Grekhaus and Lord Grey trade stories

Characters in this scene: Grekhaus, Lord Grey II

grekhaus — 03/19/2021

DM to @lordgreyii

Let's see, let's see, where to start this tale. Traditionally, the advice is that one starts at the beginning and goes through until the end (and then stops), but I am concerned that without the full context of the tale, the joy and merriment of it will be lacking. For the sake of the story, Lord Grey II, have you heard of the mortal known as Rick Astley?

lordgreyii — 03/19/2021

I have. They were the seed whose legend has grown to a minor deity of the internet, whose name is invoked as a minor curse via 'Rickrolling'. I hope you do not intend to attempt the same on me. If otherwise, do continue.

grekhaus — 03/19/2021

Of course not. This is supposed to be the recounting a story in which *I* was tricked, in exchange for a story in which you were tricked. To reverse our respective roles would be absurd, undignified and likely to result in me being cursed in a like manner. No, I wish to relate the tale of the time I was beset upon by this curse in a most insidious fashion.

Under normal circumstances, one can identify a Rick Roll by the sigils that it bears: dQw4w9WgXcQ. Experienced users of the internet will recognize these on sight and refuse any links that contain them. This lead to attackers creating a concealed variant of the rick-roll, using a dread technique known as 'url shortening', which I am hopeful that a learned individual such as yourself is already aware. But this was no mere amateur hour pox upon my ears. They rewove the entire memetic construct, warf and weft, into a new form which I shall reveal to you now. This is no trick, but a disarmed example of the form, altered in subtle ways: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/353337832137555968/819538775402348544/Gaming.webm

lordgreyii — 03/19/2021

Quite clever! The technology of Man has progressed greatly in recent years.

grekhaus — 03/19/2021

Indeed. Would you believe that the technique is in fact *entirely* analogous to fabric manipulation? They take the rows and columns, the warp and the weft, and tighten them, as one would a garment shrunk in the wash. Only by unshrinking it is the full image - and the Rickroll - revealed. I was astounded, offended and, in time, grudgingly impressed by the craftsmanship. It inspired a brief aside in my chapter on the manipulation of mediums via magic.

lordgreyii — 03/19/2021

Fascinating. There are books of men with similar techniques applied to them, and of course tricks of perspective are common to the Fae, but I had not thought of how it could be applied to the internet.

For my part then.

grekhaus — 03/19/2021

I am, of course, eager to have your story.

lordgreyii — 03/19/2021

Several centuries ago, when I still regularly visited the world of Man, I had been tasked to learn the doings of a particular Practitioner as part of a bargain. I would step lightly through his hold, and not a soul would notice me. I bade the spirits to look elsewhere, and they obeyed. For three moons, did I observe them from afar to learn their patterns and ways, so that I might slip between habits. Truly, I felt secure that I would remain undetected.

A tale of overconfidence, I'm afraid. Surely, I did pass into their hold undetected, and past guards and servants both Men and Other alike. However, as I approached the Practitioner in their own workshop, I was thwarted by a novel approach to the Practice that I had not yet seen. The Practitioner had connected a gossamer thread between two points in the room, composed of his *Sight*. Like a tripwire made of spiderweb, but not of his power. His very manner of interacting with the world, made manifest. It was the slightest of things, not obvious even when looking for it, and this Practitioner had filled the room with such points. Though I were invisible to his Sight, had he looked directly at me, this method did reveal my position. My presence created a pressure in his Sight as I passed between those two points, making me as obvious to him as if I had poked his side.

grekhaus — 03/19/2021

Intriguing! And, remarkably similar to the method that I had been considering for tracking my own invisible house guest. I believe that, along with your story, I shall take this conversation as providential. Your charity and generosity in offering it to me will be remembered as I put it to service, Lord Grey II.

lordgreyii — 03/19/2021

Of course, a pleasure. I know not what you shall do with your new story, but it shall certainly be interesting regardless.