Episode 16 - Crowns

## Crowns

A white drawing on a black background of drum with two drumsticks crossed over it, above the drum is a red paper crown with the capital letters AL written on it. The image has a white border. Each corner has a circle with a crown on the outer rim and embellishments on the inner rim. They hold a flaming crown, a mushroom, a set of horns, and a book.

### Author

William A. Wellman

Zelda laughs in the darkness, the Decaying Crown speaks, and the Instrumentalist comes home from Sunday service. The theme of tonight’s episode is Crowns.

***Content Warnings:** body horror, death + injury, abuse, kidnapping + abduction, mental illness, mushrooms, birds, homophobia, sexism, misgendering, and skin*

## Intro - The Faceless Court

Nikignik speaks a thing in the darkness. It cannot see you but it senses your presence, and your fear. You know you have made a mistake, and so does the Faceless King. You lose your footing as you run and the king towers over you. You kneel, but it is too late.

Nikignik is speaking from on top of a locked cabinet. Green light shines through the keyhole and glistens in the eyes of a woman bound to the wall. She is strong in the face of danger.

## Story One - Chocolate Cake

Zelda dreams that Mr. and Mrs. Fredericks have made dinner for her. As she dances with Mr. Fredericks, his movements become jerky and wild. She realizes that neither of them have faces anymore.

She wakes in the dark of Solomon's basement. The only light is the faint green glimmer from the cabinet, and she's lost feeling in her wrists. She's very hungry. She isn't sure how long it's been since she last heard any movement from upstairs and hopes that Solomon has died.

She hears movement coming from the instruments strewn around the room and chalks it up to her imagination. She calls out to the noise, saying that she hopes they brought food. The noise stops and she thinks she can almost make out the shape of a small boy. She asks if he's a little boy and he protests, saying that he's almost eleven.

The boy says Zelda's birthday is today and his is in a week, and Zelda says that makes them birthday buddies. He offers to get her some cake. Zelda asks for chocolate cake and he leaves to get it. She starts crying, although she isn't sure why. Maybe the little boy simply reminds her of Jonah when he was little. She allows herself to hope that this boy might be able to get her something to eat and she cries out to Solomon, saying that she's going to have chocolate cake.

When the boy returns, Zelda's hope evaporates. The boy is a ghost, as transparent as jello. He doesn't have any skin and he wears a ghostly paper crown on his head. He's pantomiming holding a plate in his hands. He pretends to feed Zelda the cake and she plays along. She begins to laugh and the little boy does too. His light brightens and she can finally see the toy drum behind him, with a little paper crown on top.

### Interlude One - Governing Bodies

Nikignik explains that while the Hallowoods are wild, there are a number of governing bodies any traveller should be wary of. The violent and chaotic Freedom Eagles are led by Rick Rounds. A consolidation of reserves exists in the Webequie First Nation, overseen by Chief Roy Makade and his council. The Scoutpost is led by Bern and Violet Keene. No one is sure of the Downing Hill Public Library's sphere of influence, but it is to be feared nonetheless. In the endless north the Faceless King holds his court, although tourism is discouraged there. The Instrumentalist rules by fear. On Sundays, you can even see the terrible Church of the Hallowed Name, which plays an active role in the Hallowoods.

## Story Two - The Decaying Crown

Despite the crew's nervous glances, Rizwana adjusts her harness and prepares the winch. What she's about to do is crazy, but she's come too far. She takes a flashlight, says her goodbyes, and is lowered into the pit. Even though the voice in her head hadn't spoken to her in days, she can feel it like a compass and she knows she's on the right track.

It seems like Rizwana is descending through time itself. She sees archeological layers never before seen. She sees what could be an ancient mineral formation or a living fungus. There are patterns on the living stone that she sees when she closes her eyes. The walls of the pit peel away and she's left in nothing but an empty darkness. She hits the control panel and stops her descent. Shining her flashlight downwards, she sees the orange glow from hundreds of eyes, blinking and writhing like magma.

Rizwana asks who the creature is. The voice in her head says that its names would drive her insane, but she can know it by Rothogroth, the Decaying Crown. She asks if it caused the rains, which Rothogroth denies. Humankind burned the world, shortening what could have been a much longer existence. She asks if Rothogroth is the end. Again, it answers that it's not. While humanity may be dying, this planet has a long life ahead of it. Life existed before humans and will continue to exist after them. The world no longer welcomes them.

She says that she can't accept that. There are too many good people left in the world. She asks if there's anything she can do. Rothogroth says there's nothing she can do to stop mankind's extinction. She could, however, slow the process of decay by destroying the source: a corrupted heart in the north that used to be buried in ice. The eyes of the great creature begin to blink shut and Rizwana asks if that will be enough to save her people. Before returning to its vegetative state, it answers, "No."

### Marketing - Queens Hold Only Crowns

Lady Ethel Mallory explains that when she was little, she wanted to be a princess. Then, she wanted to be a queen. It was only after her business education that she realized what she wanted was power. Crowns are meaningless. Governments and lawmakers don't hold the power to control the masses, but marketers do. Marketers know who you are, what you do, where you sleep, and what your aspirations are (averaged by location, demographic, and psychographic of course). Kings and queens are nothing but influencers employed by marketers to sell a product that your subconscious begs for. It is the duty of the BotCo marketing representatives, she explains, to expand their influence at any cost. Being a marketing executive is more powerful than being a ruler, and ultimately that's what she wants.

### Story Two, Continued - The Decaying Crown

Nikignik apologizes for the interruptions. Although they reign over the realm of nightmares, it seems that they have some competition.

Diggory realizes that Percy is waving at them, trying to get their attention. Percy asks if they're alright and if they remember anything they saw. Diggory explains that they only remember pieces; that they were a woman, a leader, who was having a conversation.

Percy hugs Diggory and admits that he's scared. The Scoutpost is filled with so much life. If his father were to discover that he was here, he would destroy it and all the people in it. Percy has been trapped for nearly all of his life, and his afterlife, and he's scared he'll have to return to that.

As Percy speaks, Diggory tries to return to the memory of Rizwana that they were lost in earlier. They sense that they are missing something important. As Rizwana rises back to the top of the pit, her friends' relieved faces greet her. One thought consumes her, and now Diggory. The heart is north, and they must find it and change the world's destiny.

### Interlude Two - Falling Back

Nikignik finds it telling that the gods in human mythologies are often equated with kings. Humans are always looking for guidance and validation. If they were to tell a human "you're doing a good job," it would fill that person with happiness and peace. That person would feel as if they have a purpose in a purposeless universe. Life rises from nothing, and returns to nothing. We are part of the universe, but don't realize what we have until it's gone. Nikignik recommends enjoying the moments that you have. They are never enough, but they are all you have.

## Story Three - Prodigals

Solomon plays the organ at church and considers making his own, which would require many souls. He loves the feeling of power that comes from playing the organ. He returns home in Zelda's red truck after the service, and suddenly feels that something is off.

When he passes through the wall of gnarled trees onto his lawn, he sees that his servants have encircled two intruders: Olivier, battered and bruised, and a swarm of ravens that seems to be a demon, the Omen. The ravens shriek that Olivier has failed their task and that Solomon can do with them what he sees fit. At his request, a new agent will be assigned to him. The ravens take flight into the sky.

Solomon approaches Olivier to chastise them and asks how a girl with a bat was able to best them. Olivier says that they were attacked by a revenant and a ghost. This catches Solomon's attention. He asks them to describe the ghost. Olivier describes them as having dark eyes and dark hair, and wearing rags that may have been a dress. They add that the revenant looked like Solomon's servants and was dressed like an eighties punk. Solomon believes that the ghost is his daughter. He tells Olivier that they have much work to do in order to bring her home.

## Outro - Crowns

Nikignik closes the broadcast by saying that you rule your own life wearing a metaphorical crown much like a monarch rules over a kingdom. You can cast people out of your court for displeasing you, and you can go to war if your borders are crossed. You can command the changes in your life you desire. You rule your own life, and you don't need to apologize to anyone for that.