Series: Five Ways the Cardhouse Never Touched Avinlor - Masterpost
Characters: Avinlor, Belaicy (referenced); Logus (a Cardhouse denizen - fid’s); Oskyod (a Cardhouse denizen - OC)
The child—a youth, really—would be an ideal candidate. She had constructed elaborate ambitions for the greatness she wished to attain, all utterly unsupported by any foundation of a solid plan; yet despite laying out no path of her own, she was at least beginning to realize that her present course would not grant her those ambitions in the manner she desired. Oskyod laughed to himself: the child wanted to be a fairy, insofar as her imagination shaped such beings. Well, Oskyod would have no difficulty with implying how she could have that.
Strictly speaking, the girl was somewhat more mature than the children most denizens selected for their Stars—older, perhaps, though numerical age was not the only factor at work. A more delicate handling was required for individuals beyond the phase of outright childish acceptance, questioning or not,* and Oskyod had long since perfected this art. Once, he had tried to explain it to Logus:
'The best formula, I find, requires the potential Star to achieve something which they deem significant, but which passes unacknowledged by those around them. A victory followed by a failure, however, is also very promising.'
'How much time must pass between these two key events?' Logus had asked. 'Or, in the case of non-acknowledgement, how long must that state persist?'
'Oh, two to three days is typically ideal, though some require as little as a scant day, and others work best with up to two weeks,' Oskyod had answered.
'But how do you determine the time required for a particular individual?'
'A variety of factors, really: the present mood of the subject; their past experiences with reward and praise; the degree of support network they possess, and access thereto, -'
Logus had interrupted with, 'Your "formulae", colleague, are nothing more than a jumble of undefined variables.' Oskyod had shrugged and let him depart, thinking Logus' disinterest was for the better after all: at least this way neither was competing with the other for potential Stars. In truth, Oskyod's fine technique owed a great deal to the fact that (were he to acknowledge it) he recognized a great deal of himself in the candidates he selected. In this regard, his methods were identical to Logus' procedures and calculations.
This present specimen, for example, skewed toward the longer end of the scale: she had only one close confidante and a handful of acquaintance-friends. Moreover, she was already somewhat accustomed to her skills passing disregarded within her circle. For his part, Oskyod was not much impressed by the trick of talking to the rain, having picked up some facility in that realm himself, and seen others engage in it countless times. He would, however, be a fool to disregard it as those about the child did—some through ignorance, others through disinterest in obscure matters (the greater fools, they). Nigh on two weeks should be ideal to begin the process of courting this future Star.
Twelve days later, Oskyod reflected ruefully that he had never even considered the possibility of losing the girl to anything non-human and not of the Cardhouse. She did not have her dreams, but someone else had given her a sort of power: it was a little like confidence that she would attain her dreams, and a lot like some tangible thing that she had found, more real than wishes and good enough to supplant them. Oskyod no longer had anything of note to offer her, and he suspected he would quickly find himself in some sort of territory war if he tried.
*In Oskyod's limited experience with the younger candidates, he had noticed that the convictions and cunning of the children who questioned a denizen provided a significantly different material to work with than did the unchallenging faith of those who asked about little or nothing. Oskyod did not care for either overmuch, but he particularly disliked the former: the children who doubted were too like his own prefered candidates, yet not quite the same, so that Oskyod often found himself either flying far beyond what their intellects could grasp, or else earning their disdain when he oversimplified some explanation. The others at least followed where he led, and though some denizens considered them overly-malleable, Oskyod could manage a deft enough handling to not utterly ruin the product.
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