PALISADE 09: The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 4

The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 4
Episode information
Episode	09
Release Date	May 5th, 2023
Length	2:04:20
Content Warnings	blood uncanny body horror unconsciousness
Meta
Cast	Austin Walker Ali Acampora Andrew Lee Swan Janine Hawkins Sylvi Bullet Keith J. Carberry
Game	Armour Astir: Advent
Score	Nothing Is Stationary
Episode guide
Previous	The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 3
Previous	The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 3
Next	The Wheels Turning Pt. 1
Next	The Wheels Turning Pt. 1
Previous Arc	I Would Like to Help You
Previous Arc	I Would Like to Help You
Next Arc	The Wheels Turning
Next Arc	The Wheels Turning
Links
Episode Page	friendsatthetable.net
Transcript	Google Docs

Episode description

The Blue Channel’s mission was delivered in simple terms: Prevent their target, codenamed Gem, from reaching her destination in the Fabreal Duchy’s capital city. But as the mission has progressed, and as the group’s commander receives increasingly troubling messages from Gucci Garantine, it’s increasingly clear that the crew is being is missing information. What is the purpose of this attack? Who is their target, really? And from what concrete prison has she seemingly escaped from?

This week on PALISADE: The Canvas of Dreams Pt. 4

[solari]

Dossier

Organizations

Fabreal Duchy: When the Divine Principality left Palisade nearly 5,000 years ago, they left behind a Duke and his barons as caretakers. In the generations that followed, they ruled as petty tyrants, creating Delegates as their slaves, remaking their bodies into glass and oil, and extending their reach across Palisade’s continents.
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.

People

“Gem” (she/her): Codename given to the target of Operation Midnight Lapidary. Reported to be a major dealer in precious metals and stones from Stel Orion, here to attend the coronation of the returned Duchess Constantina Malady. Clearly more than she lets on...
Kenneth Marian Colver (he/him): Former member of the Curtain, now Kesh’s Viceroy on the world. Reports up to the Stargrave. Bread concerns have been replaced with violence concerns.
Tenn Alpenglow (he/him): Bodyguard of Kenneth Marian Colver and Knight of the Fabreal Duchy. Resents his assignation to guard the cowardly Viceroy, but takes seriously his sworn oath to serve under the Duchy's new masters.
The Lost Duchess, Constantina Malady (she/her): Just as it is said, she arrived on a black horse with white fetlocks.
Ramondre (she/her) and Ignadiah (he/him): Swordbearers of Gentian, Elect of Crusade. Rivalrous and devout.
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.
Quintessence “Tessence” Rey (he/him): Joined Millennium Break when the group aided an Equiaxed commune in Vigil City, Partizan. Pilots a customized (but out of date) Kosmos unit for Jade Kill. Protege of Kalar Anakalar.
The Witch in Glass (she/her): A former scion of Kesh who, after knitting a bond with the adversary Perennial, came into control of the broken body of the Divine Past, which she has renamed the Reflecting Pool. Rules over the Crown of Glass, a city-state on the southeastern reaches of Palisade. A shaky ally of Millennium Break and cruelly indifferent master of the Figure in Bismuth. Haunted by an old foe.
August Righteousness (he/they): Once, August served as the court chef of Joyous Guard. Now, he is the commander of Reunion, a Delegate resistance movement that is part of the Cause's Jade Kill unit.
Gucci Garantine (she/her): A defector from Stel Kesh, who used the remaining wealth and power of House Brightline to help found Millennium Break. Currently a key member of the resistance efforts on Palisade, partially responsible for the operation of Millennium Break forces there. Codename Watershed.
General Tomorrow Mourning (she/her): Leader of the Qui'Err Coalition's forces en route to the Twilight Mirage.
Marlon Styx a.k.a. “Em” (he/him): Undercover BIS agent assigned to infiltrate Violet Cove. Has become enamored with the Dim Liturgy’s holy text.
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.

Places

Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.
Isle of the Broken Key: Home of the Dim Liturgy since its obscure creation thousands of years ago. Now serves as base for the entire Violet Cove unit of the Cause, including the Devotees and (most recently) additional support teams from the Twilight Mirage.
Chimera's Lantern: The second moon of Palisade, shaped oddly like a wasp’s nest or paper lantern. New arrivals to the world find its occasional glow unnatural and frightening.

Things

BAC Billhook: Constantly in motion, the Billhook (designed by the Blessed Armory of the Divine Consecration)  might be confused for a conceptual sculpture to the uninitiated. It is a humanoid design with five arms, two on the left and three on the right, though the right-central one always crosses its body to cover its “heart,” behind which the cockpit rests. Most of the Billhook is all made with a special material that can change at an atomic level, switching between an elusive, clothlike silk and dangerously sharp stained glass form. As such, the Billhook can be a loose flag on the wind or a terrifying whirlwind of violence.
EF Vambrace: Created by House Evenfall Altarworks, the Vambrace is the unlikely workhorse of the Kesh Altar fleet. With four arms worth of melee weapons and a mounted missile launcher, the Vambrace is able to reach the enemy under self-provided cover fire, defend themselves in melee until an opportunity presents itself, and then deliver the final blow.
AdArm Bouquet: Designed by Stel Orion’s Adamant Arms and Artifice as an Altar-era update to the classic Troop design. It’s still boxy (if a little trimmer) and it retains it’s wide, rectangular “eye” on its head. Gone are the heavy grip claws, replaced with traditional, five-fingered hands, allowing it more complex manipulations, including the operations of its distinctive Roundless Rifle, which seems convert raw Perennial Wave into ammunition. Additionally, the shoulder mount has ditched the heavy cannon in exchange for a close range, pneumatic lance that can devastate even the strongest armor. Roundless rifle looks like an H&K G11, and fires condensed Perennial Wave gathered from the atmosphere itself.
AdArm Motion Engine: Core to all of Adamant Arms and Artifice’s new designs, the Motion Engine was derived from salvaged parts of the lost Divine of the same name, offering a reliable, long lasting, and flexible source of power.

Contents

Plot

Operation Midnight Lapidary

Cori pushes her Chariot Mk. 2 into overdrive to protect Figure. The Chariot drains a dangerous amount of her blood in the process. Inside the train, Thisbe shocks Gem and shatters her glass-like skin, revealing Gem's gooey true form which continues to grow until the top of the train blasts off.

Gem, now revealed to be an Iconoclast called the Usher of Truth, makes an offer to everyone present by reaching back into their most recent dreams. To Figure she offers the Witch in Glass's death, to Cori a calming presence that Devotion cannot give her, and to Thisbe a way for others to see the world how she does. All three offers are rejected. The Usher of Truth's tendrils start rapidly opening compartments in the train car, and as she opens them they become portals and more of her pours out of them.

Ramondre and Ignadiah arrive on the scene and launch an attack. Thisbe proposes leaving but Figure refuses, revealing that the Witch in Glass demanded their target's capture. Cori knocks the Usher of Truth out and Figure scoops her up. Cori is dangerously low on blood, so the Blue Channel, piloted by Hunt, decloaks to help the team retreat. The Blue Channel recloaks and safely leaves.

Cori, now unconscious, is attended by Saffron Septet. Figure asks Hunt to let him leave at the Witch's drop-off point. Hunt texts Brnine to try to clear it with them but receives no clear response. Thisbe also texts Brnine to notify them that Figure had orders from the Witch to retrieve the mission's target. Figure argues their case to Hunt and Thisbe, who agree to let them go to the Witch.

Figure takes the Usher of Truth to the drop-off point and pours her body into a concrete sarcophagus. Thisbe puts a little potted flower in Cori's recovery area.

Masquerade Party

Meanwhile, Gucci sends Brnine more cryptic texts. Phrygian and Brnine put together that Operation Midnight Lapidary was not about stopping the coronation, but about using the Blue Channel as bait to move Nideo into a vulnerable position.

A Dim Liturgy knight takes Phrygian to be interrogated on suspicion of them feeding information to Bilat spies. Brnine anxiously eavesdrops from the hall outside. They receive Hunt and Thisbe's texts simultaneously and check the crew group chat to see an overwhelming number of messages. They reply to Thisbe and Hunt, then put their phone back in their pocket to focus on the Phrygian situation.

The interrogation is thorough but not cruel, and no evidence is found that Em is a spy. August Righteousness approaches Brnine, confirms that the Blue Channel was used as bait, and informs them that their crew made it out okay. He then presents Brnine and Phrygian with a gift from Kalar Anakalar: two small, simple wooden boxes, each of which has a photo of the Blue Channel sealed into the wood on the lid.

Before they leave, Brnine intercepts Griesel Sunset. They tell him Cori is doing great and give him the photograph Thisbe took of her. Back on the ship, Brnine and Phrygian open the boxes from Kalar to find that each contains a wooden flute handmade by Kalar and a note that says, "If you need anything, just whistle."

Cast

• Austin Walker (GM)
• Ali Acampora (Kalvin Brnine)
• Andrew Lee Swan (The Figure in Bismuth)
• Janine Hawkins (Thisbe)
• Sylvia Bullet (Coriolis Sunset)
• Keith J. Carberry (Phrygian)

Other Characters

• The Usher of Truth
• Ramondre and Ignadiah
• Hunting Tomorrow
• Midnite Matinee and Routine Rennari (via group chat)
• Saffron Septet
• August Righteousness
• Gucci Garantine (via texts with Brnine)
• Vesper Basque
• Quintessence Rey