Episode description[edit | edit source]
This episode carries content warnings for slavery and indentured servitude, kidnapping, discussion of taxidermy, blood, injury, physical harm, death, and the discussion of sports-related injuries.
Here, in Somerset House, drama of the most unlikely kind is afoot. With the family fortune withering away, the Solstice clan plays host to a pair of powerful Pact dignitaries: the data-magnate Exenceaster March and the notorious Admiral Bel’Agos Bloom. They aim to draw March away from his loyalties to the Columnar with an exquisite retreat prepared by the house’s staff, featuring hunting, fine dining, and other entertainment. But one after another, the unpredictable has become the occuring: A terrible accident among the hedges. The discovery of an explosive device. And next, the return of an absentee member of the household…
Can Solstice House’s staff turn the situation around and save the day? Or is something—like the mysterious, dark pall that surrounds the estate—due to break?
This week on the Road to PALISADE: Upstairs & Downstairs
Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage[edit | edit source]
Factions[edit | edit source]
The Bilateral Intercession: This faction, made up primarily from Stel Nideo and Kesh assets, was formerly known as the Curtain. The rebranding comes as part of a “civil coup” performed by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. In a move that surprised no group more than the Curtain themselves, Cynosure spent years growing in confidence and power, until that intelligence organization could be once again reduced to a tool. Still defined by their traditionalism, they wield their control on culture, religion, and history as a weapon—and the extensive spy network for which they are named when those come up short. The Pact of Free States: While the Bilateral Intercession’s name change reflects a shift in leadership and posture for the Curtain, the shift from “The Pact of Necessary Venture” to “The Pact of Free States” is simply the public acceptance of what was already widely understood to be true. Led in name by Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, and in day-to-day operation by senior members of Stels Apostolos and Columnar, the Pact paint themselves as liberal reformists whose aim is to increase the degree of autonomy in each of the Stels, such that they become in reality five separate nations. The Branched: A post-human culture from the Golden Branch star sector who have transformed their bodies into spectacular forms, but who are now weighed down by an endless war with the Principality. Persons[edit | edit source]
Crevera Solstice (she/her): (Largely absent) matriarch of the Solstice family. Coughton Solstice (he/him): Crevera’s husband. An absolute pushover. Carvisle Solstice (he/him): The cruel son of Somerset House. Catalina Solstice (she/her): Adventurous older daughter of the house, who’s never met a cause she wouldn’t turn into a vanity project. Catrina Solstice (she/her): Morose younger daughter of the house with a special interest in taxidermy. Exanceaster March (he/him): Head of the vast Columnar multi-system conglomerate called the Frontier Syndicate, which is older than the Stel itself. While the Syndicate has its hands in many enterprises, the heart of it all is corralling and instrumentalizing data. One such effort, Exanceaster’s pet project the March Anecdatist Foundation, set its sights on Palisade as a testing ground. Guliford Gain (she/her): March’s bodyguard. Cinephile. Bel’Agos Bloom (bel/bels, they/them): Pact admiral and March’s sibling-in-law. Laris, Leah, and Laurice: March’s servants. Indentured indefinitely. Vivian Exler (she/her): Somerset House’s “award winning” gardener and groundskeeper. Martine Sprue (she/her): Somerset House’s mechanic, in charge of the family’s small fleet of terrible machines. Eileen Lilas (she/her): One of Somerset House’s maidservants and erstwhile companion to Catrina. Locations[edit | edit source]
Kaliope: A planet at the very periphery of the Golden Branch star sector. Once, it was known for cutting edge genetic modifications, avant garde fashion, and a streak of anti-authoritarianism. Now it is just one jewel on the bracelet of the principality. Somerset House: Estate of the Solstice family, deep in the forests of Kaliope. It’s hidden away and defensible, but some say that it carries a dark past connected to the Branched..
Contents[edit | edit source]
Plot[edit | edit source]
Vivian Exler enters the maze to retrieve the injured Coughton Solstice and manages to warn Catrina Solstice that something is going on, and to be on her guard. Back at the house Martine Sprueworks on disarming the bomb while Eileen Lilas does her best to keep Guilford Gain distracted and out of her room. Catrina does her best to keep her cool and keep the party going, but does need a pep-talk from Exler. At that point Crevera Solstice, the absent matriarch of the family, arrives back from her latest expedition, just in time to severely complicate plans for the dinner service. The downstairs crew get the rest of the house staff up to speed on the situation, and they resolve to deal with it themselves despite initial protests from the head butler Talbert. Exler and Eileen try to return to Guilford’s room, only to discover her leaving. To their surprise Guilford warns the servants to leave, and Exler realizes to her delight that Guilford and March’s other three servants are actually undercover Millennium Break operatives.
Exler updates Eileen and Martine, and while Martine is quick to grab one of the family mechs to keep them safe while Eileen tracks down Catrina and tries to convince her to leave and not go down with the rest of her family, though Catrina is reluctant to leave without Eileen, fearing for her safety. Back at the house that has been evacuated due to a fire alarm going off, the Millennium Break agents complete their mission, breaking free the Branched Thalia who was trapped in the form of the Somerset House for generations. The agents flee with Thalia into the night. Martine and Eileen get credit for saving the family and Exanceaster March, with Eileen staying with the family and Martine getting a job with the March Anecdatist Foundation. Exler uses a stolen escape pod to flee with handfuls of yet more stolen goods and eventually ends up with Millennium Break - sending along literature to his old friends at the Somerset House. Catrina takes Crevera’s hunting mech and leaves the household, backpacking through sectors of unknown space. March joins the Bilateral Intercession due to Bel'Agos Bloom's failure to protect him, and restores an amount of prestige to the Solstice family name.