10:00 <Crion> Afternoon strides onward in the City of Orlando, blessed and protected (with various caveats and possible codicils) in this seeming between-space of Hedge and not-Hedge. You've still got all the time you want to plan out the oaths for your crown, before Peter Montgomery and the boom box man return to the Duchy Margaritaville at midnight. 10:01 <Crion> The proposed oaths are, so far, as follows: 10:01 <Crion> Oaths of Unity 10:01 <Crion> * We promise to fight together. 10:01 <Crion> * We promise to grieve together. 10:01 <Crion> * We promise to share what we have and hold it in common together. 10:01 <Crion> Oaths of Independence 10:01 <Crion> * We promise not to exploit the weak. 10:01 <Crion> * We promise not to let each other get exploited. 10:01 <Crion> * We promise not to sell out. 10:01 <Crion> Oaths of the Heart 10:01 <Crion> * We promise to respect each others’ space. 10:01 <Crion> * We promise to act with love, but not blindly. 10:01 <Crion> * We promise not to suffer alone. 10:02 <Crion> As sworn, these will bind you formally into a motley...and imbue a crown of your make and model with significant, but not mythical, power. The oaths of Peter Montgomery -- or more motley oaths that you devise -- can further enhance it. 10:12 <Crion> Before approaching Peter and before swearing the motley oaths, of course, you'll need the crown itself. 10:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's brimming with power, buzzing with anxiety, and counting the minutes since his last drink. "So, uh... what do you guys think..." 10:22 <CBN> Tony: "On the one hand you know how I feel about a strong hat." 10:23 <VoxPVoxD> "On the other...?" 10:24 <CBN> Tony: "Well the other is, this whole thing's part of giving Peter a big, but...temporary? Thing for his whole, magical whatever, right?" 10:24 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Right." 10:25 <CBN> Tony: "I'm not good at thinking around whatever last minute totally-great-idea-for-him-at-the-time backstab he might come up with if it thinks it'll get him a girlfriend. So I am, I dunno. Cautious." 10:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think being cautious is understandable." 10:26 <VoxPVoxD> "At the same time... we're clearly not dealing with a mastermind here, right? Like his whole plan hung on the Queen leaving the crown on her desk in her unlocked office in the middle of Prom." 10:26 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't think we have to worry about legal judo." 10:26 <CBN> Tony: "But as always the alternatives are probably worse, so." He shrugs. "What we've got so far seems like stuff I was gonna do anyway, which is a cheat, but I'll take the easy Ws where I can." 10:28 <CBN> He thinks for a minute. "Should throw in one about Steve though." 10:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Something about fair dealing with hobs in general or something Steve-specific?" 10:30 <Crion> If you're serious about the rule of three you've got working for you, no reason it can't be both and then something third. 10:30 <CBN> Tony: "Probably him, he's basically an honorary Wherehouse bro at this point. And all hobs...I already got enough weight on me with that, you guys don't need to be deputy barons, baronets, whatever." 10:31 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Something about hobs being the Hedge's little guys?" 10:31 <CBN> Tony: "But I won't turn it down if it gets good hob vibes out there, too." 10:32 <CBN> To Maggie: " 'We promise to recognize that hobs have a place in the world.' and like... 'We promise to keep a place for Steve.' something?" 10:33 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That works. It needs a third thing though." 10:33 <VoxPVoxD> What do Nels and Melanie think? 10:34 <banana> Melanie thinks Steve is more likely to betray us, in some cosmic sense, than Peter. But with far fewer consequences. 10:34 <Crion> The first oath might need some viewpoint revision for the Wyrd to respect it. Both Keepers and Bridgeburners recognize hobs have a place in the world too, after all. 10:34 <banana> "If we're trying it to us, specifically, with oaths, that's useful... but wouldn't it make more sense to include us?" 10:34 <banana> Melanie contemplates distant traitors. "There's an opportunity here to make sure he doesn't just run off with the thing. Fair dealing." 10:35 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Um... something about self defense against the Hedge when necessary? Like, don't go picking a fight... I guess that kinda fits in with the first bit." 10:37 <dammitwho> "'Don't start fights for no reason.'" 10:38 <banana> Melanie: "No good, he'd think he had a reason." 10:38 <banana> "Sorry, I'm just criticising." 10:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think defending ourselves is something we don't gotta stipulate, really. What do you mean about including us, though?" 10:39 <CBN> Tony: "Nah you're right though, if this is for coverage, the dumbest man in Florida is gonna go, yeah but I totally super looove her you guys and then throw us off a roof if he can." 10:41 <banana> Melanie: "Oh, um.. it feels weird for goose Steve to be the only named entity. Is what I mean there. How about something like, 'we promise that the crown will find its way home'.. 'we swear that Tony, Maggie, etc shall be its home'..?" 10:44 <banana> "Maybe to make it operational 'we', or we and Peter would have to swear that we will bring it home." 10:44 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart scribbles some more in the notebook. "Another rough draft," 10:44 <CBN> Tony: "That's a point though, we don't have anything about the crown itself yet, which seems like a gimme." 10:44 <VoxPVoxD> Oaths of Duty 10:44 <VoxPVoxD> * We promise to treat honestly and fairly with all denizens of the Hedge. 10:44 <VoxPVoxD> * We promise to safeguard the Crown and always return it to its rightful home in the Wherehouse. 10:44 <VoxPVoxD> * We promise never to let a Title get the better of us. 10:45 <banana> Melanie reads the last one twice. "I guess if we'd created the mind-control weapon Duke wanted and put this on it, it would just explode." 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Arguably, if we do it knowing that's what we're doing, we're instead enabling a Title to get the better of someone else." 10:46 <VoxPVoxD> "Clear eyes, full hearts, immediately lose." 10:48 <banana> Melanie: "But what are we actually promising there- to never give up?" 10:49 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah, something like that. Never to admit defeat or back down or give in." 10:49 <CBN> Tony: "Don't know if I wanna commit to that, quitting rules." 10:50 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Retreating probably counts as backing down, even if it is temporary..." 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Like I said, it's a rough draft. I think structurally these need to be batched in threes." 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> "So if you guys like the first two but not the third, we just need a different third one." 10:51 <banana> Melanie: "It sounds great to me on a good day. Like, that's the fantasy of how I'd want to act toward the Keepers. However, commiting ourselves to live up to that... it could be crushing." 10:52 <banana> "How about... we promise to always strive against Titles and render their victories impermanent." 10:53 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Never *surrender* to a Title?" 10:53 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Never *surrender* to a Title?" 10:53 <CBN> Tony raps the side of his hat with a knuckle. "Some of our best friends have Titles." 10:53 <VoxPVoxD> "Being entitled isn't the same as being a Title." 10:53 <dammitwho> "That's a lowercase T, hombre." 10:54 <CBN> Tony: "We don't all get a book that spells this stuff out!" 10:54 <banana> Melanie: "It's the Lord Sage term for a Keeper's physical body, I think? 10:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "The flipside to being crushing is that if it's wishy-washy the Wyrd doesn't have to respect it. It has to be a commitment of some kind, even if it's one we'd do anyway, or one we've already made." 10:54 <VoxPVoxD> "So never backing down or never surrendering, explicitly, should work. I think." 10:55 <CBN> Tony: "Elephant in the room though, how's this gonna go with the fact that we're doing this in and around dealing with the Duke and probably being near the Mouse, and the Mistress, and all that, pretty quick-like?" 10:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Which of them do you plan to surrender to?" 10:56 <banana> Melanie: "Peter might want to surrender to 'Avery'. Disincentivising it could be wise." 10:56 <CBN> Tony: "I was talking more the against-Titles parts, but also...I don't wanna bite off 'getting obliterated by an angry Keeper' while trying to bite off 'getting this whole thing out of the way so we can get back on the water.'" 10:57 <banana> "Was she really a person once? Do we have any evidence for that?" 10:57 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I asked Lauren to have Rose look her up in the Book, but we haven't heard back yet." 10:58 <VoxPVoxD> "It doesn't violate any kind of logic for it to be the case, but we don't have anything in the way of a soundness test yet." 11:00 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't think there's a way around risking obliteration by an angry Keeper at this point, though." 11:00 <VoxPVoxD> "We should look past the stuff that's happening now and think about how we want to carry ourselves when we get home. That's where this stuff matters." 11:00 <Crion> Peter and the Duke aren't the only people who have told you that Avery Lovelace was once a person; Clevinger, of the Hold of Orlando, told you in the question game that she was the (then-Free)Hold's former Queen of Spring. 11:01 <VoxPVoxD> You can clearly hold the Crown of Orlando and be a Title, though... 11:02 <Crion> You can, but Clevinger specified she was the head of a seasonal court. The Duke does not head a seasonal court. 11:02 <Crion> But as noted, they're apparently permissive down here. 11:04 <CBN> Tony: "When we get home I want to drink until I forget everything that happened down here as soon as I stepped off the boat, so I'm glad we're writing these down." 11:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart laughs. 11:05 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That sounds like a plan to me." 11:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What's a third duty we could all get behind? Don't be dicks to hobs, don't lose the crown unlike every Freehold I've ever been in now, what's a third..." 11:06 <CBN> Tony: "We could ask Peter for one and just make up the least charitable interpretation to make up for him being the whole reason we have to do this in the first place." 11:06 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Maybe something about a duty to regular folks? I've been working at a soup kitchen, handing out masks and hand sanitizer?" 11:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I really don't think being a dick to Peter is a winning strategy. At least as relates to a BYOC plan. If we need to push his face in the mud we shouldn't be going to all this trouble." 11:07 <banana> Melanie: "That's a great thing to be dong, but you can't enforce charity." 11:08 <trenchfoot> Nels has antagonized him enough already at this point. Not gonna push her luck. 11:08 <CBN> Tony: "Well what is our winning strategy here anyway? We're getting ping-ponged from boat to army to the Duke and Peter to making this crown so we can go fulfill the thing that turned a nice journey into a shithole destination!" 11:09 <banana> "It feels like.. the thing we've been doing as a duty, as a service to the Freehold, is to kind of deal with monstrous incursions. The reverse of group-oath one." 11:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Our strategy is to get the skull from Peter by helping him with his thing so he doesn't need it anymore, and then he can fuck off or die heroically or whatever it is he's fantasizing about." 11:09 <banana> Melanie: "What if we make it one and two? We promise to treat honestly and fairly with all denizens of the Hedge. We promise to defend the denizens of Earth from the Hedge and its far reaches. We promise to safeguard this Crown, and so on..." 11:10 <VoxPVoxD> "I like that." 11:10 <VoxPVoxD> "Enforcing the boundary." 11:10 <CBN> Tony: "Saves me having to learn a new one, works over here." 11:11 <banana> "Feels a bit like promising to be a superhero, but.. the magic is good for something." 11:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We're not superheroes, we're just supernatural heroes." 11:11 <dammitwho> Maggie replies "Says you," to Melanie, but affably. 11:11 <VoxPVoxD> "A superhero has ethics that are bigger than your community or family or whatever." 11:11 <VoxPVoxD> "We're just nice, but also, very very powerful." 11:11 <CBN> Tony: "Melanie, let's be honest with ourselves: What else are we gonna end up doing with our time anyway?" 11:12 <banana> Melanie: "Yeah. I like the idea of swearing to defend people." 11:12 <CBN> Tony: "Most? Of us are already living in or near the Hedge near full-time, at least one of us has a formal obligation to do this whole thing already, and everyone's about to commit to sharing burdens, all that stuff. So this was probably gonna be happening anyway." 11:13 <CBN> Tony: "Like at this point we all sat down and committed to dinner, may as well admit we're ordering dessert too." 11:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart scribbles some more, and Melanie observes a tiny change of wording he made to one of the oaths they already liked. 11:13 <VoxPVoxD> Oaths of Duty 11:13 <VoxPVoxD> * We promise to treat honestly and fairly with all denizens of the Hedge. 11:13 <VoxPVoxD> * We promise to defend people from the incursions of Faerie. 11:13 <VoxPVoxD> * We promise to safeguard the Crown and always return it to its rightful home with the Wherehouse. 11:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks them over. "This might technically obligate us to rip Orlando from the Wyrd." 11:25 <VoxPVoxD> "Do we mind that?" 11:25 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Um. That seems like more of a massive undertaking than we might be equipped for." 11:26 <trenchfoot> "Not that I want it to be happening, but." 11:26 <CBN> Tony: "Do we have to stick around afterwards or can we do it on our way out, if we have to do it at all?" 11:27 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It doesn't obligate us to rove around and nail every Hedge gate shut. But if the opportunity to do so crosses our paths, and we don't take advantage... that would do it." 11:27 <VoxPVoxD> "Trying to nail every Hedge gate shut, even in a region, would be an insane undertaking, and require magic on a scale that you are probably liable before the Hague." 11:29 <VoxPVoxD> "Note also that if we reframe the oath more narrowly, we can still do the thing, we just aren't promising to." 11:29 <CBN> Tony: "Honestly if I had the time and didn't want to get out of here as soon as we got here, I'd probably have been trying to get us to do that while we were around town already. We don't need any more of Florida getting into the Hedge if we can avoid it, remember? You said it yourself." 11:29 <VoxPVoxD> "So again we can do whatever we want, the question is basically, since this is a foundational document for what we're about... what are we about? Are we about letting stuff like this slide if we can?" 11:29 <CBN> Tony: "Is there any reason not to do it the better way then? I don't like fencing ourselves in." 11:30 <VoxPVoxD> "Just that it's a weaker oath that says something less noble about us. But like I said, we're not superheroes." 11:31 <CBN> Tony: "Well dead in the middle there. Would wording it one way set us up to be exploited? But is doing it the weasel way selling out?" 11:31 <trenchfoot> Nels: "We help when we can, but we can't just..." She waves a hand vaguely. "Take on the whole world." 11:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shrugs. "That's not a question the Wyrd can answer." 11:31 <VoxPVoxD> "That's something we have to decide for ourselves. And the Wyrd can judge whether we keep to our word or not." 11:32 <CBN> Tony: "Then what's your answer? Is it selling out to give ourselves an out?" 11:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart is silent for a long moment. 11:33 <VoxPVoxD> Finally: "I don't know. I think if we're strong enough that we could abide by the stricter oath, then not doing so would be in some sense a moral failing. But how are we supposed to know if we're strong enough?" 11:34 <banana> Melanie: "Try it and find out." 11:34 <VoxPVoxD> "Assuming we are is megalomania. Assuming we're not is neurosis." 11:34 <banana> "If everyone gave up in advance, we'd be fucked." 11:35 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks at Melanie. "Can we promise to try, do you think?" 11:35 <VoxPVoxD> "Not to win, but to try?" 11:37 <banana> Melanie: "What's the difference? We talked about this before, when it was about Titles. You can promise to win and then fail. It doesn't mean you didn't uphold your oath, although failure is still bad, for other reasons." 11:40 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's a question of intent, I think. Do we intend to set ourselves between the Tellurian and Faerie as an absolute bulwark? Do we intend to keep our eyes out to make sure people aren't being preyed upon?" 11:40 <VoxPVoxD> "Like... what are we about?" 11:40 <VoxPVoxD> "I know I said that but that's still the question. I can't answer it for everyone. You can make me the leader but you can't make me God." 11:43 <trenchfoot> Nels: "The latter, more than the former, I think? Like you said. We're not superheroes. We have to focus on problems we can actually help with, not just, hurl ourselves at the biggest problem of all." 11:43 <banana> Melanie: "Does anyone not want to stand between worlds and keep people safe from what we've had to go through? We can actually do it. So we should." 11:43 <banana> "Only problems that are There, yes. But not standing next to a problem and declaring ourselves uninvolved." 11:44 <CBN> Tony: "I mean, shit, I want to but I'm not out here making an oath to put the Slayer under the chin of every Keeper I see, because I don't wanna die or go back." 11:44 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What about, we promise not to turn a blind eye to the depredations of Faerie?" 11:44 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That sounds right to me." 11:45 <CBN> Tony: "What about like, can we promise not to make things worse, on that? Dunno how you'd phrase it. But I also don't know what's gonna count as a blind eye other than literally doin' one of these." He covers the side of his face with a hand and turns away. 11:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I kind of want to keep the option to make things worse on the table. Not to do, but like, I don't want people knowing we refuse on principle to ever damage a status quo in a short-term negative way." 11:48 <CBN> Tony: "Well, make things worse for people...but, nah. Wizards are probably technically people and I don't wanna rule out throwing one of those guys to the wolves." He pauses for a second. "'Again' technically." 11:49 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's also not obvious that fighting is the best solution to keep people safe at all times." 11:50 <banana> To Tony: "Does it come back to the gormlessly smiling lives Orlando's got its citizens leading? Making things worse to make em better, where you have to take care of yourself but now you're free?" 11:50 <CBN> Tony: "I am aggressively trying not to think about how many of those people are gonna die of the big flu if stuff separates back out, Mel." 11:52 <banana> "Eh? The Hedge isn't free of disease. We got chased by plague Zambonis!" 11:54 <CBN> Tony: "Well yeah but you can see those." 11:56 <banana> Melanie: "Yes, they are larger than a virus." 11:56 <banana> "Did you guys have germ theory in the 60s?" 11:57 <CBN> Tony: "Yes in the 70s we believed in covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Mostly." 11:57 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Melanie. We had germ theory." 11:58 <CBN> Tony gives Nels an emphatic thank-you style finger point. 11:58 <banana> "Well, now that you've gone through two pandemics, maybe we need a better one." 11:59 <CBN> Tony: "What's this thing gonna look like? Since I'm probably not gonna wear it any time ever, I don't really got much of a dog in this hunt." 11:59 <VoxPVoxD> Contract writing is a bad gig for aggressively trying not to think about stuff... there's gotta be a way to bring people together. "An oath not to Lose people. In the sense of, allowing-to-become-Lost." 11:59 <VoxPVoxD> "Less never and more never-again." 12:00 <CBN> Tony: "Oh! I like that." 12:00 <VoxPVoxD> "People who are our responsibility, whether because they're our family or our community or because they came to us for help." 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> "And we can reach beyond that. Maybe we can swear to it someday. But it's not the core of who we are, is it?" 12:01 <dammitwho> Maggie frowns and works her jaw silently. "I'll support that. I'm still hoping a little for something that gets us to, ya know, turn on electricity for people who lose their jobs and can't pay their bills, but maybe that's not an oath kind of thing." 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> "We promised to share what we have already, right?" 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> "Which I think covers both paying people's power bills and hacking people's meters." 12:02 <VoxPVoxD> "Unless you're looking for like, a Leninist line." 12:04 <banana> Melanie: "Well, that would be an oath about shooting kids in a basement. If we defend people, that at least gives them a chance." 12:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Maggie, what do you think? Do the existing oaths not commit us to taking care of people as much as you'd like?" 12:09 <dammitwho> Speaking carefully: "I think you're right that an oath to share what we have points us in the right way. I *don't* think it commits us to do the extra stuff I'm hoping for, but we weren't doing that as much as I wanted before and I guess I'd rather convince you all to do it rather than being, y'know, magically compelled from the get-go." 12:10 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What kind of stuff do you want us to be doing that we're not?" 12:11 <banana> Melanie: "We should talk about that stuff, maybe later but I do want to know. Spending your whole life fighting would be horrible, so, there's a place for soup kitchens...?" 12:11 <CBN> Tony: "Couldn't we also swear that without having to deal with a crown and this whole thing, if we do need to swear on it? Not to push it off 'til later, like I'll pinky-promise right now not to be a piece of shit to someone in need if you want." 12:12 <dammitwho> She waves a hand. "Yeh, we can talk about it when we're done here. One near-impossible job at a time." 12:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah, it's not something we can really *do* now, but insofar as this is a moment to actually sit and communicate about what we want to do and be about as a group, it's worth thinking about at least." 12:12 <VoxPVoxD> "But yeah, that's fine too." 12:12 <banana> Hopefully this isn't foreshadowing Maggie being an actual Leninist, ha ha. At least it'd be an interesting argument. 12:13 <VoxPVoxD> They say in Harlan County, there are no neutrals there. 12:15 <VoxPVoxD> Oaths of Duty 12:15 <VoxPVoxD> * We promise to treat honestly and fairly with all denizens of the Hedge. 12:15 <VoxPVoxD> * We promise to safeguard the Crown and always return it to its rightful home with the Wherehouse. 12:15 <VoxPVoxD> * We promise not to Lose each other, our community, or anyone who comes to us for aid. 12:15 <VoxPVoxD> "How's that?" 12:17 <CBN> Tony: "Works for me." 12:17 <trenchfoot> Nels: "All of those sound great to me." 12:17 <banana> Melanie: "I'm not going to insist that we have martial language in there." 12:17 <banana> Melanie: "I'm not going to insist that we have martial language in there." 12:18 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I appreciate that." 12:18 <banana> "I know it's, you know, maladaptive. Although we're adapting to some pretty extreme mal." 12:19 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think we should try being really tough and cool and smart, or 'meladaptive'." 12:19 <trenchfoot> Flatterer. 12:20 <banana> Melanie bows and makes a little hand twirl in gracious acceptance. Shades of a party queen centuries gone. 12:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So, cool! Cool cool cool." 12:21 <VoxPVoxD> "What's this thing gonna look like?" 12:22 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Reckon I could knock together just about anything, especially if it's made of scrap metal." 12:22 <VoxPVoxD> "Do we want something classically crowny? Do we want it to project dignity, delicacy, strength?" 12:22 <CBN> Tony: "I don't wanna look at something real ugly back home, but it would be funny if Peter feels bad about using it. Not sure if this helps." 12:22 <banana> "Whoopee cap?" Melanie's still thinking about who'll initially wear it. 12:23 <VoxPVoxD> "I think, again, we give ourselves the best chance to succeed if we do not conspire to actively humiliate Peter Montgomery." 12:23 <VoxPVoxD> "...anymore." 12:23 <VoxPVoxD> "...again." 12:23 <CBN> Tony: "You keep saying that like it's gonna change my mind and I love you man but it will not." 12:23 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I love you too! And I don't blame you. If it helps, maybe think of this as the shortest path back to the boat." 12:23 <CBN> Tony: "But maybe like...can the shape of Camden Yards be a crown? On its side or upside-down maybe?" He shrugs. 12:24 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Eh, I feel like we'd get sick of that kind of quick. Unless we were giving it to the Oriole." 12:25 <dammitwho> "Which, you know, maybe not this crown, but our sweet boy deserves a gift next holiday season..." 12:25 <VoxPVoxD> "The head of Mike Elias?" 12:25 <CBN> Tony: "Back pocket then." 12:25 <Crion> Wonder what contract his skull would contain. 12:26 <VoxPVoxD> A below-market one. 12:26 <CBN> Tony: "This one though, let's just put this out there right now: Nothing will look better than this guy."Finger-gun pointing at his hat. "So if we adjust our expectations down...from there...what are we left with?" 12:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think it shouldn't be flashy. We're pretty low-key people." 12:27 <banana> Melanie: "Do you think it's the sort of thing we'd pass around, so different people are sometimes wearing it? It's hard to pick something that would look good for all of us. You could do a basic headband of circlet..." 12:28 <dammitwho> Maggie: "One of them flat caps, like that Brit was wearing on TV? Whatchacallit. Peaky Bloindas." 12:29 <CBN> Tony: "Well if it's something we can all accessorize, why not a crown, on a necklace? Or is that chain gonna be some weird symbolism, somewhere, Wyrd-crap-wise?" 12:29 <VoxPVoxD> "I think to be a crown it's gotta go on someone's head. Something simple could go on top of your hat instead of forcing you to replace it, though." 12:29 <banana> Melanie: "Those are cute..." The caps, not the chains. 12:29 <VoxPVoxD> "Like a braided silver deal, maybe." 12:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart sketches something like, https://i.imgur.com/VPJ2Jd2.jpg 12:30 <VoxPVoxD> "There's like a W in it for Wherehouse... I dunno." 12:30 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm not a jewelery designer." 12:31 <CBN> Tony squints. "That looks like fancy glasses kinda. Might work for some of you though." 12:31 <Crion> Could be worn as a headband, too, for those of you with longer hair. Fashionable! 12:32 <banana> Melanie: "Nobody uses reading glasses, right? It'd look like you were wearing another pair of glasses on top." 12:33 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Sunglasses, maybe?" 12:33 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I don't think glasses would work for the crown thing." 12:33 <banana> "Sunglasses and a tiara is already a faux pas, that's fine." 12:33 <Crion> There is one issue with the design: It needs to be fully encircled. It can be adjustable, but you need some piece of silver chain or something to close the back of the loop. 12:33 <banana> "Unless you are literally at Ibiza." 12:33 <Crion> Then it's a crown. 12:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We want to close the loop, also, or make a clasp or something." 12:34 <CBN> Tony: "Round out that W-whatever thing bout a little so I can put it over this bad boy." Finger-gun to the hat again. "And I'm on board. Because this ain't comin' off." 12:35 <VoxPVoxD> "Yeah, I think this'd go over a baseball cap fine. It'd stand out, but, you're wearing a powerful magic crown." 12:35 <VoxPVoxD> "In this hypothetical, obviously your hat game is sacrosanct and crown doctrine is a subset of castle doctrine." 12:35 <CBN> Tony: "Well obviously if it doesn't stand out some, what're we even doin' here." 12:36 <dammitwho> Maggie looks over at the sketch and grunts. "Not bad. I can make the arms longer and make it into a proper tiara so the Wyrd doesn't get cranky." 12:37 <VoxPVoxD> Whew. Finally feels like we're making progress. This was like pulling teeth. But it was like pulling his own teeth like some frontier medicine scenario. 12:37 <VoxPVoxD> ...usually you get to anaesthetize with whiskey in that scenario. 12:40 <CBN> Tony: "So once we've got that all set up...what's next?" 12:40 <CBN> Tony: "Other than doing all the swearing and writing this down somewhere we can post like a chore list back home." 12:40 <VoxPVoxD> "Then we go back to Margaritaville and see if Peter bites." 12:40 <VoxPVoxD> "Oh man, we can get needlework or something." 12:40 <VoxPVoxD> "Like a 'Bless This Mess' situation." 12:43 <banana> Melanie: "Duke's idea was that he comes stumbling out half-dead and we're waiting to tell him, you have one last chance." 12:43 <VoxPVoxD> "I think we should at least see if we can get him to not fight the Duke." 12:43 <VoxPVoxD> "Like, give him the opportunity to say no thanks and then come back." 12:43 <banana> Melanie: :C 12:43 <VoxPVoxD> "Look, I get it, but we want to close this deal." 12:43 <banana> Hard to argue against that... rationally. 12:44 <CBN> Tony: "Bless this elaborate list of conditions of stuff you were either gonna do or don't think about consciously doing but if you fuck up now, consequences." Tony nods along, chafing at the idea but trying desperately to cling to the Vibe to just get through this, on principle to both. 12:45 <CBN> Tony: "If he's already gonna fight we can just tell him he shouldn't, he's not gonna listen to us though. But couldn't hurt. And hey if he does listen to us, we're on a roll, of one." 12:45 <dammitwho> However many hours it takes Maggie to finish the thing later, she comes back with a tiara that looks like the one Stewart drew except a full circle. "Whew! Did you know there are some old mirrors around here that still use silver foil for the backing? Well, there were some old mirrors like that." 12:45 <VoxPVoxD> "Hopefully those weren't escape routes for the Holders." 12:48 <banana> Camping out in zonked-out Orlando is weird. You can just go into a hotel or B&B and say, please give us a room key... 12:48 <Crion> It's probably a bit after dinner time by the time Maggie finishes. You've got time to set up before Peter's due down in Margaritaville. 12:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart got Coronas and a whole bunch of popcorn shrimp. 12:50 <dammitwho> Mmm, popcorn shrimp. 12:51 <trenchfoot> You can do that? 12:51 <VoxPVoxD> With a deep fryer and enough self-disrespect, you can do anything." 12:52 <VoxPVoxD> Seeing Nels's face: "They deep fry candy bars now." 12:52 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Wha- why...?" 12:52 <CBN> Tony's listening. "Here, or?" 12:52 <Crion> The Duke will be interested in what your play is when you arrive. He'll appear when you pop the curb. "Mmmm. There's purpose in you now, isn't there. You're not here to watch." 12:53 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart bows a little. "Evening, your grace. We're here to engage in collaborative storytelling." 12:53 <Crion> Universal Studios at night is lit up but empty. Thankfully, the rides aren't moving by themselves. Something appears to be cleaning the streets, though, if you littered last time you walked these avenues. 12:53 <VoxPVoxD> Littering is mean. 12:53 <Crion> The Thin White Duke smiles politely, meaning he doesn't bare fangs. "Collaborative! Interesting." 12:54 <Crion> "Well, I don't dislike Peter Montgomery. If you've decided to reach him coming, instead of going...the bar is open. The kitchen, sadly, is closed." 12:55 <VoxPVoxD> "A bar is plenty. We just came from dinner." 12:56 <banana> Melanie: "We ought to give him a chance, don't you think? Since he has none at all against you." 12:56 <Crion> Now a bit of fang does slip under the lip. "Indeed. I'll be in my office. For once the deal is struck." 12:57 <Crion> He will disappear the very first instant none of you are directly perceiving him. 12:57 <VoxPVoxD> Fuckin Quantum Moon ass vampire fairy. 12:57 <banana> Melanie's sorted things in her head now. A long talk, a rest, a beautiful crown... this guy is of the Enemy. Peter? He's acted against us. But he is a human being. We have common enemies, maybe even common causes. 12:58 <VoxPVoxD> Is the implication that we can make our own drinks up here? What's going on at the bar? 12:59 <Crion> Absolutely. The shelf isn't quite so high as it is upstairs but there's more fresh ingredients, and the selection is far from poor. Just no $300 wines or 20 year scotches. 12:59 <CBN> Tony's going to try to keep quiet and just vibe on this as best he can, because: Stewart said it himself, one step closer to getting back to the boat. 13:00 <Crion> Peter Montgomery and Stereo Vengeant will step up onto the curb at 11:29 PM. When Peter walks into the first floor social space of the upscaled, marble and chrome Margaritaville, what does he see waiting for him? Specifically: Are you putting the crown out for him to see or keeping it in reserve? 13:01 <VoxPVoxD> We've got the crown on the bar. He might as well see it on the way in. Stewart's putting his second rusty nail of the night in his mouth. 13:02 <Crion> Then he sees you, opens his mouth, then sees the crown, closes his mouth, and takes a few steps forward towards it. He's not stupid enough to try to grab it off the table; he doesn't even enter arm's length. He just stares at it, and looks around the room. 13:04 <banana> Melanie's looking way less murderous than before! She's resigned, even a little slumpy. Still watching him, though. 13:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, behind the bar, might be the only one who visibly has any energy. 13:05 <banana> Frankly, she looks like someone who's been persuaded that dealing with Peter Montgomery is better than at least one alternative. 13:06 <trenchfoot> Nels is tense -- not sure how he'll react. Keep your guard up and all. 13:06 <CBN> Tony's nursing a beer and hanging back, giving off a general 'here because they are' vibe. Not the best vibe, but it's what's available. 13:06 <Crion> His eyes go from the crown to Melanie, to Stewart, back to the crown, and back to Stewart. He'll stare at Stewart a moment; hold his gaze, if Stewart's staring back. Then, to Stereo Vengeant: "Wait outside." 13:06 <Crion> Stereo Vengeant makes a raspberry of a noise, and Peter wheels on him: "Then kill me you fuck." 13:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart holds eye contact right up until: "Whoa, hey hey." 13:07 <VoxPVoxD> "Master of the house would not approve." 13:07 <VoxPVoxD> This is to Stereo. 13:07 <dammitwho> Maggie brought her vape pen along, at least. She wipes off the mouthpiece and offers a hit to Stewart, and heck, to Peter. At least after the kerfuffle with the stereo-monster is over. 13:07 <Crion> The boom box man grumbles, and withdraws. 13:07 <banana> Acknowledging the thing's authority for the sake of a quip is something Melanie would.. usually not do. Maybe Stewart's right here, they're walking a fine balance of power. 13:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart demurs; he needs to keep his head clear. So he finishes his drink instead and starts mixing another. 13:08 <VoxPVoxD> "You want a drink?" 13:08 <Crion> When Stereo Vengeant is gone, Peter sits down a table away from the crown, and stares at it. "Yes, please." 13:08 <Crion> "Whatever beer is cold is fine. Thank you." 13:09 <Crion> "...It's not got the power yet. You didn't steal it from a princess, or the duke. You're going to give it the power." 13:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart walks a Corona over to him. "That's the plan." 13:10 <banana> Melanie: "This is like, one step better than having to deal with those things anymore. If you have to do this thing, we've got a better way. But you'd have to swear on it." 13:10 <dammitwho> "Sure's shootin'." 13:10 <Crion> He takes the beer gladly. "How many oaths am I to swear." 13:10 <Crion> "I know it's quite a number." 13:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Well, right now, we're building it on some motley oaths that you don't need to be party to. But the Wyrd likes threes." 13:11 <Crion> He blinks. "You weren't already...Christ, you did all that without motley bonds?" 13:11 <Crion> "Fuck." 13:12 <banana> Melanie: "You don't need faerie law to accomplish things, Montgomery." 13:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Just like you don't have to be crazy to work here." 13:13 <Crion> Peter, to Melanie: "...There's a world where I understood that sooner. It might be a better one." 13:14 <banana> Huh. Yes, it might. 13:14 <Crion> "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I should have asked for help." 13:14 <banana> She nods, but doesn't say anything about Gemma back in the scullery and Nels ostracised by her date and the wizards waiting with the nukes. 13:15 <VoxPVoxD> "Me too. None of this is how anyone's life was supposed to go. That's really the unifying thing, here. None of us is where we're supposed to be. Not you, not us, not the Duke." 13:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I want to focus on what we can make of the world that is, and not the world we deserved to begin with." 13:15 <Crion> Peter: "I think that makes sense." 13:15 <Crion> "I will swear what needs to be sworn with two conditions." 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods into his glass. 13:17 <Crion> "The first is that one of these oaths binds you to me more than me to you: to give me the crown at the moment I need it, to finish this, and bring Avery back." 13:17 <Crion> "The second is that none of these oaths compel me to harm her. In either...state." 13:17 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks back at the others. 13:18 <Crion> "Beyond that..." He takes a long pull. "Let's get to terms." 13:18 <dammitwho> Well, the first thing was what we made the crown for in the first place, right? 13:18 <banana> Seems okay. The first one's the point of all this, and the second... if she's just a Keeper in a mask, and it turns into a fight, it'd be on us. That's what we expected. 13:19 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think that works for us." 13:19 <CBN> Tony shrugs. "First's what it is, and the second, it wouldn't really be our style to legislate against that." 13:20 <VoxPVoxD> "One thing we should clear up: the crown and the skull... are not consumed in the ritual, right?" 13:20 <VoxPVoxD> "Like we come out of this with the thing we got sent down here for." 13:20 <Crion> With both of his terms agreed to, then, Peter will be mostly silent as you negotiate the precise terms of his surrender. 13:20 <Crion> Peter: "As far as I know, they are not." 13:21 <Crion> "...The qualifier is for honesty, not uncertainty." 13:21 <Crion> "You're familiar with onieromancy? Dreamweaving." 13:21 <Crion> "The concept of eidolons -- props?" 13:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 13:23 <Crion> "They're eidolons more than they are tokens. It's like...they're Chekov's Gun, but what matters more is Chekov put them there, not that they've got firing pins and are loaded with bullets." 13:27 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Do you think there's a chance she goes for us?" 13:28 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't know what her mental state is or what it'll be in the course of resolving this." 13:28 <Crion> Peter: "Goes for you? What do you mean. Attacks you? I mean. You've met her. And I'm...biased." 13:29 <Crion> "The Mouse could be in her head. He's got her playing princess." 13:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah. I guess I'm asking, is she playing a sits in a tower moping kind of princess or a blasts people while singing Wicked knockoffs kind of princess?" 13:30 <Crion> Peter: "That depends on what the Mouse has in theaters that week, doesn't it?" 13:30 <Crion> "I'm not being facetious." 13:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "All the theaters are closed." 13:30 <VoxPVoxD> "There's a plague on." 13:31 <Crion> Peter: "They collect the showing fee either way." 13:31 <VoxPVoxD> "You know, this would've been so much easier 50 years ago, when Disney was doing corny live action bullshit." 13:32 <VoxPVoxD> "Can we beat Elsa? I dunno. But Mary Poppins? Bring it on." 13:32 <Crion> Peter: "To be direct and good faith and all that: How she's made to present herself will depend on how the Mouse decides she should. She's...I don't know. Part of the brand?" 13:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Right. So that brings us to the other guy. How tight a leash do you have on that Title outside?" 13:33 <Crion> Peter: "The leash is on me. Or at least it's reciprocal." 13:33 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "In what sense?" 13:33 <banana> Melanie: "Can you swear oaths that bind it?" 13:33 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart makes a gesture at Melanie like, yeah, that's the salient question here. 13:35 <Crion> "Stereo Vengeant is here because the House has decided that Avery is...sunk cost. It wants a Title that isn't so much of, well..." He waves the beer bottle. "Most everyone involved in this basically just wants it to be over. The Avery Lovelace experiment is done. But the House can't break its own contracts in this matter. So I'm here to end her association with the House one way...or Stereo 13:35 <Crion> Vengeant is here to end it, and me, the other." 13:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "If she did attack us, do you think you'd be able to talk her down?" 13:36 <Crion> "No, I cannot. I cannot command it outside of a very slight space. But it is sworn, broadly, to the quest I am sworn to." 13:37 <Crion> To Stewart: "Again, I'm biased. She chose you as the Baltimore Lost she wanted to talk to...not me and Gemma. She had her reasons, and her judgment. If her reason and judgment have been overridden, the best I can do is tell you that I'll gladly throw myself in front of you to take the hit, and see if she falters or not." 13:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Okay. That's good to know. Our hope is that it doesn't come to that, and that anyone who has to die, has to die for incredibly unromantic reasons." 13:39 <VoxPVoxD> "Ideally no one has to die at all. But I'm gonna aim low here." 13:39 <Crion> Peter has another long sip of beer instead of trying to justify himself further. 13:39 <VoxPVoxD> He looks at Melanie again. Is she satisfied enough? 13:40 <banana> Uuuuuugh. 13:40 <banana> I mean, yes. It's just that Tony has a point about why are we even here and so on. 13:41 <VoxPVoxD> We're here because the Baltimore Freehold put us together to clean up their messes, which just happened to dribble all the way down the Eastern Seaboard. 13:41 <banana> "All this seems like the best way to like... minimise how many more people get hurt. So." 13:42 <banana> "We can deal with biases and requirements. Oaths fill in the gaps. Ultimately, we just have to all want.. things to go as well as remains possible." 13:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We're satisfied, then. Are you, Peter?" He does a funny, like, Spanish? Italian? accent: "Is your passion enough to claim a crown?" 13:53 <Crion> Peter: "Yes." 13:57 <Crion> He finishes his beer. It's the nape of midnight. It's time. 13:57 <Crion> NEXT TIME: SWEAR TO ME