's no malice in it, just statement of fact.
<HG> Jason blinks.
<HG> "Y-yes, miss."

Of course, as soon as Sasha has dropped her intention, he promptly goes back to ignoring her because she's a girl. Then he questions Lionel as to why they bothered with the Digital Cleave.

<HG> "Why are you asking us? Surely some other Pure One would have been more relevant to this situation?"
<Lionel> "Are you trying to get out of being of assistance? Why, because we're, ah, 'gay b****es', I believe your friend said?"

Maddie has had enough of this. She acts.

<Maddie> Grace takes a step forward and shoves Jason by the shoulders.
<HG> Quick as a flash, Mark is behind Jason. "One more move and you are ejected from this meeting."

Sasha tells Maddie to stop. She does so only reluctantly.

Jason tries to beg off being involved in any way, because Toby Houston doesn't involve himself in Noble society very often, and as such wouldn't typically care about anything that happens there. In response, Sasha goes on the offensive.

<Sasha> "Jason, am I correct in guessing, that as the Internet has such little bearing on our society, that Booleans must have far less?"
<Sasha> "Forgive me my uneducated perspective, of course."
<Sasha> "But from time to time I do use the internet when communicating with my familia, or even my Imperator."
<Sasha> "Surely, if Toby Houston's estate is of so little pertinence, nobody would notice if the Enemy were to snuff out yours?"

The rest of the Digital Cleave does not take this speech well. Sasha turns her verbal judo in their direction.

<Sasha> Sasha puts a hand over her heart. "My dear Startups, you misjudge me. I was simply extrapolating from Jason's own words what he must think about his own Estate. As a dedicated member of the Order of the Ravens, I would certainly move to protect any Estate under enemy siege."
<Sasha> "After all, it's not as though you of the Digital Cleave are any less a member of the Society of Flowers than myself."
<Sasha> "It would be awfully rude of me to leave you to dry when you need help, would it not?"

Trumpet

It is here that Toby Houston finally makes an entrance.

<HG> Olive comes marching out of a side door. He is playing a trumpet. Behind him walks Toby Houston, Internet's-Regal, Shepherd of the Digital Cleave, wearing the insignia of the Shepherds and looking annoyed.
<HG> "I'm here. Are you happy now?" says Toby.
<HG> Olive does not stop playing the trumpet until Mark puts a hand on his shoulder and shushes him.

There are formalities and introductions in the usual vein.

<HG> Mark is holding Olive's trumpet away from him to prevent him from continuing to passive-aggressively play it into Familia Kethredamen's ears.

Sasha, Lionel, and Grace file into the room where Toby Houston will hold court with them.

<HG> As they leave the room they hear a trumpet.

Internet's-Regal

After a pleasantry or two, Sasha brings up that the Raven told her that the Unclean Kings might be at work here. Toby Houston says he hasn't seen anything of the sort. Sasha decides to insist on the truth.

<Sasha> "...May I speak candidly and trust you won't take offense?"
<HG> Toby sits up and makes an unfamiliar gesture with his hands. "The pact of the Laodan honesty rites, that neither of us will be purposely speaking insult or offense, but that we may use words that may unintentionally imply such for the sole purpose of making our communications as clear as possible?"
<Sasha> "The very same. You agree."
<HG> "Yes."

One pledge of ~~Fantasy Crocker's Rules~~ Laodan honesty later, Sasha explains that the way that the Digital Cleave has acted is disrespectful and hostile, and that this kind of uncooperation is precisely what gives the Excrucians an opportunity to drive a wedge into Noble society. Toby Houston responds that he hasn't seen any Excrucian involved in this. It is just the ordinary sort of pettiness.

<HG> "Any pettiness that has been demonstrated is theirs, and theirs alone. I can speak with them, but such a discussion would be outside my official remit, and I have no guarantee that it would be respected."

Toby Houston agrees to look for further Excrucian involvement, and contact Sasha should anything come up in his research. He also suggests that Sasha find a more direct audience with those who tend Misenchronic Engine; those functionaries would be better-placed to observe anomalies in Noble society at large.