Episode 66 - Morals

## Morals

A black background with a simple double lined white border, the corners depict Cherubs and Devils blowing on horns, one in each corner in an alternating pattern. The centre depicts a Nuckelavee, the head of the humanoid part, had the Nuckelavee been human, has been replace by a large levitating apple, depicted in red. Bellow this image but still within the border are the words "66.MORALS" written in white.

### Author

William A. Wellman

Buck contemplates an exit, Polly confronts mortality, and Barb plays a dangerous game. The theme of tonight’s episode is Morals.

***Content Warnings:** Abuse, Ableism, Animal death (Bert & Tulip), Violence, Kidnapping and abduction, Death + Injury, Theology Discussions, Needles, Homophobia, Birds, Gun Mention, Emotional Manipulation, Drowning, Body horror, Alcohol Use, Smoking, Decapitation*

## Intro - Shall You Crawl

Nikignik narrates to the Dreamers someone who they describe as a snake, a liar. They find their first few steps exhilarating, like watching their own young lean how to survive, and then like a snake they eat their own young and give them the gift of war. They are a snake, but they wear a skin like a man as they complete their quarterly objectives, the manipulation of leaders and rulers. But they do not take any of the spoils, every soul spilled upon the fields feeds the hungry maw of a fiery angel (see Syrensyr), but they skim a little off the top where they can. They are a snake, and their theft has been found out, so they are stripped of their horns and eyes (see Demons/Devils), left to writhe in the dust, plumet from heaven, wingless but they laugh for they are free.

Nikignik dwells in the Darkness of a small room, more a closet really, to small and crampet to sit down properly. There is no peace to be found in the silence; only agitation of the body and soul for its single occupant (see Buck Silver). He is here to think about his actions, he has been told (see Episode 61 - Protectors), but he knows it is a punishment in its own right.

## Story 1 - Leave The Garden

Buck Silver, after the events of Episode 61 - Protectors, had been forced to standing in a small closet sized room, too small to be able to sit down in, as punishment for his transgressions against Mrs. Wicker. This has greatly affected him physically, not just from the lack of protection form the cold, but also from Buck's disability, being forced to stand for so long with no form of mobility aid having resulted in a torturous pain stabbing through his bad leg. He'd sworn to himself after Rick Rounds had left (see Episode 30 - Stones) that he'd never let his life become miserable again, and yet there he was, feeling worse than ever. He listens in as Fort Freedom stirs awake outside, aware that this meant that it was early morning, and that he'd survived the night. Buck knew that it wasn't as if they'd never fought anyone before, he'd been young when Fort Freedom was built and lost loved ones along the way, but to Buck Mrs. Wicker's plan (see Episode 61 - Protectors) felt different. They'd sought out the Scoutpost as friends (see Episode 55 - Threats). He presses his face against the bords of the wall, trying to watch his pears prepaid for their conquest, listening to the engine of the flat bead that Mrs. Wicker had the Frogsticker chained to. Despite this he cannot bring himself to be mad at Mrs Wicker, finding the way she treats him for his homosexuality and otherness as justifiable and correct, though this leads him to wonder if the same went for Jonah Duckworth, Hector Mendoza, and Violet and Bern Keene, as he found them to act and be so free, that he could never imagine them confined to a box.

He hears someone moving outside of the door, and calls out, to no Immedient response, but Jedediah Wicker speaks up, telling Buck that they weren't supposed to talk to him. Buck asks what it was they were doing outside, but Jed tells him that he didn't know. Buck asks if he had any food, that he hadn't eaten since yesterday, but Jed tells him that he wasn't allowed to let him out, that Mrs. Wicker had said he couldn't, and asks Buck what it was he'd done. Buck thinks to himself of all the things he'd done, but then he thinks, what had he done? Spoken up when he hadn't been asked, said they shouldn't turn on people a little different from them. He knew that what he'd actually done wrong, and it was only to see a world where nothing he was was wrong, and Mrs. Wicker had seen the longing in his eyes (see Episode 61 - Protectors). So, he tells Jed that what he'd done, or tried to do, had been the right thing. Jed tells him that he could give him fruit, but Buck couldn't run away, or say that Jed had helped him, and Jed opens the door a little, handing Buck through an apple. Jed leaves, and Buck bites into the apple, beginning to sob as he realises that he had to leave Fort Freedom, that he "[Didn't] belong in the garden".

### Interlude 1 - What Dwells Above

Nikignik tells the Dreamers that he'd always found it strange that humans looked to the heavens for guidance on how to live their lives, asking what voice up there did they hope to find who could tell them how to be? What would they know of their incidental lives? The Froglins looked into the lake and found Lolgmololg, and for reasons that Nikignik could not fathom followed her called for tribute and worship. The Church of the Hallowed Name sought the word of their triune god, but in the end, they were only looking for the means to support the steps they wished to take. Fort Freedom and many others cling to a simpler religion—be afraid, be afraid of yourself and damnation and those around you. Some, like Winona Carline, take only the things they enjoy, and disregard the rest. And some know too deeply the motivations of gods to respect any of their wishes, have looked to the cosmos and found what dwells there obscene.

## Story 2 - A Little Good

Polly wonders how it was that humans managed to walk so much, his legs protesting at all the walking he'd done as of late. Yaretzi seems fine with excess of physical activities, but she was a Starwolf and thus was a persistent hunter, and Mort was the very picture of boundless energy, which Polly addresses to "the joys of youth". Mort comes notices the many tombstones within the Cemetery they are walking through at that moment and asks what they were. Polly tells him that they were in a Cemetery, and Mort asks if that was anything like a Morturary, and Polly compliments him on making the associative connection, and that yes, as they were both places where one might keep dead people. Mort asks what "Dead" meant, and Polly asks how he wasn't aware of its definition yet with how much he'd been exposed to the concept. Mort tells Polly that he [Mort] could "walk around and say hello, and so [could Polly]" but the tombstones were just rocks. Polly thinks for a moment how he might explain death, before settling on telling Mort that they were sleeping. Yaretzi tells Mort that what Polly had said was not true, and gives Mort a more in-depth definition of death, also telling him that when people died parts of them might stick around, and those parts might come back in different shapes and forms; that this was what Mort was and that he should use it for good.

Mort asks what "good" was, and Polly comments that Mort was really diving into philosophy today. Yaretzi asks Mort what he thought good meant, and he tells her that he thought good was when he was able to watch the fishes (see Episode 3 - Books), but he also though Polly, and Yaretzi, and Bert were good. Polly speaks up, telling Mort that a few would disagree with him, that good was a made-up thing, going on a rant about how some Demons had put on some bird wings and told a few farmers that God has a holy edict and bing, there was a couple thousand years of conflict. And people prayed and crusaded and killed and died, and their angels fed on their suffering. He tells them that he didn't believe in cosmic good. Yaretzi tells him that she did, observing some flowers that had been laid by one of the tombs, which while dead were not decades old (see the night of black rains), weeks at most. She tells him that there was good and there was evil, but all things came in balance. She found good where she was now with Polly and Mort, it might not be cosmic good, but when she saw them both, she smiled. Polly comes to the conclusion that there was no one supervising them to decide what they should or shouldn't be doing, they'd run away from their 'good' gods, but what were they running to. Mort suggests a Carnival (see Episode 51 - Maps), and Yaretzi tells him that they were going towards whatever they wanted, that she'd lost her life (see Starwolves) and that Mort and Polly were only beginning theirs. Polly turns around suddenly, aware of another presence, seeing a Nuckelavee in the treeline. Polly prepares for a fight.

### Marketing - Advertising Ethics

Lady Ethel Mallory interrupts Nikigniks broadcast with her marketing segment. She speaks to the listeners, in this case her Marketing class, and tells them that by this point in their educational program, they should have effectively been able to dismantle their preconceptions about ‘ethics’ or ‘best practices’, telling them that 'Good' and 'Bad' did not exist in marketing, only strategy. Thie responsibility and calling was to think of their target customer, what it was they really wanted, what it was they needed. The marketing team needed to anticipate these questions, so that by the time they were asked they already had an answer. She asks what could be better for the lives of consumers then matching them with products that made them happy. The consumers had asked it before, so they knew it was going to happen, they'd clicked the terms and conditions or signed their Dreaming Box Subscription Agreement or crossed into a Botulus Corporation Geographic Advertising Region, and now they waited for the marketing team to show them their hearts desire.

### Story 2, Continued - A Little Good

The Nuckelavee (see G.C. Crane/Tulip) starts to ride forward. Mort asks what the Nuckelavee was, and Yaretzi tells him that the animal was a horse, but she wasn't sure what the rider was. They both also prepare for a fight. Mort calls out to them, asking if they would be his fried (see Mort), though they do not respond. Polly thinks back to last time they'd waited before a fight (see Episode 36 - Swords), and so he makes the first move, drawing a line of fire into the march between them and the Nuckelvee with his Cane, though they do not last long they. Yaretzi asks if she should kill them, but Polly tells her to wait, seeing that the rider was signing to them is ASL. Polly checks to see if there were any other threats, and finding none, raises his hands to sign back, asking if they could understand him, which they sign back that they could. He spots a nametag pinned to their vest, reading "G. C. Crane", and comments on their horse, calling her a "hell of a form of transportation", to which Crane responds by introducing her as "Tulip". Mort holds up his gloved hand, and Tulio steps forward, allowing him to pet her. Crane asks Polly where they were going, and he tells them that they were looking for Coney Island (see Episode 64 - Stations). Crane tells them that they would lead them, that the forest was not safe. Polly tells Yaretzi that is seemed that they were close to their destination as Crane was offering to lead them, to which Yaretzi demands to know why, a question that Polly translates to Crane. Crane tells them that the forest was still theirs, even after the end of the world (see G.C Crane), they kept it safe from visitors, and visitors safe from it. Crane wordlessly walks off, assuming that they would follow them, and Polly turns to Yaretzi, answering her earlier question with "*I believe* ... *it's their way of doing a little good*"

### Interlude 2 - No Debts

Nikignik asks the Dreamers what was right, and what was wrong, and where between those two abstract concepts did they fall? He tells them that he found amusement in those who look to Indescribables for guidance on the matter, as they did not have an answer either. He tells them that all life in this universe is confronted with choices, to react to the world with fear or compassion, to speak or to fight, to leave or to stay, and in that the Dreamers were not alone, even Indescribables looked to the Outsiders, just as smaller beings looked to them. He tells the Dreamers to not serve any thing that claimed to be a god, for they owed no debt to any larger creature for their life, and if they are given a choice between abstracts or helping another in need, choose those living alongside them rather than those living invisibly above.

## Story 3 - The Stakes - 1

Barb sits in the Resting Place Hotel at his poker table enjoying himself thoroughly, Rick Rounds sits across from him, enjoying himself significantly less, however mildly surprising Barb at his lack of reaction to the strangeness of the environment around him; to his frustration as Barb plans to steal Rick's soul by winning him at poker, ideally doing this by first turning his perception of reality into a pleasant haze with alcohol. He asks for Rick's name, and Rick answers with his normal amount of pride in the subject. Barb tells him that they were just about to play a game before Rick had walked in, asking if he was a betting man as he set up the room for the coming game, and Rick tells him that he was, when there was something he wanted, folding his hands under his chin, leading to Barb mistaking his branch arm for a glove. The other players arrive, including The Countess however Barb waves the Quilt away, and they sit down. Barb asks him what had brought him to The Resting Place, and Rick answers honestly, telling him that he'd seen a shine, like a beacon, coming from the Resting Place (see Episode 62 - Provisions), from who he knew to be Polly, but about a day ago it had vanished (see Episode 62 - Provisions), asking where Polly was hiding. Barb tries to play it off, but Rick tells him that Polly owed him. Barb produces a stack of cards and begins shuffling and tells Rick that he knew who we was looking for, giving a brief description of The Carnival Gang, to The Countess's disapproval, but Barb doesn't think too much into it, labelling Rick as "a hard sell" but assuming that he would still have his soul by round three of poker, and Rick would never hurt a hair on Polly's head.

Barb tells him that he'd tell him where Polly was, if he won, if Barb won then he'd want something from him instead. Rick stares at Barb for a second, Barb silently yelling at Rick to take the bait, but Rick doesn't, asking Barb if he thought he was stupid. Barb tries to back pedal, but Rick attacks him, picking him up with is branch arm and pinning him to the back wall. The patron of The Resting place prepare to fight, but Rick tells them to stand down, threatening to break Barb's neck. Barb attacks him, sending a flurry of flaming gaming cards to incinerate him, but to no effect, only serving to burn away his jacket and reveal the fire that Tiff had given him in Episode 56 - Thorns, rendering him immune. Barn begs him no to kill him, telling him that he'd gotten out (see The Industry), that he could show Rick how to get out as well (probably assuming Rick to be a knowing agent of The Industry), but Rick tells him that he didn't know what he was talking about, once again asking to know where Polly was. Barb looks to the Countess, and silently apologises for what he was about to do, before telling Rick where Polly was. Rick smiles, and drags Barb outside, telling him that they were going to go for a walk.

## Outro - Morals

Nikignik waxes poetic about Morals, he tells the Dreamers that their lives were not works of fiction, rather they invented stories as a means to categorise themselves, trying to find meaning in their lives experiences as they have been to in the stories that they cherished. He tells them that he was watching countless tales unravel at once, and he wished he could tell them that every act was for a purpose, every tragedy to teach some grand lesson about the universe. But as often, life has no final bow, no third act, and moments of redemption are stolen away before their time. They were faced only with the choice of what to do in this, the moment in which they found themselves. They woke up and confront new suns, turn another page of their lives each night in search of better chapters.