PALISADE 45: Where They Are Pt. 3

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 Blue Channel.

Why me, or better, why you? / When we can fake it like any way we want to

People

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. In reality, they work for the Divine, Arbitrage as a double agent. Cori blames them for the death of her father. Pilot of the Cataphract. One of Arbitrage's remaining agents in the Twilight Mirage.

General Tomorrow Mourning (she/her): Leader of the Qui'Err Coalition's forces en route to the Twilight Mirage.

Gucci Garantine (she/her): A defector from Stel Kesh, who used the remaining wealth and power of House Brightline to help found Millennium Break. Currently a key member of the resistance efforts on Palisade, and a commander of Millenium Break forces there. Codename Watershed.

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.

Mustard Red (she/her): A cyborg who once served as a member of Brink Proxy, with a speciality in surveillance. Joined the Cause during the Devotees expansion onto Palisade.

The Witch in Glass a.k.a. Clementine Kesh (she/her): A former scion of Kesh who, after knitting a bond with the adversary Perennial, came into control of the broken body of the Divine Past, which she has renamed the Reflecting Pool. Rules over the Crown of Glass, a city-state on the southeastern reaches of Palisade. A shaky ally of Millennium Break. Now broken with Perennial, she has become the egoist queen of the Iconoclasts.

Lucia Whitestar (she/her): The young "Lady Whitestar" emerged as a strategic genius during the early conflict between Kesh and Apostolos on PARTIZAN five years ago. Daughter of the Peaceful Princept, Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. Commands her forces from her flagship, the Lander One with the support of her combat AI, Fire Support (it/its).

Partial Palisade (he/him): A man who was once a Divine, now living in the shell of a being quite unlike what he once was.

Exenchester March (he/him): Founder of the Frontier Syndicate and the March Institute, former chair of the Zenith Fund. Betrayed the Pact and Stel Columnar, defecting to the Bilateral Intercession in exchange for territory on Palisade and the freedom to use it as he wishes.

August Righteousness (he/they): Once, August served as the court chef of Joyous Guard. Now, he is the commander of Reunion, a Delegate resistance movement that is part of the Cause's Jade Kill unit, and one of the de facto most important leaders of the resistance on Palisade.

Organizations

The New Asterism: What was once a schism between Received and Progressive Asterism has now been healed by the false prophet Gur Sevraq (he/they), or at least someone in his name and face. The New Asterism claims that to be a citizen of the Principality is to have an obligation to "better the world," in the sense that one invests in property or in the way that a settler "rehabilitates" or "improves" the places they claim by violence. If Received Asterism places virtue in the state and Progressive Asterism places it in the Divines, the New Asterism places it in the Principality's mythologized point of origin: The Twilight Mirage.

Fabreal Duchy: When the Divine Principality left Palisade nearly 5,000 years ago, they left behind a Duke and his barons as caretakers. In the generations that followed, they ruled as petty tyrants, creating Delegates as their slaves, remaking their bodies into glass and oil, and extending their reach across Palisade's continents. Though they officially report to their handlers in Stel Kesh, recently they have begun to wonder if things were better before the Principality's return to Palisade.

Places

Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain.

Temple of the Threshold: Built at the center of a massive bridge that crosses the Diadem, this serves as the home of New Asterism and its false prophet,

The Twilight Mirage: Created over 5000 years ago by what was then the Divine Empyrean in an effort to protect the Divine Fleet, of which they were a member. The Mirage is a false nebula that obscures the position of its inhabitants both visually and by distorting time and space. Inside, there is now a vibrant and peaceful culture that spans eight planets, orbiting a dark and living Divine sun. 

Objects

FS-N Dais: O