The Road to PALISADE 09: Lancer Pt. 2

The Road to PALISADE 09: Lancer Pt. 2

This episode carries content warnings for discussion of kidnapping.

In the city of Harborview, on the world of Saboria, a group of Ashen refugees tried to make new lives for themselves. In the process, they connected to the history of their people—the ancient Hypha—and rediscovered an ancient art: the creation of strati. This was all it took for the Pact of Necessary Venture to close the snare around them. Now it falls to a group of incongruous and infighting pilots to stand against the Pact, get the strati to safety, and forge a future for the Ashen.

This week on the Road to PALISADE: Lancer Pt. 2

Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage

Factions

Hypha & Ashen: The former were a culture of galactic nomads, guided by a paranatural force called the Strand which they could commune with using technological devices built into their antlers. The latter are their descendants, their routes broken by the Principality's expansions and occupations, their culture ripped from them.

Stel Columnar: Famously "courted" by the growing Principality many generations ago, this nation of humanoid synthetics traded freedom for the prestige and security of the Principality. They hid behind imperial walls and pursued the Future, pushing boundaries not only in technology, but in art, commerce, and war. I suppose I can call them cousins, but not with much fondness. Today, they share righteous screeds and fight for the return of something like democracy as part of the Pact of Necessary Venture. What a comedy.

The Curtain of Divinity: For generations, the Curtain of Divinity operated in the shadows of the Principality, partly as intelligence agency, partly as shadow government. Now they have been dragged into the daylight, and serve as one of the two ruling factions of the whole Principality. Though there are some divisions along questions of secularity, humanism, and cultural taste, in general, leaders of the Curtain are conservative, traditionalist, and nationalistic. They seek the reunification of all five Stels and the permanence of the Divine Principality.

Led, in public at least, by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh, the Peaceful Princept. In fact, the Curtain has five divisions, each led by a ruthless individual known only by a codename: Silk (diplomacy), Damask (research & inquisition), Lace (military), Linen (economics), and Gabardine (espionage and collaboration).

The Pact of Necessary Venture: As their (current) name suggests, the Pact began as a cooperative exploratory committee founded in the late 14th Century of the Perfect Millennium. They sought new territory to conquer, breaking an old taboo in the process, and inviting destruction and fracture. Which is appropriate, as their vision for the future is one where each Stel is granted more autonomy and independence—some even claim that they would see the Principality utterly destroyed and replaced by a loose affiliation of free states.

Despite this, the Pact are no radicals: While they want more independence from the Principality, they have little interest in shaking up the internal power structures of the Stels themselves. After all, their founders were all Elects, and though only two remain (Gallica, elect of the Divine Present, and Rye, elect of the divine Space), they are led by Dahlia, who serves as both Apokine and Glorious Princept.

Persons

Zark "Banjax" Vapor (he/they): Mechanic, Harborview contractor, and pilot of the Ill Portent

Teasel "Derby" Fauna (he/him): Entertainer, sharpshooter, and pilot of the Dressage.

Narmine "Ketch" Te'ketch (he/him): Former two-bit criminal, current whaler, and pilot of The Captain.

Martilla "Journeyman" Häske (she/her): Professional soldier, Pact true-believer, and pilot of the Under the Radar.

Kaliope Flow (she/her): The de facto leader of Harborview.

Zeke Minuet (he/him) & Deanthe (they/them): A pair of researchers into ancient Hypha culture.

Dirwin, Elaina, Stas: Strati that had been kidnapped by the Pact of Necessary Venture from Harborview. Now rescued, and en route towards a rendezvous point.

Locations

Saboria: A world controlled by the Columnar which they "gifted" to a group of Ashen refugees fleeing the Curtain. A fiction, of course. The city of Harborview where the Ashen live is under constant surveillance. I do wonder, however, whether the Columnar know the irony of the trap they think they've laid.

Articles

The Portcullis System & The Divine Space: Huge, distended hexagonal gates that float at the edge of key systems throughout the Principality. Once a week—or more often, if one has the keys to the kingdom—each one connects to one other, forming a faster-than-light highway that serves as the logistical backbone of the galaxy. Built by Orion, the technology is a perversion of that used by some of the earliest Divines, tens of thousands of years.

Miscellany

Stratus: A poorly articulated, unanchored, catch-all term that's far outlived its usefulness. In some eras, a "stratus" (plural: strati) is said to have special powers of empathy. In others, they have a sort of digital telepresence. There has always been debate as to the origin of these "abilities," whether they are innate or trained or quite literally created. In one long scattered culture, the Hypha, the strati were social and logistical cornerstones, created through careful application of technological skill. Their beliefs were quaint, but one must respect the technique.

Hosted by (@swandre3000)

Featuring Austin Walker (@austin_walker), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), and Sylvi Bullet (@GODSNEXTMARTYR)

Produced by Ali Acampora (@ali_west)

Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)

Text by Austin Walker

Cover Art by Craig Sheldon (@shoddyrobot)

You can purchase Lancer at https://massif-press.itch.io/corebook-pdf

Episoder(541)

Perpetua 07: The Flames of Burzin Pt 03

Perpetua 07: The Flames of Burzin Pt 03

Caoimhe, Antistrophe, Brontë arrived to Burzin with a clear goal: Find out whether the catastrophe in Burzin is tied to the mysterious malediction known only as Sourcerot. But seeing the town in ashes...

28 Jun 20251h 56min

Perpetua 06: The Flames of Burzin Pt 02

Perpetua 06: The Flames of Burzin Pt 02

Hexcloak justiciar Caoimhe Wake and her two ad hoc assistant investigators, Antistrophe Landrace and Brontë Adelvys, have their work cut out for them. First and foremost, there's the matter of these s...

20 Jun 20251h 54min

Perpetua 05: The Flames of Burzin Pt 01

Perpetua 05: The Flames of Burzin Pt 01

For millennia, the eastern continent of Perpetua was ruled by a sprawling empire centered on the capital city of Milsource, where a living river sprung from nothing, and flowed to all the edges of the...

13 Jun 20252h 51min

Perpetua 04: The Shadow of the Dragon Tower Pt. 4

Perpetua 04: The Shadow of the Dragon Tower Pt. 4

In the ruins of a fallen tower, the crew of the Little Snail found themselves (and their egos) battered and bruised. Worse, Elena, Veile, and Nicky found themselves missing one ingredient to the speci...

30 Mai 20251h 44min

Perpetua 03: The Shadow of the Dragon Tower Pt. 3

Perpetua 03: The Shadow of the Dragon Tower Pt. 3

"Oh, how did we get here!?" That's what the staff of the Little Snail Food Truck might be wondering. After all, just a week ago, they were living the good life: traveling from town to town, seeing the...

23 Mai 20252h 44min

Perpetua 02: The Shadow of the Dragon Tower Pt. 2

Perpetua 02: The Shadow of the Dragon Tower Pt. 2

The crew of the Little Snail, traveling food truck and makeshift HQ for this band of equally makeshift adventurers, has agreed to escort a young priestess named Veile to a mysterious destination. With...

9 Mai 20252h 29min

Perpetua 01: The Shadow of the Dragon Tower Pt. 1

Perpetua 01: The Shadow of the Dragon Tower Pt. 1

Bastion Blaque, battle-hardened ranger and erstwhile captain of the Sonnerian royal guard. Canary Shye, Placid Guardian and master of the Cyclic Hand School of Combat. Quarter Tomm, high arcanist of t...

2 Mai 20252h 35min

Perpetua 00 - Character Select

Perpetua 00 - Character Select

The gale of history rattles across vast Perpetua today. Skyfairing armadas glide towards battle on warm winds. Lines of succession are cynically drawn in breezy, courtly halls, while an ill, stagnant ...

29 Apr 20252h 24min

Populært innen Fiksjon

snipp-snapp-snute
erotikkpodden
uvirkelig
litteraturhusets-podkast
rss-smaltalk
edgar-allan-poes-skrekkverden
rss-nilsons-verden
rss-privatgranskeren-2
skrem-deg-bort
god-natt
rss-rollespillpodden
rss-nodsamtaler
jediradet-en-star-wars-podcast
jorgen-og-nina-prater-om-manus
rss-skrekk-norske-noveller