PALISADE 10: The Wheels Turning Pt. 1

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Episode description[edit | edit source]

This episode carries content warnings for death and gun violence.

While the Cause was executing its daring (and risky) capture of the northern Bontive Valley, Palisade continued to spin. In the south east, a witch considers what she might do with ideal power. In the center of the world, a false prophet delivers empty sermons. And in the depths of the Shale Belt, agents of the Frontier syndicate seek out something long hidden…

This week on PALISADE:

Reflect the world that falls apart[Note 1]

Dossier[edit | edit source]

Organizations[edit | edit source]

Bilateral Intercession: One of two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, comprised by Stels Kesh and Nideo, and lead by the so-called Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh (he/him), who took control of the faction from the Curtain, a secretive intelligence organization with roots in Kesh’s ancient spy operations. The “Bilats” are a conservative and reactionary force, aiming to return the Principality to its roots both literally and figuratively. After a long campaign against the Pact of Free States, they managed to take control of Palisade.
The Bilateral Intelligence Service: Formerly called the Curtain, the BIS is a Kesh-operated organization which specializes in espionage, subterfuge, and surveillance. Though it is as secretive as ever, it is no longer the true source of power in Kesh territory. Instead, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh has modernized its structure and operation, and has ensured that it remains well integrated into the Bilateral Intercession’s greater workings—as to better keep one eye on them.
The Frontier Syndicate: A powerful conglomerate with a broad purview, including technology, heavy industry, entertainment, telecommunications, and transportation. Led by Exenceaster March (he/him), the Syndicate betrayed the Pact of Free States and joined the Bilats in order to be part of their colonization efforts on Palisade.
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.
The New Asterism: What was once a schism between Received and Progressive Asterism has now been healed by the false prophet Gur Sevraq (he/they), or at least someone in his name and face. The New Asterism claims that to be a citizen of the Principality is to have an obligation to "better the world," in the sense that one invests in property or in the way that a settler “rehabilitates” or “improves” the places they claim by violence.
Blue Channel: Both the name of Kalvin Brnine’s corvette-class carrier and the Cause-aligned faction made up by its crew. Upgraded with Kalmeria-era technology to enhance its basic functionality, along with other quality-of-life features.
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 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.
Lock and Cross Security Services: The largest mercenary unit on Palisade, invited to the world by Exenceaster March. Founded by Maidstone Cross (she/her) and Margate Lock (she/her), a pair of divorcees too committed to their work together to fully separate. Margate was lost to the depths of the Diadem.

People[edit | edit source]

Stargrave Elcessor (she/her): Leader of the Bilateral Interecession’s occupation of Palisade, assigned personally by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. As a Stargrave, she has been granted the means and “right” to detonate the star at the center of Palisade’s star system if she determines that those here are an existential threat to the Principality.
Connadine (he/him): Commander of the BIS on Palisade. An expert in psychological operations and folklore. A conductor warming his orchestra.
Silverbrick (they/them): A “visionary” architect, technologist, and urban planner of the Frontier Syndicate.
Blank Shore (he/him): Ex-Concretist Hacker, happy that “the future is finally here.” Claims to be “perfectly apolitical.”  
Marlon Styx (he/him): Undercover BIS agent assigned to infiltrate Violet Cove. Has become enamored with the Dim Liturgy’s holy text.
Exenchester March (he/him): Founder of the Frontier Syndicate and the March Institute, former chair of the Zenith Fund. Betrayed the Pact and Stel Columnar, defecting to the Bilateral Intercession in exchange for territory on Palisade and the freedom to use it as he wishes.
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. Haunted by an old foe.
The Lost Duchess, Constantina Malady (she/her): It was said, she would arrive on a black horse with white fetlocks. She did. But they did not say what would come after.

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.
Temple of the Threshold: Built at the center of a massive bridge that crosses the Diadem, this serves as the home of New Asterism and its false prophet, Gur Sevraq (he/they).
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.

Mysteries[edit | edit source]

The Iconoclasts: Something beyond the human, desperate to eradicate subjectivity itself.
The Fundament: In the depths of the world, further on even than the Diadem… there is the Fundament.

Contents[edit | edit source]

Opening[edit | edit source]

“

Here we go again. Baldwin Home, a.k.a. Black Screen, a.k.a. Mr. I Wish You Would, a.k.a. Sovereign Community, a.k.a. Crysanth Kush, a.k.a. all the news that’s fit to sprint up to you in the streets and tell you what’s really real, delivering another message to the masses. You already know what it is, and I don’t mean that rhetorically. You ain’t heard the news, you lived it!

‘Hey Black, why do they call it the Bontive Valley?’ They call it the Bontive Valley ‘cause the harvests are high-yielding, and bit by bit, they’re coming back into hand. We’re talking more crops, we’re talking our land. After all, we worked it for how many thousand years? For how many glass dukes? We cried how many midnight tears? It ain’t worth it to do the damn calculus. They’ll just tell us we needed to use trigonometry instead. ‘Your numbers aren’t right, it wasn’t really exploitation!’ So let me do some simple subtraction: three minus three is dead.

Y’all sent out your shooters from your crystalline castle, from your beige-colored campus, from your jewel-encrusted church. Well, I got news. I’m the paper boy, open up, front page story. Your shooters was flawed, your duchess a fraud, and we’re really, really them. And I know what you’re thinking. I know where your mind’s at. You’re ready to punch back. You’re gonna find out who caused you all of this pain. Poor Stargrave, finger on the trigger. Poor prophet, dig a little deeper. Poor mister entrepreneur, we’ve opened a door, and you’re facing it for the first time, ever. We made you imagine a whole world without you. Now, get this—we do that every single day.

And it ain’t just a vision, it ain’t pipe dreams and conversation, it ain’t blue sky hypothetical—it’s really, really real. All that talk, all that violence, yet our energy remains. We’re vibrant while you piss-poor tyrants got tired just holding our chains.”

Plot[edit | edit source]

Silverbrick, Blank Shore and Maidstone Cross embark on a covert Frontier operation with the goal of harvesting the Fundament node located deep underground beneath Braunton. They enter a network of caves and soon come across a guard from Grey Pond, who Maidstone snipes.

The cave network turns out to be an ancient underground city similar to the Derinkuyu underground city. Its many stairways and passages are confusing and do not seem to make sense. Silverbrick takes a photograph; as it develops it reveals a 12-foot-tall, three-horned minotaur ("Tricerataur") marching down one of the underground streets. These Tricerataurs, who are minions of Ravel, are only visible when photographed on film.

In order to learn how many Tricerataurs there are, the team splits up: Blank will act as a decoy to lure the Tricerataurs into a clearing while Maidstone and Silverbrick head for high ground—the top of an old church spire—to take a photo. Silverbrick ultimately takes three photos in quick succession. The first reveals eight Tricerataurs chasing Blank Shore, the second shows him running directly into a Tricerataur's leg, and the third shows him scrambling desperately away.

As Maidstone and Silverbrick descend the church stairs, the stairs below them are abruptly crushed beneath a Tricerataur's weight. Simultaneously, a dot of light appears on the back of Silverbrick's head: Grey Pond snipers are aiming at them. Maidstone and Silverbrick rush back up the stairs, and from the direction of the Grey Pond snipers, a series of bright camera flashes shine out as the Grey Pond unit engages the Tricerataurs. Maidstone sets up a zipline to facilitate their escape, and also to ensure easier passage to the Fundament node on their next attempt.

Silverbrick, Blank, and Maidstone escape without being caught by Grey Pond. The Frontier Syndicate is ultimately able to harvest the node.

Cast[edit | edit source]

Other Characters[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Lyrics from the song Seaforth by King Krule
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