PALISADE 48: A Palette of Colors Pt. 3
Friends at the Table
This episode carries content warnings for discussion of enslavement, torture, death, body horror and eye injuries. Across Palisade, a question begins to weave itself through life. Across everyday kitchen conversations, war room arguments, and salon debates, people wonder what it might mean to be whole. If Delegates to reunited with their Divine sources, would that be totality, or something else? Can the revolution to encompass the whole of the periphery? Where the boundary between the self and the other? And if one finds themelves to be, suddenly and confidently, whole, what responsibility...
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PALISADE 47: A Palette of Colors Pt. 2
Friends at the Table
This episode carries content warnings for discussion of death and self sacrifice. Palisade spins and twirls, coming to terms with its fresh orbit. And on its body, the people begin to adjust too. Finding a moment of space, Blue Channel captain Kalvin Brnine reconnects with an uncanny contact, with hopes of developing the tepid relationship into an allegiance. August Righteousness, with the mandate given to him by General Tomorrow Mouring, attempts to route the remaining forces of the Whitestar Fleet. And Coriolis Sunset decides that there is no use in waiting: In matters like these, one must...
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PALISADE 46: A Palette of Colors Pt. 1
Friends at the Table
It is the year 1430 of the Perfect Millennium, and in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, Perennial tries to shut out the noise, to focus in on only one place, one voice. But it is too loud on Palisade. This week on PALISADE: A Palette of Colors Pt. 1 It's going to be soon, babe / I've made up my mind Hosted by Austin Walker () Featuring Janine Hawkins () Sylvi Bullet (), Ali Acampora (), Art Martinez-Tebbel (), Jack de Quidt (), Keith J Carberry () and Andrew Lee Swan () Produced by Ali Acampora Music by Jack de Quidt () Text by Austin Walker Cover Art by by aurahack () With thanks...
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PALISADE 45: Where They Are Pt. 3
Friends at the Table
As Palisade eases into its new orbit, the people below face a new marker of evening. Yes, the dual moons of Chimera’s Lantern and Travertine remain above them. But now night brings a new absence: Gone are Gift-3 and Seneschal, Altar and Moonlock, Skein and Crown, Brighton and Thrysus, and of course the new dark sun, Volition. And so, at night, with only the Mirage itself in the sky, the people of Palisade might be able to convince themselves that things have not changed so much. And so, on one such night in the Bontive Valley, it is time for one more—one final?—movie night aboard the...
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PALISADE 44: Where They Are Pt. 2
Friends at the Table
With the initial shock of arriving in the Twilight Mirage starting, slowly, to fade, the people of Palisade and the Quire System leap into action. General Tomorrow Mourning turns to the only person she believes can quickly give her the authority to build a net to catch Bilateral Intercession war criminals. Gucci Garantine orders supplies be delivered to the ever-overstretched Blue Channel. And a guest arrives to make parley, along with a gift. This week on PALISADE: Where They Are Pt. 2 Well, I've been here a thousand times / I don't want to go again / I've been here a thousand...
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PALISADE 43: Where They Are Pt. 1
Friends at the Table
So, with one loud sob, the galaxy shifted. But as with all widespread changes, this one was unevenly distributed. Few places changed as totally as Palisade, once just beyond the edge of the Twilight Mirage, now brought into orbit around the pseudo-sun of Volition as the new, ninth planet of the Quire System. And as above, so below: The change in the air is also a change in bodies, in minds, in matters military and social and even culinary. And parked below the newly painted skies of the Bontive Valley, the remaining crew of the Blue Channel ponders the future, reaching out to each other and...
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PALISADE 42: A Mechanical Whine Pt. 4
Friends at the Table
This episode carries content warnings for discussion of death, imprisonment, slavery, medical experimentation, and mind control. In the depths of the Temple of the Threshold, a moment passes, a hero dies, and the world begins to change. But Thisbe, Cori, and Brnine—standing in the heart of Exanceaster March’s most advanced research facility—don’t know that yet. But they do hear it coming. A mechanical whine in the air is about to become something else. Unfinished plans will be pushed into action. Tomorrow will come, faster for some than others. And life on Palisade will change forever....
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PALISADE 41: A Mechanical Whine Pt. 3
Friends at the Table
This episode carries content warnings for discussion of death, imprisonment, and slavery. At the center of the Lone Marble Group's main campus stands a corkscrew-shaped building with no name. A sphere slides down its long external groove, serving as sentry and, perhaps, more. Behind it: The secrets of Exanceaster March. At the center of Palisade's main continent stands a coliseum-shaped city that has been named a temple. Thousands flock to it in pilgrimage daily, a mocking replication of a different pilgrimage. Today, thousands extra make the walk, faith-eager. Inside: The future, and perhaps...
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PALISADE 40: A Mechanical Whine Pt. 2
Friends at the Table
As the tournament to determine the next era of the Altar continues at the Lone Marble Group's headquarters, the Blue Channel's infiltration team finds itself backed into a corner. As they try to push their way forward, their allies in the Temple of the Threshold find themselves up against a different sort of wall. In just a few hours, this would all seem so insignificant. This week on PALISADE: A Mechanical Whine Pt. 2 Hey wildflower / You're in the weather Dossier People Telford Stare (he/they): One of several foremen tied to the Lone Marble Group's contractor operations...
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PALISADE 39: A Mechanical Whine Pt. 1
Friends at the Table
Across Palisade, Millennium Break and its allies launch into action. One after another, the Frontier Syndicate’s egg-like power plants came under direct attack. With enough of them brought offline, the group’s ploy to revive Motion would be halted—at least temporarily. That is where the Blue Channel would do their work: Infiltrate the campus of the Lone Marble Group; locate a kill switch for the terrible project; bring it all to a permanent end. This week on PALISADE: A Mechanical Whine Pt. 1 Blood on the horizon Dossier People Telford Stare (he/they): One of several foremen tied...
info_outlineThis episode carries content warnings for hallucinations, death, and brief mention of mind control.
Across Palisade, the gears of Kesh’s occupation grind to halt, for however brief a time. Attaches clear the schedules of their client-commanders. Chefs discard the still-fresh ingredients for the coming week’s feasts. Countless BIS operatives—many of whom hid in plain sight as attaches or chefs—simply vanish one midday, lost to long hallways and shaded corners.
And in their stead, the Divine Crusade moves.
This week on PALISADE: Resentment and Frustration Pt. 2
I bought a 'Rari just so I can go faster (skrrr)
Dossier
People
Occam Olio (they/them): Columnar member of the Frontier Syndicate and low level officer of Lock & Cross Security Services. Sharp the way a knife is. Made themself a hero among Palisade Bilats during Frontier Syndicate operation against Rose River.
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.”
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.
Gentian (she/her): Elect of the Divine Crusade. Impossibly old, yet a source of power and vibrance. Attended to by her two sword bearers (Ramondre (she/her) and Ignadiah (he/him), Knight of Books (Clawed (he/him)), and Knight of Cups (Perevel (they/them)).
Elle Evensong (she/they): Elle arrived to Palisade along with the first wave of Devotees, making a name for herself as a cunning combatant and clever commander. She became a poster child for Twilight Mirage's support of Palisade (and, for members of the Dim Liturgy, a prophesied bridge between the past and the future). But as the war began to heat up, she seemed to vanish into the background. Pilot of the Cataphract.
Factions
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 Frontier Syndicate: A powerful conglomerate with a broad purview, including technology, heavy industry, entertainment, telecommunications, and transportation. Led by Exenceaster March (he/him), former chair of the Columnar R&D giant the Zenith Fund, the Syndicate betrayed the Pact of Free States and joined the Bilats in order to be part of their colonization efforts on Palisade.
The Pact of Free States: One of the two factions vying for leadership of the Principality, a joint operation by Stels Columnar and Apostolos.
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).
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.
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.
Places
Diadem Gravtrain: While the vast trench-city on Palisade's equator lays abandoned, Kesh has reactivated its railway via an operations center in Carmathen.
Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.
Carhaix: The northernmost city in the Bontive Valley, Carhaix is one of the first major settlements founded by the nascent Divine Principality 5,000 years ago. It was created on the site of a battlefield where they obliterated the straggling remnants of the Advent Group, an organization that had invaded and pillaged the Twilight Mirage. After the Principality left Palisade behind, it became one of the Fabreal Duchy’s many centers of power in the northwestern continent. Currently, it is controlled by Jade Kill.
Objects
The Stellar Combustor: A weapon of immense destruction, capable of destroying countless star systems if deployed without a firebreak. Has been used in some form or another since the time of the earliest Divines. In current form they take the form of a twirling, 3-ringed space station that rotates around a system’s sun.
Divines
Discernment (it/its): Able to see the whole of the galaxy for one moment a year, this massive Divine was stolen by Millennium Break in the years after Operation Shackled Sun.
The Divine Crusade (they/them): Leads Stel Nideo’s occupation on Palisade along with their Elect, Gentian. Crusade is an enormous, bipedal machine covered (or perhaps made with) beautiful stained glass.
Additional Notes
Delegates: In plain terms, Delegates are synthetic individuals created through a process of forcible extraction from a living Divine. Originated by the Fabreal Duchy, who were left behind to "attend to" Palisade by the Divine Principality around 5000 years ago, these Delgates were designed and used as slaves. Currently, a Delegate resistance group called Reunion operates out of the fortress Joyous Guard in the Caldera Stretch.
Hosted by Austin Walker (@austin_walker)
Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart) Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), Ali Acampora (@ali_west), Art Martinez-Tebbel (@atebbel), Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal), Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) and Andrew Lee Swan (@swandre3000)
Produced by Ali Acampora
Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp)
Text by Austin Walker
Cover Art by by aurahack (aurahack.jp)
With thanks to Arthur B., chocoube, DB, deepFlaw, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, huw, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, K. Morris, Katie Diekhaus, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mike & Ruby, Nich Maragos, Olive Perry, Patrick Murray, Robert Lasica, Shawn Hall, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, viviridian, and Voi for their support
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