PALISADE 13: Worth the Trouble Pt. 2

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Episode description[edit | edit source]

This episode carries content warnings for discussion of death.

With the Cause stretched thin, it is up to the Blue Channel to rearm, resupply, and restore their allies. It should be a simple operation, but each delivery of supplies comes with its own new revelations. Some—like the arrival of new supplies from their freebooting friends of Carmine Bight—are welcome surprises. Others, like new details about the Afflictions, are stunning developments. And one hangs over the others: a revelation of the most mundane sort, like the heading of a memo, or the typeface of a meeting’s minutes…

This week on PALISADE: Worth the Trouble Pt. 2

A dried up cityscape / My twisted personality / My forgotten past / My distorted memories[Note 1]

Dossier[edit | edit source]

Organizations[edit | edit source]

Jade Kill: Based in Joyous Guard, this military arm of the Cause is operated by the Delegate liberation faction known as Reunion and supported by Kalar Anakalar's (he/him) Giantkiller unit and a wing of Swordbreakers. Led by August Righteousness (he/him).
Violet Cove: The Dim Liturgy claim to have seen the Divine Devotion's arrival coming in their sacred text: A battered and corrupted backup of Crystal Palace's final predictions for the future. Now the two cults work together to oust the Bilats... and perhaps to do more intriguing things, as well.
Grey Pond: With members of the Oxblood Clan, the Company of the Spade, and the Shale Belt's Concrete Front, these blue collar revolutionaries are experts at getting the Cause the equipment it needs (and maintaining what it has when that's the only available option).
Carmine Bight: From ramshackle additions to the rocky shores of Rifle Island, Captain Skelton Knaggs (he/him) and his fearsome flotilla launch rusted pirate vessels beneath the waves, guided by a coalition of Hyphan navigators.
Rose River: Though they are undoubtedly committed to the Cause, this unique research unit (combining Veronique (she/her), her Divine Fealty (any pronouns), and their followers with an out-of-time NEH Sleep Detachment squad) hope for a day when they can be something other than soldiers.
The Branched: A post-human society of beings who have transformed their bodies into forms terrifying and spectacular and free—only to have the threat of war force them to rebuild themselves as soldiers first and foremost. After centuries of fighting a purely defensive war, the Branched have now begun to strike into the Principality’s territory.
The Sable Court: These Hyphan witches once lived only on the eastern shores of Partizan’s Lake Timea, horns and antlers glittering in the light of Girandole. But today, they soar through the sea of stars, following the same Strand paths that their ancestors once did.
New Earth Hegemony: Once, the NEH was massive, galactic-scale power that threatened conquest of The Twilight Mirage. It was reduced to a single fleet—now lost—which provided its inhabitants endless, digital life.

People[edit | edit source]

Jesset City (he/him): After helping to kick off Millennium Break on Partizan, Jesset served as one of its major leaders during its expansion across the Principality. Now, he uses his talents in Hollow and Altar engineering, piloting, and cipher breaking on behalf of the Grey Pond unit of the cause. Still considers himself to be a member of the Party of the Wolf, though those designations have largely fallen from use.
General Tomorrow Mourning (she/her): Leader of the Qui'Err Coalition's forces en route to the Twilight Mirage.
Silverbrick (they/them): A “visionary” architect, technologist, and urban planner of the Frontier Syndicate.
Kalar Anakalar, the Giantkiller (he/him): This legendary member of Millennium Break is much more than his nom de guerre. Loyal comrade, proud father, and ever faithful believer. Former member of the Society for Banners and Bright Returns, one of the founding organizations of Millennium Break.
Partial Palisade (he/him): A man who was once a Divine, now living in the shell of a being quite unlike what he once was.
Griesel Sunset (he/him): Coriolos' father, a zealous Devotee. Currently lives on the Isle of the Broken Key.
Iklins Slinger (she/her): Carmine Bight’s sword arm. Naval tactics. Fire and fury. Fiercely loyal to Captain Skelton Knaggs.
Mustard Red (she/her): A cyborg who once served as a member of Brink Proxy, with a speciality in surveillance. Joined the Cause during the Devotees expansion onto Palisade.

Places[edit | edit source]

Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.
The Shale Belt: A low, resource-filled mountain range in the north-central of Palisade. Home to the Concretists and their revolutionary Concrete Front, a secular and technologically-minded group with roots in the Twilight Mirage. They take their names from favorite artistic works and have blended their bodies with a special concrete (and some respiratory cybernetics) that aids in their breathing.
The Brink: A space station and transport hub that orbits the outer edge of the Twilight Mirage.

Divines[edit | edit source]

The “Divine” Arbit:[Note 2] The amoral machine turned de facto treasurer keeps the Frontier Syndicate a step ahead in all matters of commerce.

Mysteries[edit | edit source]

The Five Afflictions: A group of “monstrous” beings that haunt the dark corners of Palisade. They have been named as follows:

Dust a.k.a Pride’s Mirror a.k.a. The Looking Glass

Refrain a.k.a. Yesterday’s Reprise  a.k.a. The Ghastly Chorus

Ravel a.k.a. Labyrinth’s Thread a.k.a. The Hedge Maze

Cleave a.k.a. Whetstone’s Opposite a.k.a. The Sanguine Hatchet

Oversight a.k.a. Hell’s Facade a.k.a. The Empty Garden

Contents[edit | edit source]

Plot[edit | edit source]

Cori pays a visit to the Isle of the Broken Key to help out Violet Cove. Iklins Slinger brings the Blue Channel a gift: a crate of expensive electronic components salvaged from BIS ships that Carmine Bight destroyed.[Note 3] The Figure in Bismuth accompanies Captain Slinger back to Rifle Island to assist with repairs and manual labour.

Thisbe goes out to the caves of Sinder Karst to help Grey Pond with a mushroom harvest. Brnine tags along to check in on Jesset City and ask how he's doing in the wake of losing members of his crew.

Phrygian and Brnine visit Rose River in New Oath. Phrygian helps with some science experiments, bonding with a few Rose River members along the way. Brnine seeks out Partial Palisade to ask if he's ever heard of Lattice. Palisade remembers Lattice as someone who came to the system with the Divine Antiquity. During the conversation, Palisade puts together that the Five Afflictions were once the five other Divines that he came to the system with: Antiquity, Affection, Decisiveness, Logic, and Reflection.

Brnine and Phrygian then head to Joyous Guard to help Jade Kill and talk to Kalar Anakalar. Kalar tells them that the vote to use the Blue Channel as bait in the previous mission was contentious and originally a tie. He explains that the tie-breaking vote came from some random bureaucrat who has found her way to the position of the Cause's general secretary: Mustard Red.

Cast[edit | edit source]

Other Characters[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Lyrics from the song White Ceiling by Parannoul
  2. ↑ Meaning the Divine, Arbitrage. Arbit is an unrelated Divine.
  3. ↑ See the events of "The Wheels Turning Pt. 2".
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