The Bleak Cabal (PWH)

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"Bein' down don't always mean bein' bad. So we don't see it the same way you do—does that make us barmy? Some say it does; they call us madmen. But we don't much give a fig what anyone says. 
"Here's the Bleaker philosophy in a nutshell: Quit lookin' for meaning in the multiverse, because there ain't any. It's not even random, like the Xaositects say. It's nothing. There's no point to the planes, to life, to anything. No overwhelming answer to all our questions. All we've got is ourselves and the folks around us. So forget all the other wash. Instead, look inside. Focus on you, me, and the needy sod standing over there. 
"Our membership's among the most dedicated of all the factions. A sod don't join the Bleakers unless he really believes. No one joins to look good, 'cause everybody hates us. No one joins to have a good time, 'cause we don't. Sure, some berks think it's fashionable to be mad. But they learn fast. See, there's no reason to join the Bleakers—that's the point.
"Some factions bang the drums to fill out their ranks, but we don't even tell folks how to join. If you come down to the Gatehouse askin' to be a Bleaker, we might even try to talk you out of it. That's if we care enough to even look at you twice. Only those who really believe stick it out until they're just plain consumed into our ranks. Myself, I remember following a Bleaker namer all around the Cage, askin' him questions and demandin' answers. It took me three months to realize that there weren't any. That's when I tumbled to how it all works. 
"I've still got a long way to go, though. Sometimes I catch myself lookin' for a reason or some sort of scheme to explain things away. Old habits die hard, and most folks don't teach their kids Bleaker philosophy to grow up by. Mine sure didn't. My father's still a tried and true Signer, and he hates what I've become. My mother never went in for true faction membership, but she does like me puttin' in time at the almshouse. 'Course, I don't see much of my parents now. We're taught to give up any meaning that our old lives might've had. It's for the best.
"Sure, some of us go mad. Just happens. Factotum Jurrese told me that once a cutter realizes the utter truth, he's got to go mad to stay sane. That didn't make much sense to me at the time, but it's gettin' clearer every day. Should that worry me? "Anyway, we ain't evil. Fact is, it's us that help the poor and needy in the Cage—and in other burgs, as well. It's us that run the soup kitchens, the orphanages, and the madhouses. See, if there ain't nothin' to the multiverse, maybe's there's somethin' in people—at least, that's what the more optimistic Bleakers think.
"Optimistic Bleaker? If I could remember how, I'd laugh." 
- Reven Tresnor, a Bleaker
Category:Sects