Sometimes subtlety is overrated, and the direct approach is needed.
One must have tact. There is a time for patience and for choosing one’s words with care, for the sake of hidden meanings or to let another arrive at the truth in his own good time.
But then there are also monsters.
In Jackson, IL, the characters know where directness is warranted. But at times it is necessary to put it bluntly: "That house is haunted." "Your boyfriend is no good for you, he is dangerous." "What is in the basement is not your grandmother." "That skeezy motel is built on a forgotten graveyard."
Let people go on dancing around the facts and the horror will have all the time in the world to put in its appearance and get comfortable. Or worse, it will have the time to harm or kill someone.
Witches are well aware of this.
They can be as subtle as they like; half their art is in the silence, the symbols, and the timing. Yet a witch also knows when there is no room for subtlety, when a name must be spoken, a warning made plain, and the circle drawn. Some threats are answered with a quiet ritual; others have to be dealt with fire and fury.
To be direct is not to be rude. It is mercy without the frills. And if a witch can be kind about it, she will tell the truth before the screaming has a chance to begin.
Again, or worse, when the screaming has stopped.
Yog NPC
Today is Day 18, Tuesday, Instinct and Full of Grace.
Sable Reed: A young Yog scout who moves like smoke and always knows which way the hunters are coming. She is tall for her age, but she is also one of the fastest runners around. She has avoided the Slavers and now acts as a scout, lookout, and messenger of the Liberation Front.
Jackson Soundtrack
3 comments:
Oh. Directness. Failing eyesight and general exhaustion lead me to read that as "direchess" in the preview, and I was wondering what bizarre homebrew game that would turn out to be. If it was something from WotC D&D I suppose all the pieces would be overly large and sporting random spines. Something more creative might be a chess game where losing pieces or the whole match might cost you years of your life, perhaps transferring them to the winner. Maybe that's why some royalty lasts so long, forcing inferior opponents to play them and milking extra years of lifespan from them.
But it's directness, so never mind.
Great. Now I want to 3D print a "Dire Chess" set!
Similar, although I'm more inclined to try whittling something along those lines. Sometimes my medical issues and lack of caffeine result in flights of fancy that really deserve to exist.
The last time I had a chess-related spasm of creativity was a good six years ago.
https://sanctumreconditesage.blogspot.com/2020/11/thirty-three-chessmen.html
Forgot I even had that blog until just now. Got logged out at some point and I don't use the account it's linked to very often, devil of a time finding the password after a couple of years.
Post a Comment