The Book of Big Bash

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Kanön Hray 18th, IY 7788

Marcellus sure loves coming up with new games! First it involved a board, now it's a deck with way too many cards. What do the games have in common? War! I think making entertainment out of warfare is the favorite pastime of many a warmonger... I tried to think of a gentler moniker, but none came to mind. How strange! Oh well.

The game was far too complicated! I couldn't understand any of it... I also don't know why anyone would wish to play as the Sibilant? Give me a Triton deck with a simplified ruleset, thank you very much! And I do mean that, because even though it's overly complex and has way too many rules, there's still a hint of fun in there. Just need to tone it down for ditzy dinguses like me... I'm joking, of course! I'm not a dingus!

But he should tone it down for me, really! And make a Triton deck! Tritons are very neat.

They didn't even finish the game... Oh, he was playing against al-Basri. I was supposed to play against her, but then I saw the cards, and I felt like running right out of there! I guess that was obvious, because Marcellus offered to play in my stead. But, yeah, it took quite long, in fact, it took so long, that folk started gathering for a raid on an orcan encampment in the meantime! Zoturu kept hooting and hollering for the two gamesters to hurry it up! So, on the penultimate (?) round, they just stopped playing and ran off to kill some orcs.

There's something really macabre about all of this!

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Kanön Hray 19th, IY 7788

Marcellus' new game is a hit! A direct one, right into the hearts of the Kha'eshi... in a good, non-violent way! They love it, and so do the good peoples of Ephia's Well. I mean "good" in a general sense, because there's very few actually good people around here, and I'm talking about this lack both in terms of morals and competence! I guess it's a very vague sense of generality... Anyhow, now, everyone wants a deck to play this unnamed game, which really should get a name, because just calling it "Marcellus' New Game" is plain ol' weird.

I like watching people play it, even though I've no clue on what is actually happening! I'm sure I'll figure it out after... oh, let's say about ten games. That sounds about right. The commander of that quiet mercenary band kept breathing right on my neck, throughout the first game, though! What a creep!

Anyhow... I feel sorry for poor Richo! He knows a lot about the Disc... probably about both of them... even though he's no astrologer or astronomer or astropoger... What I mean to say, is that he knows a ton, but folk can't understand him? I find him perfectly coherent! I don't know what people's problem is! Do I have to write a dictionary...? Well, not a dictionary, really, since it's all about a differing sentence structure, I suppose.

I don't know what they call books for that, though, so, I'd just call it... "Deciphering Richo: How Listening to the Chosen of Warad Can Change Your Life by Bringing forth Greater Understanding"! Something like that, anyhow. Maybe lose the subtitle, since it's a little long, and bound to lose the interest of people who don't read! Capturing that audience is really important, since if you sell a book to them, they won't complain, because they won't read it.

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Kanön Hray 20th, IY 7788

Folk sure had a lot of prisms, yesterday! I weaved the aspecktral magicks about a badjillion gadjillion times... It's hard work, but it pays well. I even managed to get folk their very favorite aspect a few times! What good fortune! Even Richo found a prism... He gave it to me! And through wondrous luck, it gave me one of the aspects that I've been looking for!

Now my mind is filled with ancient lore... Like the tale of Hülya, the Forgetful Maiden, whom caused the Great Fire of Özge's Kitchen, when she forgot to close the door, which led to a rat running in and jumping into the oven, after which it skittered all around, setting everything ablaze! Always shut the kitchen door!

Anyhow... Kedra wields the power of Pure Sound! It's mighty peculiar, and spooky! She frightened me twice by using her great powers irresponsibly... I'm going to run the other way if I hear her reciting a spell in my vicinity. I don't want to go deaf, because then I couldn't hear birdsong, ever again! Oh, what a dreadful thought... Though some birds are awful squawkers. Like gulls! They should shut up, and stop eyeing my food... It's for me and my friends, and gulls are no friend of mine! So far, anyhow.

Oh, and Nibb's back... He teleported into town from the nether... which is probably the Sandstone's basement. He was acting a tad peculiar? He was mighty annoyed with his floppy hat. I think he threw it into the trash, or just gave it to someone? I'm not sure. It was a very goofy hat, but I think you should be more responsible with haberdashery, and give them to a good home when you no longer like them.

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Kanön Hray 21st, IY 7788

Most gnomes are obsessed with badgers, gemstones and mushrooms, but I met one who's bewitched by spikes! He loves them, and bedecks himself with them all over. It's mighty peculiar, but he's a gnome, so... If he wasn't peculiar, that'd be far stranger. To me, such a fixation seems like a whole lot of trouble... Like, it becomes second nature to such an extent, that you try rubbing your shoulder after a particularly strenuous range of calisthenics, and you end up impaling your palm upon a big ol' spike! Yeowch!

Speaking of spikes, Ashür was taking a nap in the Plaza, and someone surrounded him with spiky barricades...? I tried to get help for him, but when I came back after making a bellow, they were gone? What a peculiar prank to pull! I don't think it was that gnome, though, ever the pranksters as his people might be... After all, that'd have meant that he would be giving up his beloved spikes, so, it wouldn't make much sense. Anyhow, napping in the Plaza seems dangerous, and is one of the reasons why Jamileh's hair doubles as a flophouse for impoverished lice.

What else? Oh, Kedra and Selwyn are at that experimental stage of their lives, so, they were trying a bunch of strange shit in the Krak's sparring ring. Kedra was shrieking at the top of her lungs by way of mysterious magicks, to see if it hurt Selwyn's statuesque form, which was like that only in the sense that they looked as if someone had dropped a bucket of plaster all over them. I didn't really get it, and I continue not to.

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Kanön Hray 22nd, IY 7788

Everyone was saying that Ahmet's gone off and disappeared...? I don't even know how they'd notice that, because I don't see him at all, anyhow. But those folk know him better, I guess... So, I looked for him all around! I looked in the Divan, I looked in the offices... And I didn't find him, or a single clue! Thankfully I'm not a detective, because I'd stink at it, unless I was some kind of social detective, who figures it out by talking to people, and well, that'd just be dangerous, because if you found out who did it, then they'd try to stab you, so, I'd have to get katana lessons from Beetroot!

I hired Cleat as my bodyguard, just in case... He does good work! Though he did insist on relaxing in the hammam, when we were investigating the Divan... I hope that won't be a problem. I mean, if I was a bodyguard, I'd probably done the same. It's real nice, after all! The hammam, that is, not being a bodyguard, that's probably a completely terrible job! Just standing there, waiting for the moment that someone tries to get rough with your client... I wouldn't have the nerves for it!

Anyhow, there were no clues on the Divan, and especially not at the hammam! Just some mighty pleasant steam!

Then Azimi got on the bellows and made it sound like Ahmet's dead...? How would she know?

[Fabulous Secret Powers]

Kanön Hray 23rd, IY 7788

Explosion went off in the arsenal... Some spilled alchemist's fire. All the rations for the legion's march were completely ruined. One shitty strap was all it took, but... Carrot and Jamileh seemed to think that it was frayed on purpose, too. I didn't see that, really, but she tends to notice far more than I do, so, she's probably right. So, sabotage... It's one option. Yet I'd also never have signed off on such shoddy craftmanship. I understand that we have a budget to adhere to, but still... Can't really be mad at Bengo or Frederica about it, though.

Was really afraid that folk would find excuses to blame it on me, but that didn't happen, thankfully. Sensible enough, but some didn't seem to understand that in a dying desert, you can't just buy fifty thousands worth of rations with a snap of your finger.

Council meeting went surprisingly well, thankfully... I really like Jamileh's geosphere idea. Some others didn't seem that impressed, though? I don't know why. If it works, it works. Might as well try. Was a bit stressful, though... Zol Nur thinks that me leaving my seat is a terrible idea. But being the DCS is a lot of work, already... And I don't really understand logistics, anyhow, besides fabrics, so... It just seems like a recipe for disaster, and I've made a ton of mistakes, lately.

But now I'm kind of unsure on what to do? People told me that I did a good job, but I don't really know if they actually meant that, or if they were just trying to be nice.