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Troll Jobs/Royalty (part 2 of ???)

this installment is gonna cover seadwellers and clowns! We know they're royalty but what does that actually mean in the context of of a culture that's so "do what you want"?

obligatory disclaimer that these are mostly applicable to stellar parallax and if you don't agree it's ok it's just playing dolls etc etc

visual TL;DR ⬇️ rambling paragraphs under the read more!

FUCHSIAS

it's lonely at the top but someone's gotta do it, and that someone may as well be the only troll who can withstand the psychic connection to the big scary nightmare monster of the deep!

While learning politics is important of course (after all you gotta have some clue what you'll do with the empire should you beat the million to one odds of winning the crown), the main duty of the heiress is to make sure that G'lbgolyb is well fed and silent. How she goes about this will depend greatly on the nature of the heiress, whether she feels especially emotionally connected with G'lbby or not, and of course, whether G'lbby is interested in bestowing secrets and (dubious) wisdoms to her.

As for the actually doing politics part itself, an heiress might use those secrets and wisdoms, her own judgement and whims, the input of friends, and/or her vision of what a future under her rule might look like to inform how she keeps Alternia running. While some things aren't strictly under her control (allowance accounts or the fleet for example), she has indirect means of influencing the Empress for certain favors, as HIC is always informed via drone recorded files, informants, and G'lbby herself as to what her successor is up to. Since the shared lusus and inevitable showdown creates an inherent strain in such a relationship, these favors are few and far between, and an heiress will simply make do with her own might and intellect to get her subjects and drones acting how she wants. For some this means careful diplomacy, others an incredible amount of C4 and lasers.

Beyond her physical training, she is also expected to make good connections between herself and her seadweller peers; after all, they will become her Overseers if she wins the duel for the crown! Particularly in the age of social media, knowing who's who and what's what is as imperative to making sure that a coup doesn't occur as her speed, strength, and intellect.

Fuchsias are also, due to the cyclical nature of their position, the only troll on Alternia to be assigned concupiscent quadrants; there needs to be a butt on the throne and a head in the tiara precisely every 9 sweeps. The jades use esoteric means* to determine which of her broodmates are best suited for the slots, though socially it is considered pretty embarrassing to have to resort to using your betrothed--an heiress should have people crawling over each other to get to be hers, after all.

to put it crudely, a heiress's job is to fuck, fight, and hopefully not die, and everything beyond that is just window dressing. Then, when the day arrives that she comes of age, she is escorted to the mothership for the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny (airing live Friday at 8p, EST/7p central!). It's rumored there's an opt out, but who would do something that humiliating by choice?

VIOLETS

If fuchsias are the head, violets are the neck that moves it. While they don't have to worry about G'lbgolyb as directly as the heiress, seadwellers have to find the delicate balance of being ready to serve in aiding that she be fed adequately, and corralling (coral-ing?) their local subjects--sometimes these are not mutually exclusive (dead kids are delicious and nutritious!). Both duties are rather exhausting, of course, so many will find themselves attracted to turning their hobbies into a full time gig, cos nothing takes the edge off like monetizing your passions.

They end up being something of a wildcard in this respect; with enough money, power, and influence (finfluence?) to back up even the strangest of pastimes, seadwellers can be found doing everything from funding music festivals to playing sports to building cool new ways to shoot things. If they're smart about it, these hobbies can build clout that will give them a sort of 'niche' to fill when they're old enough to be looking after their own enslaved alien worlds colonies; that is, they can be assigned subjects they can best rule over, vs trial-and-erroring a random option. They can use their connections and notoriety built upon these hobbies to ingratiate themselves to the adults, and Empress, before they've so much as set foot on the test field for their Ordeals, particularly if they lean into entertainment or military related activities, so it definitely pays to have something uniquely useful on your resume.**

While it is rare for a seadweller to die before they reach ascension age, it's not impossible; particularly if a turf (surf?) war breaks out between two or more of them. As such, it's also prudent for young violetbloods to be as well-trained physically as they are politically. nobody wants to be poisoned or stabbed before they get a chance to rule their own colony! In a similar fashion to the heiress, they're expected to put those skills to the test in their Ordeals against each other; the last fins standing get their crowns and their planetary assignments, and if the stars align just right, an acknowledgement from their presumed ancestor.***

PURPLES

The circus doesn't run itself, and neither does the shitshow. Whatever your flavor, purplebloods are here to entertain, be it dancing for your smiles, or slashing throats for the altar.

while the particulars of their faith are unknown to the common troll, all clowns understand their own solemn duty to be one of maintaining the balance between comedy and tragedy, chaos and order. sometimes you gotta beat a motherfucker with another motherfucker about it. The especially pious make it their business to maintain the tents, carnivals, and sacrifices, while those more casually part of the clurch spread the mirthful mantras through music, gameshows, and an appreciation of the arts (both visual and martial). All purples in preparation for their role in the court systems, whether as a judge, clergy, or bounty hunter, are inclined to find a way to apply speed, strength, and comedy training to their revelry. sometimes this is very direct, as in playing mock trials to make friends laugh, or chasing down hapless victims on fright night; others is a little more subtle, like practicing feats of physical prowess during circus routines and preaching over the radio.

socially, they are also the link between seadwellers and landlubbers, the strand between the teeming masses and their isolated rulers. historically speaking, this plays out more like hostage negotiations than constituent representation, but as long as the lowbloods keep their horns down and highbloods remain sycophantic, bloodshed is minimal. Besides, as mysterious as their religion, clowns have hitherto unknown motivations regarding the state of the world--not that they'd be crazy enough to blatantly go against the finfaces, but it's unclear who's side they're on exactly. Having direct contact with the GHB and Jesters, purples are far more privy to the inner workings of the greater political climate of the whole empire, not just alternia, and thus are far less likely to rock the boat in a fit of teen angst. this doesn't mean they won't needle and jeer when the timing is right, of course. Not ones to be openly mocked, seadwellers will often course correct any particularly anti-social behavior to avoid being the butt of the joke-- in this way, purples serve as a barrier between trigger happy tyrants who'd otherwise flippantly decimate the population, and the vulnerable trolls under their designer boots.**** *it's hardly better than astrology, but given how superstitious the uppercrust tend to be, is treated as gospel and even if they don't end up together, heiresses will often seek out their assigned fallback just to get a vibe **sometimes this backfires of course, if you pigeonhole yourself too well it can limit your reach of influence once you're up against someone with broader "appeal" or skillsets. Planet auctions are a rough game, and everyone comes to cheat! ***this almost never happens because being an overseer is such a tough, backstabbing, dangerous job that rare few violets live long enough to see their descendants, but gosh, a troll can dream. **** the irony of their faith requiring death and being one of the few castes strong and witty enough to keep total annihilation at bay is not lost on them but that's the silly contradictory nature of the universe innit

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promise i'm working on the job lore posts my brain is made of soup and beans rn =n=b

[pssp-lore]

Troll Jobs/The UBI System (part 1 of ???)

OK as i mentioned in the poll this whole thing got very out of hand so apologies in advance for the multi-parter lol BUT this particular post is gonna open with the foundation of this whole thing: Alternian money! how do you get it and what the hell is it even good for?

the short answer is basically all kinds! we know by the literal throne of riches that HIC sits upon there's value placed on precious metals (such as gold) and representative money (as seen with caegars, boonbucks, etc); however, while use of gold, jewels, and banknotes is likely still common for those who have it to maintain trade of power--or else why would it be around?-- like in our world, fiat money seems to carry the brunt of buying power for most daily practical use. Obviously on the micro level, colonies of the empire are going to have their nuances based in what goods they produce and export, but by-and-large the "worth" of Alternian money is backed entirely by the empress's say-so!

This also conveniently makes it very easy for the economy on Alternia to not come to a grinding halt every time someone dies, which as we know is pretty fuckin often. lower hues don't earn enough for it to matter if they stop spending, and if it's someone important, that wealth doesn't stay stagnant cos it can be as easily redistributed or disappeared as any imaginary number, while actual physical assets are essentially up for grabs to anyone who likes a bit of treasure hunting.

That said: while lowbloods clearly don't get nearly as much leeway as highbloods, they can at least afford decent housing (Xefros and even Karkat have reasonably large abodes that are well maintained!) and obviously are able to get things like food, clothes, and hobby items as well. This can be attributed to gigs and work when they're old enough, but we know trolls must have someplace to shelter before then; after all, the population needed to sustain the empire has to remain steady enough to account for all the other ways a troll can die, and letting literal toddlers just starve or freeze the moment they're set free in the world kneecaps that from the get-go. they must have means of self-efficiency before being able to work.

So when trolls who pass their trials are sent along with carpenter droids to build/renovate their hive, an allowance account based on their place in the hemospectrum is opened, and pretty much all purchases thereafter are made using that account's unique number*. A young troll's first purchase is their home, and depending on the account limit, they can go on to expand and customize that hive to suit their interests after the basics (kitchen/bed/bath) are placed. After that, the account auto-refills in regular intervals for as long as the account is open. if the account goes inactive for too long, the troll is presumed dead and as mentioned above, that money just disappears/assets are redistributed.

When a troll is old enough to work, finds a hobby to monetize, or otherwise finds a source of income outside their allowance, money earned can be put into that account/any branch accounts off of the main one! this works best with fiat money (there are ways to convert physical assets to imaginary numbers for this account but it's a massive pain in the ass so most won't bother**), but any physical cash can be kept the good old fashioned way: piggy banks. some goods can ONLY be purchased with the account money, as online shopping pretty much dominates the modern landscape, but local places may take cash for any number of uses; such as arcade games, tips to your servers (this is mostly done as a show of irony or disdain), betting pools, or purchases that the buyer would want to keep discreet for any reason.

because a troll's allowance is pretty rigidly assigned, any accounts that become especially high or low relative to their hue can draw scrutiny, so cash is also handy to circumvent that issue in some cases, though is harder in others (you're not gonna have much luck being paid cash only as a vtuber, for example). And while cash can make for a clean and easy purchase if you don't want it in your shopping history, it is FAR more susceptible to the random fluctuations due to local inflation or by new acquisitions of the empire messing with the agreed upon value of goods and services.

obviously either way you're kinda fucked if those goods and services are no longer able to be acquired. so it very much behooves a troll, especially one in a lower neighborhood, to not piss off drones, highbloods, or even other lowbloods if they're batty enough. No one wants their town exploded after all! but even if it happens, as long as you're alive and have enough in your account, you can always have another hive built--though that takes having a droid handy, having enough saved up (without your account being shut down ofc), and making sure your new place doesn't stick out like a big ol target amongst the rubble, and is near enough still-standing civilization you can buy stuff like groceries. most trolls who find themself in this situation will simply take to a nomadic lifestyle, though this obviously comes with its own perils. At least they have decent public transit!***

Supposing you survive to adulthood, that account is maintained and used much the same way, with the difference being your allowance is cut off and your ability to maintain yourself is now wholly dependent on your job, a benefactor/quadrant, or your environment's resources. the exception to this is if you become an Overseer (which i will define and get into in the part about adult jobs), whereupon your cut of the empire's total wealth is gifted to you along with the planet/s you're now in charge of handling. For everyone else, you better hope your boss doesn't suck, and that the colony or ship you're plopped on is one where you can prove your usefulness well enough to live comfortably.

so that's the UBI! Next post will get into jobs on alternia (might split it up between lowbloods and highbloods cos it's genuinely so fucking much), and after that i'll cover what work as an adult looks like~

OBLIGATORY CAVEAT: this is all hc not just for HS but based on the rules of Stellar Parallax, so if you disagree it's ok and i'm not gonna argue with you, this is all silly blorbo funnnn

*with so many accounts, the number can get quite long. sometimes when an account is shut down, the number is recycled, which can cause some fun (stupid and annoying) glitches for the person unfortunate enough to get it. **if you are the sort to bother, you're either a highblood where it kind of actually makes it worth the trouble, or you're doing stuff that needs multiple accounts and probably some kind of encryption service, e.g., WILDLY illegal shit ***trains and buses are not safer, just less walking to do.

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HELLLLOOOOO everynyan, thank you for voting i swear i've been thinking about this non stop and want to get you those graphics quickly, but it turns out i have like 3 completely different essays fighting over space in my brain on the singular topic SO my tentative plan is to force myself to do the most basic bare-ass bones outline of what tangents belong and which don't and work from there, with the hope that the final thing will be out some time in the next week. thank you for your patience and hopefully i'm not overhyping what is essentially a lot of aggressively nerdy frothing lol

the winner will get a big long post including graphics and stuff so choose wisely >:3

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did some sketch'n'kvetching with @neon-chemicals on magma last night, and i am annoyed/impressed that the laggy ass controls always seem to produce the best doodles??

lookit all these gays

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the winner will get a big long post including graphics and stuff so choose wisely >:3

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I’ve been going through old boxes and this drawing of my brothers reminded me of Sigmar Patera.

It has his horns AND a clown nose XD

this is in fact just a self portrait from when he was fresh from the caverns, how'd it get in your house?

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The dear misteress fuchsia jr did not happen to have once been a being of the xx chromosomed variety or did he just get the astolfo genes? Might we as the audience expect more breaking of alternian gender norms, such as male jades perhaps?

the pedant in me wants to go off on a tangent about troll biology being different enough from human that chromosomes don't particularly factor into it, but for the purposes of leaning into the spirit of the ask and not the letter of it, i can tell you Roh's gender is simply Yes. like a lot of 13 year olds, he's still figuring that part of himself out and pronouns are part of that for sure, but he's not super pressed about it, and is far from the only one in the story under the trans umbrella! on a lark, the big google sheet of character stats i made had a column added for gender stuff, with the joke being an attempt at figuring out what the ratio of cis to not-cis characters were and wouldn't you know it it's basically split evenly; this was unintentional but i consider it a happy (and in some ways more realistic) accident.

so to answer your question about whether we'll see more of this: yes absolutely, but only a few characters will have it be part of their "arc" so to speak. maybe it's projection of hope for the world we're in, maybe it's just cos me and Nyx are also queer as fuck, but this comic doesn't fuss with exclusively strict binary boxes~

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Waht are the other cast members Lusii?

Easy to answer for me!

~

Efyida and Rohati: Gl’bgloyb

Sigmar: A massive Caucasian Ovcharka named папа-собака

Nensis: Brushtail Possum

Manisi: Big Dormouse

Vennit: Long Spiny Lindworm

Hawlen: Minotaur

Vrakkt: Shrew

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Are you gonna put this on Webtoon?

short answer: probably not! slightly longer answer: not a huge fan of the interface even as a reader, and as i understand it their TOS is pretty strict regarding NSFW, so while this comic isn't gonna have anything too wild that isn't behind an age restricted paywall (eventually), i don't especially feel like playing dice on that. like it'd be a pain to format the pages/set up an account, all that jazz only to have it nuked randomly for being too much something, yfm?

that said, if further research or changes to tumblr force me elsewhere, i will definitely notify everyone here!

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It is specifically stated that there are no known Seadwellers near the Town, excluding Gale because nobody knew my poor boi existed, so who was the highestblood authority in charge of there?

this is a bit tricky to answer because while 'self-governed' isn't wholly accurate it's about as close as you'll get. the island itself is rather small, and the local population doesn't go above olive, but the villagers more or less go about their lives as they would normally with the occasional interruption from visiting highbloods. Vennit is probably convinced she's in charge, given that she is the proprietor of most of the needed imports brought to the Crags. but you could probably argue that for the week that the purplebloods from the upper archipelago are present, they cause the most anxiety to the villagers about being on your best behavior lmfao more broadly, i think there's evidence in the friendsim to suggest it's unlikely you'd ever directly interact with a seadweller below a certain color anyway; and that principle definitely applies to the politics of SP. like royalty in the real world, they're more of a "conceptual power" until directly implemented, rather than a "of the people" power interested in the daily goings-on of their subjects--that is a bother for the bluer hues to deal with.

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May I ask of her Royal Bitchinesses Sign?

Way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and we were all making up our own symbols, i thiiiink hers was something to do with cassiopeia but like most fantroll enthusiasts i took the test for her as soon as the extended zodiac dropped and well turns out she's a true pisces =w=;;

but honestly i consider it a happy accident, because it felt good and right as an homage to the OG condescension, and also means she gets some cool powers that will show up when the time is right ;)

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Pray tell, waht would the God Tiers of the everyones two favorite gay Grimblos and, by extension, the rest of the currently known Cast be, if they where to ever be cast down into the hell that is Sgrub. Fish n chips (Scoiish Edition) seems like either a Prince or an Hier if I do say so myself.

Right track, wrong troll! in order of appearance so far, we have:

Holter (RIP)- Rogue of Hope Efy- Witch of Life Sigmar- Knight of Doom Gale- Knight of Mind Roh- Heir of Heart Pasmir- Maid of Blood Gojira (The Shepard)- Prince of Time Vrakkt- Bard of Void Hawlen- Page of Blood Vennit- Sylph of Mind Manisi- Heir of Light Nensis- Mage of Life Though some of these are more relevant than others, and some characteristics are not readily apparent (yet), for spoiler reasons we cannot say why~

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A map of Alternia! Featuring places and cities! More info under the cut!

If we use earth as a parallel culturally the areas are as follows

The Archipelago: England, Scotland and Ireland

The Peaks: Russian, Mongolian and Chinese

The Mid-Slopes: Australia

The Wailing Isles: Wales

The Vents: Southern USA

Eastern Alternia: Japan and Korea

The Reefs/The Tropics: Southeast Asia and India

North Temperates: Eastern USA

South Temperates: Western USA

Sunscar Flats: Africa

The Torrid Arids: Middle East

The Blue Basin: Mediterranean

The Lesser Peaks: Swiss Alps

The Midder Slopes: Italy

The Humids: South America

No One Likes These Idiots (NOLTI): France and Germany

The Chill: Arctic

The Niceties: Canada

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These are V E R Y loose and in general more account for influence of cultural influences with an alien twist, aesthetic and accent in the region to provide a more diverse range of characters and experiences not including stereotypes and harmful ideas and all that

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I did this at 12 am

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oh hello forgot this was here while i've been juggling pages and life anyway gonna start queuing up some hc bs, cos i can. some of it will be SP compliant, some won't, some of it may even conflict so don't come for me too hard but i just have so many ideas i like for trolls and their weird ways

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Let’s talk Purplebloods 2/?

This is mainly me talking about my OCs, and how they’re important

srry

CW: Suggestive, sexual acts mentioned, hard drugs

The Four Jesters

The Four Court Jesters are the authority directly below The Grand Highblood; there has only been one set of these trolls, staying firmly in charge for well over 10,000 sweeps.

The Jesters reside on a large colony referred to as Karnival , this planet is firmly under the jurisdiction of The Jesters and the purplebloods as a whole, The Empress’ influence is extremely lax and she turns a blind eye to most of the goings on.

[Karnival from a distance]

The Jesters are:

The Diabolis ~ Belial Hofman [He/Him]

The Hedonist ~ Namaah Yeoung [She/Her]

The Euphoric ~ Morkis Melpom [It/Its]

The Obscured ~ Morkan Melpom [He/They]

Each Jester is in charge of a sector or quadrant of the planet, split evenly in four where their individual followers can congregate. While the church itself is one entity, young clowns often will select a specific Jester’s subsection of the church to focus their worship on. These are examples of what some of those trolls would be like!

The following are descriptions of the various sectors and the trolls within!

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The Infernal Ring

Governed by Jester Belial Hofman

The Infernal Ring boasts a host of activities where Purplebloods can attempt feats of violence and strength to impress Jester Hofman and hopefully win his favor. These include High Strikers, a more purple-flavored Muscular Theatre, Obstacle Courses, and above all else, a towering Coliseum.

Conquering the Coliseum is considered the highest feat anyone who follows Jester Hofman, every day there is a tourney where hopefuls fight in a bracket to the death, the final match being between the victor and Jester Hofman himself, no one has ever won against him, nor does anyone know what the prize is. Rumor has it that Belial will give up his seat to whoever wins against him, though when asked about the prize, Belial has always brushed it off with a simple “When it happens you’ll see”, If an opponent impresses him enough during their match, he will spare them and they will be treated like royalty while they’re on their pilgrimage, said to be blessed by The Messiahs with combat prowess to rival his own.

Belial represents the facet of the church that exemplifies violence, cultivating righteous rage, and the art of murder. Blood Sacrifices are commonplace in the ring, doomed trolls get shipped to the planet to be killed elaborately, their bodies are displayed in artistically grotesque ways, bled like livestock to be used as warpaint in the Coliseum.

[picture]

It is considered among the purplebloods to be an honor to be used in such a way, but the trolls actually subjected to it would beg to differ. If a young clown chooses to follow Belial they often adopt a splash of orange somewhere on their outfit going forward.

Belial himself is an intimidating, daunting figure, his physical mutations giving his visage a demonic edge, and his pyrokinesis lets him be as showy as he could ever want to be.

[picture]

His chucklevoodoos are impressive to say the least, his powers allow him to negate any pain he would feel in battle, allowing him to keep going and keep fighting a supernaturally long time before he would ever collapse, he can also extend this blessing to others, though he rarely does so.

[picture]

Privately, Belial seems to be a rather neurotic troll, always fussing about something or someone, particularly his now ex-pitch Namaah.

[picture]

Trolls who are close to him also describe him as a lover of the arts and spoken word, even a gentle soul with the right person. He is also the only Jester with an overall positive view of Grand Highblood Sigmar Patera.

Hedonist’s Haven

Governed by Jester Namaah Yeoung

Hedonist’s Haven is a much different sector compared to its violent counterpart. The ground is covered consistently in a light purple mist that flows and shifts almost hypnotically. The area is covered in beautiful lush foliage, fairy lights, and places to chill out, cushions and piles galore! Namaah doesn’t put herself above any of her followers, preferring to be among them, smoking and ahem, congregating. Special Stardust and recreational downers are provided to make a troll's stay in this haven absolutely transcendent and ethereal. Jester Yeoung’s goal is to make her followers feel all connected with each other and the universe while under her diligent eye. Nonconsensual drugging or touching is absolutely forbidden and Namaah herself assures comfort and safety, including culling any who would disrupt her paradise of calm and togetherness by her own hand and assuring that the most difficult members of her flock are perfectly at peace. Should a follower of another Jester cause such problems, she is not afraid to have a very thorough discussion about how the others should be keeping track of their flock.

Namaah represents the facet of the church that exemplifies community, working together and feeling The Messiahs resonate through the collective. Physical and Mental connection are especially important to her side of things, trolls in her community often participating in psychedelics and physical intimacy as a form of devotion to the whole. If a troll enters the haven upset and stressed, their comfort becomes priority for all inside, especially Jester Yeoung. Young clowns who accepts being brought in to Namaah’s congregation often adds a bit of pink somewhere on their outfit, though followers of Jester Yeoung are easily spotted due to their markedly chill and kind demeanors, most having a rather progressive view on the hemospectrum and how all trolls should try and be as connected as the purples are. Most lowbloods consider this behavior off putting and bizarre coming from a clown. Occasionally Jester Namaah finds a soul desperately in need of her assistance, it is an honor to be considered a project, granted specified attention and eternal bliss.

Namaah, the troll herself is a warm, maternal, comforting figure, always willing to lend an ear and listen to her flock’s concerns and wishes. She is noted as being the most beautiful troll most have ever seen, with striking eyes and a figure to die for. Despite a focus on her appearance being common outside the congregation, most within find her allure comes mostly from her personality, being surprisingly soft and quiet when within the Haven but able to turn on a dime into a commanding, intimidating voice, especially in regards to her recently separated kismesis, Jester Hofman. Her chucklevoodoos are subtle and empathetic in nature, allowing her to feel the emotions of other trolls as if they were her own, shouldering their burdens with them. In more extreme circumstances, her abilities can even be used to erase something from the mind entirely for a time.

Carnevale Phantasm

Governed by Jester Morkis Melpom

Rather than questioning what is Carnevale Phantasm your real question should be what is it not. Jester Morkis’ realm is anything and everything, a maddening, breathtaking array of shifting architecture and dizzying colors. No law of physics is consistent, no location in one set place except for the big top at the center, the eye of the storm so to speak. The Big Top is where Jester Morkis’ physical form resides while it is resting and dreaming, all appearances outside of the Big Top within Carnevale Phantasm being astral projections. Its physical body only gets up and makes appearances outside of its sector of the planet if absolutely required by the other jesters, Jester Morkan speaking for it otherwise.

From the outside looking in, the Carnevale Phantasm looks like a vast eerily silent emptiness, completely void of people, stepping inside, this vision shifts and warps into the fantastical landscapes of Jester Morkis’ most vivid dreams. An endless array of excitement and indulgence in carnival food and recreational hard drugs for those so inclined. Jester Morkis concerns itself with the entertainment and enjoyment of its congregation, always coming up with new games, shows and contests to make sure every soul in its dream gets to live their lives to the fullest, indulgence is the name of the game.

Morkis represents exactly that: Indulgence. Living your life like every moment is your last, life is the pregame for the endless extravagance and spoiling of The Dark Carnival! Trolls in its congregation tend towards the energetic and enthusiastic, beacons of energy and advocates for free time and living it up in whatever way you see fit truly YOLO personified. Individuals like to show their membership in its congregation by donning a spectrum of colors, if you see a clown barely wearing any black, that’s likely a member of this congregation. Morkis tends to it’s more down on their luck visitors with a forceful gentle encouraging, very excitable hand towards anything it thinks will help, mostly the individual's vices, be them food, drugs, alcohol, attention or any plethora of other things. Does it indiscriminately indulge even harmful addictions? Yes! Does it make the person feel better temporarily? Double yes!

Morkis, the troll is an enigma and likes it that way. Outwardly excitable, erratic and wildly inconsistent in mood and demeanor, it's near impossible to discover what its true personality is like. Face eternally obscured via mask and doused in a shifting array of patterns and fabrics. In rare moments caught between it and its brother, trolls have said that Morkis is soft spoken, not unlike Jester Morkan, and seems to be anxious or paranoid rather frequently with many mentions of time rushing by or losing track of it and fears of ‘not having long’. No one is sure what this is in reference to, though it is speculated by members of the collective to be some kind of chronic or degenerative disease/disorder, or perhaps a generalized anxiety of death.

Morkis’ abilities are arguably the most impressive of the Jesters’ chucklevoodoos, able to pull innumerable amounts of trolls into a collective dream in a vicinity around its own sleeping form. It has complete control over the senses and acts as a sort of trickster deity, able to appear anywhere and summon anything anyone could ever want, though of course it being in a dream all food alcohol and drugs have no actual effect on your body and rather it’s Morkis’ abilities stimulating the brain in a way that feels similar! (You can and will get addicted though)

Carnevale Obscurae

Governed by Jester Morkan Melpom

Far from the sparkles, glitz and glam of the other three quadrants, Carnevale Obscurae sits in relative silence, darkened tents and still carousels sit under the vast expanse of stars, completely visible due to the darkness. The air is melancholic and a chill always seems in the air as the clowns here go about esoteric meditation and prayer in blissful quiet as compared to the loudness and aggression of the rest of Karnival. Some might compare the vibe to a clownish monastery, where its inhabitants spend more time actively worshiping rather than on things considered ‘frivolous’. Some might consider this form of worship strange and out of character for purples, but silence has long been a tool of the messiahs.

Jester Morkan is an almost omnipresent… presence throughout the entire area, never in one place for long moving like a spirit, keeping watch over his flock closely, like his sibling. Trolls within the congregation often choose this over the others because of their own struggles with sensory overload, many of his followers are selectively mute and he strives to provide a calm, soothing environment for them to reach out to the messiahs in their own way. Jester Morkan believes even those who cannot participate in the color and noise and contact of traditional worship should not be excluded so callously, they are all children of the messiahs, after all. A lot of the clowns in their flock tend to be those that fade into the background, silent but faithful observers cloaked in black and other dark colors. Morkan’s calming embrace of silence and shadow also attracts those with sensitive abilities, leading to an abundance of oracles* in their midst, much like Morkan himself. Also, you know mimes, but that’s self explanatory.

Morkan the individual is quiet and reflective, much like most of their congregation, speaking in hushed tones and more often than not staying completely silent. They are respectful and polite but also can be particularly blunt when dealing with people and their problems. They care deeply for their sibling and for the individuals who choose to follow them, providing a listening ear and his divination capabilities to any who request such, his connection to the messiahs and ability to accurately predict the future and discover the past leads him to being deeply respected by other jesters and most of the purple populations. He is also the only jester in a long term relationship with a troll that isn’t a purpleblood, his matesprit, whose name he has kept private is an indigo cavalreaper who he cares very deeply for.

Morkan’s abilities are slightly more varied than the other jesters, able to draw from powers outside of his innate chucklevoodoos. The powers he was born with allow him to traverse shadows as if they were doorways, any spot of pitch blackness within a certain radius he can step between and appear out of another patch of darkness. It’s very convenient for keeping an eye on everything in Karnival as he tends to do, being a good neutral peacekeeper as compared to the other three jester’s more opinionated personalities. Jester Morkan’s more impressive skill however, was developed through sweeps of intensive meditation and spiritual guidance, the ability to see the past, present, and future. Using the holy act of puppetry, Jester Morkan receives visions from the beyond and crafts puppets to act out said predictions, it’s said he’s made hundreds of them, though most go unused, until the right troll comes along, asking for advice.

*Oracles will be discussed further in the ‘Ringmaster’ section

The Jesters have never needed successors however, there are rules in place if one of them was to tragically die.

If a Jester is to die without naming a successor previously or on their deathbed, The Grand Highblood is tasked with providing a suitable replacement.

If the current Grand Highblood has no one in mind, they may request some form of tourney to choose who is worthy of such a prestigious position.

The form this tourney takes is dependent on which Jester has passed being the following;

- Belial is to be honored with a show of combat prowess, traditional clownish brawls to the death

- Namaah is to be honored with words, heartfelt poetry and song

- Morkis is to be honored with “It’s a surprise :o)”

- Morkan is to be honored by choosing an oracle whose predictions can be tracked as near-completely accurate