[It's a few hours later that Jon texts Jamie again.]
I'd like to hear anything you want to tell me about the Winter Duchy. All of them, actually. I know you're part of spring. But how do all these 'courts' actually work? And interact with the Hedge?
oh, you don't hold back, do you? I know WHY i can't tell you this while talking, but it does make things easier.
okay.
the Duchy of the Icebound Heart is an entitlement members of the Winter Court can take. one has to be initiated, most often by breaking the heart of or otherwise conning another member of the Duchy. they pervert desire and wrap people around their fingers without intending any kind of reciprocity. the Spring Court has a very terse relationship with them. Sam was in the Duchy. He wanted my heart. Tell me if you want me to come back to this.
[There's a pause while Jamie finds himself somewhere more comfortable to be. He ends up in his bedroom, curled beneath a warm comforter.]
seasonal courts are the most common, but they aren't the only ones. when you escape and get back into the real world, the safest thing to do is join a freehold, and freeholds are run by courts. how you cope with your new station in life is how you find your court, or how they find you winter is for sorrow, spring is for desire, summer is for wrath, and fall is for fear winter mourns what they've lost spring lives as loudly and fully as they can summer turns its anger back on those that would hurt us and autumn seeks to use what they were once afraid of
sometimes the Courts recruit other times there's something you have to do to get in autumn requires a secret or some new knowledge summer puts potential members through a gauntlet spring is generally open to anyone but it requires an entire lifestyle and if you aren't genuine or passionate in its pursuit, you're left on the edges and unable to advance
What does advancing in a court mean? Is it just better protection? I assume there's certain connections you gain through that sort of thing. Are the Fae in Arcadia willing to negotiate if you're a sufficiently powerful changeling of the Court?
[There's a small pause while Jamie tries to think of how to articulate what he means.]
i mean, there's a reason they're called Courts there's intrigue, gossip, back-stabbing, advancement, favor. I was a prince. Florian was my first king, Inanna was my second. Florian took a liking to me. I was good at planning parties, I could twist desire like few others in the court, and I had a little bit of a reckless streak it's... status. Being higher in the court usually means you've achieved something. ' but it is power, too. You don't get into the higher ranks or you don't achieve entitlements without skill.
the Gentry won't negotiate with us, ever. and even if it seems like they are, it would involve selling out other changelings like Sam did
I don't know. I guess I thought about it now and then. for the most part I was happy as a prince, i don't know that i'd really want the responsibility of a full monarch. and there are duties. I didn't mind helping, though.
[Jamie liked Florian and Inanna, and hadn't particularly wanted to see them deposed.]
every year we host the Spring Revel, which is usually the official change of power from the Winter Court to us. everyone wants an invitation, it's the party of the year during the Revel, the members of the court try to make at least one desire for every attendant come true
there's also the Homecoming, which celebrates the founder of the Spring Court's escape from Arcadia it's a purely hedonistic affair
anyway, our duties are hosting the events. During the course of the year, power will change to other courts so we fade into the background a bit, but we're never not doing our work. Desire is ours, and we fulfill it and indulge it at every turn.
Of course there are rivaling factions. Within the Courts and out. Each Court tends to want to stay in power, but part of our power is the fact that the seasons change, so we try to honor that. Spring and Summer tend to get along well. I'm not sure Winter gets along with anyone.
[It's fascinating, really. Seasonal power. The Fears rise and fall in power with time, but he can't imagine any of them willingly giving up what they have. Elias had had to trick all the others into being dragged along for the ride.]
What about the Autumn Court? You mentioned they're all about new knowledge. Do they get on with Spring? I imagine the desire for new knowledge would be powerful.
yes and no the autumn court is fucking creepy they play with magic the Gentry use and go turning over rocks that maybe shouldn't be touched and they spend so much time digging through the past but they do have desire very, very strong desire and we (Spring) understand it
I guess I can't speak to bad of them one of them is the reason we actually managed to catch Sam
All of the changelings have some element of the Stranger given the nature of your creation, I think. Autumn might cleave closest to the Eye. Possibly some element of the Hunt, depending on what they might do to acquire their knowledge. Relentless pursuit and all that. The Vast I could see coming in here. Feeling small in comparison to the Gentry. Small compared to all the knowledge and fear there is. Winter seems perfectly set to align with the Lonely. The Dark, the Buried, and the End might find a home there, too. Spring would be for the Web and the Corruption. Possibly the Spiral. Summer would have to be the Slaughter, the Desolation, and the Flesh. Possibly the Hunt, as well, depending on context.
[None of it really comes as a surprise. Jamie doesn't know the Fears well, but he can get a gist of them as Jon lists them off and assigns them to the Courts. He shivers and has to set down his phone for a moment, face in his hands. But eventually he picks it up again.]
Aptly assigned, I think. easier to compare them to the Courts than to the Gentry themselves you sort of met the Old Man, and he's one of many
I'm sure the Gentry would fall into the categories well enough. Your Old Salt could be something like the Buried. Drowning often is associated with that one.
I wonder if they Gentry are harder to categorize, though they have aspects, titles that they take the Old Salt is also the Abyss and the Glare on the Horizon
Their titles can be whatever they want. It's more about what they do, what sorts of terrors they inspire. I suppose they could be a mix of the entities, though.
It honestly depends on an individual's perception of the fear they're experiencing. Fear of the abyss could be linked to the fear of drowning if you fear the abyss because you might go down so deep you'll never be able to reach the sky again. That terror that fills you as you think of the water pressing in on all sides, getting heavier and heavier. Sinking slowly, the world dragging you down to its very core.
But you could fear the abyss because it is a vast and unknowable space. The ever deep where creatures your imagination conjures in its darkest hours can come to life. Monsters with eyes the size of houses. There's always a bigger fish...
[Reading everything that Jon's rattled off has brought back the very real feeling of his terror. He remembers how it felt to drown, how it felt to be overwhelmed by the Murigheas. Jamie doesn't realize he has his hand pressed to his cheek for a long moment. He makes himself put it down. He doesn't answer for a little while.]
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So it's probably for the best that Jon leaves before Jamie gives him exactly what he wants.]
Bye, Jon. Talk to you soon.
[Jon knows where the front door is. Jamie trusts he'll be able to find it. He just wants a nap.]
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I'd like to hear anything you want to tell me about the Winter Duchy.
All of them, actually.
I know you're part of spring.
But how do all these 'courts' actually work?
And interact with the Hedge?
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I know WHY i can't tell you this while talking, but it does make things easier.
okay.
the Duchy of the Icebound Heart is an entitlement members of the Winter Court can take.
one has to be initiated, most often by breaking the heart of or otherwise conning another member of the Duchy.
they pervert desire and wrap people around their fingers without intending any kind of reciprocity. the Spring Court has a very terse relationship with them.
Sam was in the Duchy. He wanted my heart.
Tell me if you want me to come back to this.
[There's a pause while Jamie finds himself somewhere more comfortable to be. He ends up in his bedroom, curled beneath a warm comforter.]
seasonal courts are the most common, but they aren't the only ones.
when you escape and get back into the real world, the safest thing to do is join a freehold, and freeholds are run by courts.
how you cope with your new station in life is how you find your court, or how they find you
winter is for sorrow, spring is for desire, summer is for wrath, and fall is for fear
winter mourns what they've lost
spring lives as loudly and fully as they can
summer turns its anger back on those that would hurt us
and autumn seeks to use what they were once afraid of
[he'll get to the Hedge, he promises.]
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Is there some sort of pact or contract signed with a particular court once you're brought into it?
Something that grants you powers or privileges?
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other times there's something you have to do to get in
autumn requires a secret or some new knowledge
summer puts potential members through a gauntlet
spring is generally open to anyone but it requires an entire lifestyle
and if you aren't genuine or passionate in its pursuit, you're left on the edges and unable to advance
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Is it just better protection? I assume there's certain connections you gain through that sort of thing.
Are the Fae in Arcadia willing to negotiate if you're a sufficiently powerful changeling of the Court?
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i mean, there's a reason they're called Courts
there's intrigue, gossip, back-stabbing, advancement, favor.
I was a prince.
Florian was my first king, Inanna was my second.
Florian took a liking to me. I was good at planning parties, I could twist desire like few others in the court, and I had a little bit of a reckless streak
it's... status. Being higher in the court usually means you've achieved something. '
but it is power, too.
You don't get into the higher ranks or you don't achieve entitlements without skill.
the Gentry won't negotiate with us, ever.
and even if it seems like they are, it would involve selling out other changelings
like Sam did
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[That's probably not the most important part here, but Jon is curious.]
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I guess I thought about it now and then.
for the most part I was happy as a prince, i don't know that i'd really want the responsibility of a full monarch. and there are duties.
I didn't mind helping, though.
[Jamie liked Florian and Inanna, and hadn't particularly wanted to see them deposed.]
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Do the courts ever coordinate?
Or are they like rival factions, vying constantly for power?
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everyone wants an invitation, it's the party of the year
during the Revel, the members of the court try to make at least one desire for every attendant come true
there's also the Homecoming, which celebrates the founder of the Spring Court's escape from Arcadia
it's a purely hedonistic affair
anyway, our duties are hosting the events. During the course of the year, power will change to other courts so we fade into the background a bit, but we're never not doing our work. Desire is ours, and we fulfill it and indulge it at every turn.
Of course there are rivaling factions. Within the Courts and out.
Each Court tends to want to stay in power, but part of our power is the fact that the seasons change, so we try to honor that.
Spring and Summer tend to get along well.
I'm not sure Winter gets along with anyone.
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What about the Autumn Court?
You mentioned they're all about new knowledge.
Do they get on with Spring?
I imagine the desire for new knowledge would be powerful.
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the autumn court is fucking creepy
they play with magic the Gentry use and go turning over rocks that maybe shouldn't be touched and they spend so much time digging through the past
but they do have desire
very, very strong desire
and we (Spring) understand it
I guess I can't speak to bad of them
one of them is the reason we actually managed to catch Sam
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[And he's already assigning the courts to Fears.]
All of the changelings have some element of the Stranger given the nature of your creation, I think.
Autumn might cleave closest to the Eye.
Possibly some element of the Hunt, depending on what they might do to acquire their knowledge.
Relentless pursuit and all that.
The Vast I could see coming in here.
Feeling small in comparison to the Gentry.
Small compared to all the knowledge and fear there is.
Winter seems perfectly set to align with the Lonely.
The Dark, the Buried, and the End might find a home there, too.
Spring would be for the Web and the Corruption.
Possibly the Spiral.
Summer would have to be the Slaughter, the Desolation, and the Flesh.
Possibly the Hunt, as well, depending on context.
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Aptly assigned, I think.
easier to compare them to the Courts than to the Gentry themselves
you sort of met the Old Man, and he's one of many
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Your Old Salt could be something like the Buried.
Drowning often is associated with that one.
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they have aspects, titles that they take
the Old Salt is also the Abyss and the Glare on the Horizon
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It's more about what they do, what sorts of terrors they inspire.
I suppose they could be a mix of the entities, though.
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but that's more your area than mine
i just know that he terrified me, always
cw: description of the fear of drowning/large bodies of water
Fear of the abyss could be linked to the fear of drowning if you fear the abyss because you might go down so deep you'll never be able to reach the sky again.
That terror that fills you as you think of the water pressing in on all sides, getting heavier and heavier.
Sinking slowly, the world dragging you down to its very core.
But you could fear the abyss because it is a vast and unknowable space.
The ever deep where creatures your imagination conjures in its darkest hours can come to life.
Monsters with eyes the size of houses.
There's always a bigger fish...
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I'm not even at the beach
[Reading everything that Jon's rattled off has brought back the very real feeling of his terror. He remembers how it felt to drown, how it felt to be overwhelmed by the Murigheas. Jamie doesn't realize he has his hand pressed to his cheek for a long moment. He makes himself put it down. He doesn't answer for a little while.]
well, that was a pleasant trip down memory lane.
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I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to scare you.
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We don't have to talk about this anymore.
I do appreciate the information.
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Not really.
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