Zen and the Art of Clarity

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie nodded, sipping her coffee cup from her tail now, leaving her hands free to gesture as she talked. "Oh yeah, definitely. I don't want her to get hurt or lost or eaten by a carnivorous plant. As long as she comes prepared for hiking and camping, everything should be fine."

She eyed the flowers and laughed, "Ah, it's a shame Abe didn't name himself Iris."

Her expression turned deadpan as Rhodes took the cannibalism joke beyond the realm of believability. "Uh huh, right. How about kiwi stew? Ever try that?" She started doing a New Zealander accent, which she sourced from Korg in the Thor: Ragnarok movie.

[Rhodes]

"Good." The Autumn King didn't much like the idea of sending Titania into the Hedge.

Her comment raises a chuckle. "Not everyone picks names as wittily as we do."

Rhodes snorts. "You're no fun when you see through things." He sighs. "So. When it comes to pledges, you can set what the benefit is. I prefer talents, or benefits like money. Another quirk of gambling for a living, it's very easy for fate to manifest. Curses can be things like misfortune, or loss of earthly benefits you possessed before the pledge came into effect. All useful to know."

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie was as protective of the Bright One as anybody, so she nodded in agreement. That said, she giggled in response to the Flowering's dissatisfaction over her level of gullibility. "Oh, so sorry. I'll try to be dumber in the future. Maybe trade my last cow for magic beans, or watch cable news."

With a smile, she listened to the nature of benefits and curses associated with pledges, "I guess a really powerful oath would be needed to become a millionaire, hm?" She thought a moment, over something Rhodes had previously said, "So, you plan for the freehold oath to shield against our degradation? Like, it would help us not go crazy? At least not as fast as we might without it?"

[Rhodes]

He smiles wryly. "I suppose I shouldn't ask you to do that. Hard enough to find people that stop to think."

The Dread Lord chuckles. "Well... it canbe done. There's only so far the Wyrd can bend reality. Depends on your initial position financially, and how long you keep the Pledge running." When she asks about the Freehold oath, he nods, pleased. "Exactly. It's a rare boon that only works for bigger pledges. Like the pledge you swore to Spring that bestowed your mantle, Freehold Oaths have a few unique benefits that an ordinary Changeling cannot create in their pledges. I thought that a protection of our clarity of mind would be the best option, since that is incredibly hard to come by."

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie slowly nodded, her hands clasped in front of her, "Well, sure. If that's the only kind of pledge we can get that sort of magical aid from, might as well go for it. I'm sure everyone would appreciate it, even if they might not admit to needing the help."

Including you?

What? I admit to my... wait, am I still pretending with this inner voice thing?

Hell if I know.

Crap.

Sonnie might have spaced out for a minute. However, she blinked and looked back to Rhodes and smiled. "Are motley pledges stronger than the every day ones?"

[Rhodes]

There is a quiet pause as Rhodes finishes his coffee, but he nods. "That's what I thought." A hint of a shrug.

If Rhodes noticed Sonnie zoning out, he doesn't say anything. He seems to be staring out of the window and into the distance himself. "Not especially, no." He answers slowly. "Motley pledges are usually strong ties of allegiance - promises to help one another beyond that of a simple Freehold bond - but no stronger than than the ties of allegiance that can be sworn between two people." Rhodes seems to drift back into the room. "Why? Thinking of starting a motley with somebody?"

[Sonnie Wu]

"Oh, I see." Sonnie shrugged, then came a small shake of her head before she drank from her coffee cup, still held by the end of her tail threading the handle. "No plans for that. I was just curious. Are there even any motleys in town? I don't remember hearing about any."

"You should teach a whole class about pledges." She nodded, liking the idea. "Like with the oneiromancy one! Are you gonna do that again, too? You are an excellent sifu!"

[Rhodes]

The Fairest shakes his head. "Not as far as I'm aware. We're such a small Freehold there's not much difference between it and a large motley."

There's a small shrug. "I hadn't realised people didn't know these things. But if it is needed, it is important people are made aware, and you are the second person to need some guidance on Pledges. Perhaps a talk on the basics of such things may be helpful." Praise is always the weakness of the Fairest, and Rhodes smiles. "I had hoped to do it again. I will try to make the time, soon. I take it you enjoyed it?"

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie cocked her head to the side, her usual sign of thinking or curiosity, "What counts as a large freehold? Are we really that small? There's what... a couple dozen of us now?"

She smiled and nodded, "I think that's true. It's not like any of us get formal classes when we first crawl out of the Hedge. Nobody's handing out diplomas. Pledges, oneiromancy, the Hedge, contracts, goblin fruits, hedge dueling. There's a lot to know. Maybe the larger freeholds do have classes? I don't know. Knowledge sharing would go a long way to helping everyone out, that's for sure." The Beast nodded again, "I did enjoy it. I'm sure others will, too. There's a lot of new faces all of a sudden. You should cram some facts in their heads!"

Even at the moment, Sonnie was educating herself a little. Rhodes took well to the compliment she gave him? Guess so. She praised his teaching ability and he'd smiled and talked about doing more of it.

She'd seen similar reactions in the other Fairest, especially Titania. As a Beast, she knew her own Seeming the best, of course, but not much about the others beyond rumor. Ogres seemed pretty simple to figure out. Elementals were weird. Darklings and Wizened were still a mystery. But the Fairest, which had the largest population in the city, provided ample opportunities for study.

So the Unicorns liked having their egos stroked? Who didn't, really? This was hardly a scientific process, but Sonnie felt like she had learned something. Maybe.

Her tail passed the coffee cup to her hands, "Oh, thank you." Did she just thank her own tail?

[Rhodes]

Rhodes ponders. "Sixteen to Eighteen, by my reckoning. Some Freeholds are several score in size."

He continues to look thoughtful. "It might be helpful... I had not thought people would need such but it they do, it would be better to get it running sooner rather than later. Not having such basic knowlegde can be dangerous."

He reaches over and pours a small amount of whiskey in the cup and sips it. "Do you know anyone who would be interested to begin with? Or perhaps a public offer may be best."