#this is a really interesting rabbit hole to go down

[alpaca-clouds]

On Santa, the Christkindle, Krampus and Frau Holle

Let me tell you Americans something – because I know that most people on this specific hellsite are in fact American, while I am not. I am European. German, to be exact, with some Asian roots, according to my mother. And a few days in a rather useless attempt to get a bit into the Holiday spirit, I watched the movie “Red One”. An American friend already noted, how he was aware that in the finale of the movie, it does not make a lot of sense to save Christmas, given not everyone celebrates Christmas around the world, and how also a couple of countries have the presents out on January, 6th, on the Epiphany. Which, yes, is true.

When I watched the movie, though, and got to the place, I messaged that friend: “By the way, do you know that Santa does in fact not bring us the presents in Germany? Or most of Europe, in fact. Oh, and also, Krampus is in fact not really the Anti-Santa or Santa’s brother or some shit, but that goes back a whole lot further than just Christianity.”

On the next day, though, I could not help it, but think about the entire thing. Because I was not quite sure whether I had some cognitive bias about Krampus – or if my gut feeling was right. And that got me down a long, long rabbit hole.

So, my dear Americans, let me regail you with Christmas stories from Europe, and why Krampus has more to do with white men being butthurt than anything else. Alright? Alright!

Christkindelein, Christkindelein

Now, I will not go too deeply into the entire Santa thing. Just know: Yes, St. Nikolaus is in fact connected to Christmas traditions all over Europe. However, in quite a lot of European countries, like in Germany, St. Nikolaus only comes on December 6th, where he will bring a bit of chocolate, and maybe some socks. No big presents. Those are for Christmas.

So, why does Nikolaus come on December 6th? Well, this has to do with Saints’ Days in the Catholic calendar. Basically: Every saint in the Catholic canon has a day dedicated to them. And yes, we have more than 365 saints, so yes, several saints will usually share a day. St. Nikolaus, the Turkish bishop, has his day on December 6th, hence this is the day when someone dressed as a somewhat more historical St. Nikolaus will appear in German kindergardens and schools. And also in some other countries. (Not all countries celebrate this.) That will usually look something like this.

Now, Germany will have the presents on Christmas Eve. Not on the morning of December 25th, but the tradition was originally for the family to go to Christmas (like a literal mas) on the evening of December 24th, and then come home for a good feast and presents, because the presents had been “delivered” while the family was in the church. But no, they were not delivered by St. Nick, but by the Christkind, the Christ Child. And generally speaking in most of the Catholic areas of Europe it tends to be either the Christ Child who delivers the presents, or the Magi – in those areas of Europe where the presents get to the kids on Epiphany.

And yes, there are absolutely a lot of families in Europe today, who have not a strong religious tradition, and hence just use Santa, because American Imperialism is a thing, and most movies the kids are aware off use Santa. After all those families will usually not go to Church for the literal Christmas and… Well, what difference does it make.

However, I should not that it is generally not a thing over here – even in those families that were taken in by American Imperialism – to put out cookies and milk for Santa. That very much is an American thing. Please, dear Americans, just do not assume that something that is a traditions with you folks gets done the same everywhere on the world. Because in fact, very few things Americans celebrate are celebrated the same way anywhere else (outside of Canada, I guess).

But this is actually the less interesting part of this little essay.

No, I actually wanted to talk with you about Krampus.

Krampus is not Santa’s Brother

Now I will tell you something, that has surprised all my American friends: I never heard of Krampus until I was 18. Never once was I aware that Krampus was a thing that existed, despite me being from Germany. Shocking, right?

Because here is the thing: Krampus does not originate in Germany, but in Austria. And specifically the Krampus tradition originates in Styria. Which once more is the moment I will remind my dear Castlevania fans that: Yes, indeed. Styria is a real place. It is a region within Austria. And to be exact it is the region in Europe that was Christianized the latest. (Please mind: Yes, there were other region that were not-majority Christian later, but those got Christianized before, but were taken over by Muslims afterwards. Meanwhile Styria was only Christianized majorly in the 12th century. Mainly because it is an area that is so high up in the mountains, that pretty much everyone until then who tried to forcefully Christianize failed.)

And when I was 18, I moved in with my then boyfriend, who lived in Leoben in Styria. So that year was the first time, that I ever heard of Krampus, because there was a lot of Krampus related stuff happening in Styria. Mainly there was a Krampuslauf pretty much everywhere on December 5th, so in the night before December 6th, before St. Nikolaus came. And yes, as you might be aware, the story about Krampus is usually about how he will take the naughty children and kidnap and eat them in some way or form.

In Austria meanwhile this looks like this: A whole lot of men dress up with creepy masks, run through the streets, and hit people with whips. A very Castlevania holiday indeed. Yes, usually some bullshit happens, because of people are anonymous some bullshit always happens, right?

And for my whole life I have always wondered: While I was living in Austria I noticed a whole lot more references to Krampus in American media. I chucked it up to be a cognitive bias. You know, when you learn about a new word for example, you notice it a lot more being used. So I shrugged and went on with my life, not really thinking about this again. Until that conversation a couple of days ago. And this time… This time I could not help myself. Because I was like: “I am pretty sure the Krampus tradition is older than the St. Nikolaus tradition in that area. So it is probably not a Christian thing.” But I also kept thinking: “Is it though?” Mainly, because during this years @fluff-cember I also wrote a story about Perchten, and I could not help but notice one thing: Krampus has an awful lot of similarity to Perchten.

Mother Holde and Perchten

Hey, you. Americans specifically. Do you know the story of Frau Holle? Because while I know you might probably not be familiar with a lot of European folklore, there is a good chance you at least will know the fairytale by the Brothers Grimm.

If you don’t, don’t worry. I will give you the short rundown. (Mind you, like with all fairlytales, there are about 10 different versions of this story going around. Because those were oral stories first.)

The short version however is like this.

A miller looses his wife and marries anew. And his new wife has a daughter from a previous marriage. Now they have two daughters named Marie. And like it goes in those fairytales, the stepmother treats the Marie from the old marriage very poorly, especially after the father dies. However, this Marie is a diligent child. She will do all her chores without complaining. And one day she is send to spin yarn at the local well. However, her spindle falls into the well – and when she tries to fetch it, she falls into it as well. However, instead of being stuck in the well, it turns out she gets basically isekai’d into another realm, where an old woman meets her, introducing herself as Frau Holle. And she offers this Marie to help her with her chores, and if Marie does so, she will be rewarded. Marie, being the diligent child, obviously agrees. And she does the chores, that unbeknownst to her actually allow the season on earth to move on properly. Part of it is to beat out the pillows and blankets, making it snow on the world. And after a while, Frau Holle is very impressed with her, and showers her in gold, before sending her back home. Now, the stepmother finds this child now rich and golden, and asks her where she got all that gold. And Marie, being the diligent child, tells her. So the stepmother tells her own daughter to do the same. So this daughter will also spin by the well, drop her spindle, fall in and get isekai’d. And indeed. It happens. However, this Marie is lazy and not at all diligent. And after a while Frau Holle has enough with her, and instead of with gold, she showers this Marie in pitch and sends her back.

And then there is this moral about being a diligent girl and diligence being rewarded and stuff.

However, Frau Holle actually goes far, far back into German, and especially alpine mythology to the goddess Holde, Berchte, or Perchten.

Now, we have a pretty good idea from mythological research, that Berchte (to be translated as “the bright one”) was probably very related to Frigg from Norse mythology, just with some adjustments given that this was a goddess who was prayed to in the alps, rather than Scandinavia – and mythology will always shift to reflect the area people live in.

But yes, Berchte was – from all we can reconstruct – always linked to spinning, and to the midwinter holidays. After all, most cultures did celebrate the solstices in some way or form. And it seems that indeed Berchte was connected to bringing gifts during the solstice, but also with punishing lazy and naughty children and servants. While we do have little written evidence for this in the pre-Christian culture (because they wrote down very little), we know that Berchte was said to roam around during the Christmas holidays, after these areas got Christanized.

And while Berchte would both appaear as a pretty young woman, and a motherly old woman, there seemed at some point a shift to happen. And when she came to punish those who had been lazy or naughty, she would appear as a monsterous woman with goat horns, who more commonly was called Perchten. (Still same word root though.) It is not quite clear whether Perchten at that point already was a different being from Berchte – or just a slightly varied name for a different incarnation. But however it happened: Over the next few centuries the Berchte worship died out, but Perchten survived.

Perchten and the Angry White Men

Now, here comes the interesting bit. Because we have written evidence of Perchten going as far back as the 12th century. And we know that even after Christianization of these area, Perchten stayed around. And in fact, it became a tradition for the women to dress up as Perchten during the Christmas celebrations (which back in the day lasted for 12 days, as you might know) and play tricks on everyone, who they perceived to have been naughty.

And… Well, here is the thing. We do not know how it happened. But one of the current theories is, that simply some men were like: “Why do women get to have all the fun?!” And kinda wanted to make a male pendent for Perchten. Which ended up being Krampus.

Now, please consider two things: 1) There is a theory too, that Krampus might have been influenced by Ottoman and Balkan mythology, though this connection is kinda hard to source, though it would explain the origins of the name. 2) In northern areas of the Germanic people, St. Nikolaus was already celebrated and had a companion, who was indeed punishing the naughty kids. Servant Rupert (Knecht Ruprecht). However, this companion was not monstrous like Krampus, but just a guy in a servant’s uniform and with a whip made of twigs. Simple as that. It still might have been an influence.

One way or another: Ethnologists are very, very certain that Krampus did come to be as a reaction to Perchten and the Perchtenläufe, which also explains the visual correlations between Krampus and Perchten.

The first written sources we have for Krampus showing up only go back to the mid-17th century, but historians assume that this tradition started in the late-16th century. But the exact details are fairly hard to pin down.

It turns out, though, that my very subjective experience of not noticing a whole lot of Krampus stuff earlier was very correct. Because… this tradition kinda got lost mostly during the 19th century. Like, sure, some places still had a Krampuslauf of some sort, and had Krampus come with St. Nikolaus during the celebrations, but for several reasons (one of them being that the Krampus just appeared too pagan) the tradition mostly got lost for a long, long while.

White People and their Lost Culture

And this brings me back to me never ever hearing anything about Krampus until I moved to Austria about 15 years ago. Because when I was in Austria, everyone told me that, yeah, sure, this Krampus thing is totally an old tradition. And heck, many of them might not even have meant to lie to me, given they were themselves fairly young. But indeed, the widespread comeback of the Krampuslauf actually only started in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Again, no, it was never a fully dead tradition, but it had petered off over the centuries and only was a thing in very few places until Styria came into the problem, that a lot of western European nations generally have to struggle with: “Well, Christianity got pushed onto us during the middle ages, and we actually do not fucking know a whole lot about our culture before Christianity, do we now? So if I do no longer align with Christianity, what the heck is my culture?” This need to have a culture of their own clearly also was influenced by the influx of immigrants and the racist reflex to be like: “Hey, this is our culture” in comparison.

And so… someone stumbled across the entire Krampus thing and was like: “Welp, this certainly does feel kinda pagan, doesn’t it?” And so Krampus was brought back, and within a couple of years became a tradition pretty much every place in Styria participated in, before it even spread to other parts of Austria.

Which brings me back to being a little alpaca standing in Austria and being like: “Huh, I never heard of it.” And then seeing horror movies themed around Krampus spring up, tilt my head and wonder: “Wait, was this always a thing?”

The answer is: Nope. Nope, it wasn’t! American references to Krampus in media go only back until 2004, and actually the big push to include Krampus in western media only happened in the early 2010s. So no, it was actually no subconscious bias on my side. It was true. Krampus was actually fairly new and the reason I never noticed this before was, that it simply had not been a thing for very long, when I came to Austria – and that indeed American media only started to broadly include Krampus in the early 2010s.

Which brings me back to the most important thing this rabbit hole has taught me: It was actually not my subconscious cognitive bias! HOORAY!

So, what about St. Nikolaus?

Let me finish with this: St. Nikolaus has been a figure who has brought treats and presents to children and servants (I cannot stress the later part enough) at least since the 11th century, probably already earlier. The historical figure that inspired this tradition goes back to the 4th century, obviously, and the way St. Nikolaus has given out presents in Europe for the most part was related to the legend around the historical figure. And yes, from all we know, the tradition of giving St. Nikolaus some sort of other person who accompanies him and at times is responsible for punishing the evil kids and servants might go back at least until the 12th century. Those servants of St. Nick have had a whole lot of names in a whole lot of different areas, and talking about them all would let me write at least a small novella here.

And in a way, I am somewhat sad, that the one of the figures who somehow managed to get picked up by Americans is actually Krampus – and how very much divorced from the cultural context he originated it became.

I guess in some way it is fitting, given that of course the American version of St. Nikolaus is also very much divorced from any cultural context he once had. It is simply the thing American culture does: Divorcing things from their cultural context. I mean, I am gonna be mean here, but I am gonna bet that I know more about the bible than pretty much 95% of American Christians, given how Christianity came ot the US and is taught there to this day. Again: Fully divorced from the cultural context.

And still, I wish it would not be that way. It would at least make Holiday movies a whole lot more interesting. Be it the ones about Santa dealing with Santa actually being a brown man, or the ones about Krampus dealing with my horny boy originating from men wanting to have a horned representation as well, while running around the alps during the winter months.

[the---hermit]

i keep getting cool thesis ideas for either subjects i cannot technically write a thesis on or on things i am not sure i want to be my final masters thesis ugh

[red-moon-at-night]

The Trojan Horse/La guerra di Troia (1961)

Ignore the complete mischaracterisation of Helen and the inaccuracy of events, you need to see this sequence of how Paris dies. It's absolutely WILD.

[transingthoseformers]

Ohhhhhh how I've been thinking about how tfone Megatron can grow more corrupt in the future, the decisions he can make, the morals he can sacrifice along the way

I've been thinking about the ways he can really earn the title of being one of the Bad Guys

[frugalkubal]

[입덕직캠] 캣츠아이 소피아 직캠 4K 'Touch' (KATSEYE Sophia FanCam) | @MCOUNTDOWN_2024...

A friend sent me this and now I'm kinda mesmerized. lol Besides her beauty, I'm quite fascinated by her facial expressions; and her smile makes me happy for some reason. (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

[reminiscentrainclouds]

I take one look at my Toyhouse profile and my interest in all 5 of my separate OC stories/worlds gets renewed at once HELP

[iamthepulta]

i did it u_u

[gingermintpepper]

What’s the significance of each color in Ancient Greece? So green is the only neutral color and it represents mostly natural and earthy things, thank you for telling me that part !! Anyway, as for my Hyacinthus design’s hair being brown, it’s due to the combination of it being a fairly common interpretation of his appearance and also because I find I like how it looks with his skin tone and the purple of his eyes.

Okay, firstly; thank you so much for answering my question too!

Admittedly you can't beat out good, old fashioned colour theory so that's completely fair haha! I still think it's very interesting that brown became the common interpretation of his features so I'm always glad to hear other people's view on it <3

With respect to what colours meant or symbolised in Ancient Greece, it's a super fascinating topic because the Ancient Greeks had a very different perception of colour than how a lot of people - and in this case I'll generalise and say english-speaking people - perceive colour. In a lot of languages, especially older ones, colour wasn't just a way to describe the physical perceptional reality of an observable object (that is, the light reflecting off the object that gives it its perceived hue - the way we perceive colour now) but colour was also used to describe the way in which the people experienced the world. A really good way to think about it is now, if you wanted to distinguish between two types of blue, you would instinctively make a distinction between their shades ("This blue is darker/lighter!") whereas these older people would distinguish based on things in their present, shared world that best matched what they were being asked to describe ("This blue is like the sky/the sea!")

That's an important concept to keep in mind because ancient greek was very unique in that, in addition to this concept of colour being completely intertwined with physical objects (and therefore also acquiring the properties of these objects in the minds of the people), the ancient greeks also did not particularly care about distinguishing between different colour hues (that is, differences in specific individual colour) but rather they were entirely focused on a colour's value - that is, whether it was considered light or dark.

Taking all of this into consideration, the question 'what is the significance of the different colours in Ancient Greece' is a bit of a tricky one to answer because unlike say, Ancient Egyptian which has very clear colours (red, white, green), very clear physical objects that give those colours their property (the desert sand, the sun, people's skin) and very clear symbolic meanings that arose from the natures ascribed to those physical objects due to their influence on the people's lives (hostility, power, new life), Ancient Greece's colours and the perception of those colours was much more abstract and poetic, contingent on their understandings and perceptions of things like light and dark, the sense of touch or taste (sweet and bitter/wet and dry) and what quality was ascribed to the object whose colour is being perceived. Colour was a matter of cosmology, of philosophy and there were many different schools of thought on it from Empedocles' physicalist theories to Anaxagoras' realist theories.

All of this is to say, take the meanings I outlined in this handy-dandy table with a tablespoon of salt! These are based on my understanding of the language used to describe things in classical writings that have survived and my own bias towards Empedocles' physicalist theory of colour and the nature of colour which I also think is very useful for people into greek mythology as a whole due to it making clear links between various gods creating things from mixtures of the four basic elements of nature and the colours that are the result of these mixtures.

I hope this helps even a little and I very much encourage you to do some research into different Greek schools of thought when it comes to colour and the perception of colour as well as how colour affects/reflects the innate nature of all things!

(Also, slight extra note, I left out Kokkinos (scarlet/blood-red) from the table because I didn't really think it was relevant for this outline despite it definitely being an ancient colour. It's a bit difficult to find examples of it with the kind of descriptors Empedocles outlines and I don't want to make assumptions based on third hand knowledge on the greek concept of the nature of things. I'd like to believe it was addressed in more detail in Empedocles' original document - only a fragment of the original some two thousand lines have survived after all - it is confirmed that Empedocles spoke on the recipe for blood and flesh, an equal mixture of all four elements as opposed to bones' four parts fire, two parts earth and two parts water (which is why bones shine white, there's more fire than earth or water) - and I don't want to conject or make assumptions.

I also left out Erythros or basic/primary red according to Plato's list of basic colours because that seemed to have specifically been preferred by Egyptian Greeks according to linguistic data. If I opened up that can of worms with respect to the shared Egyptian-Greek colour language including the way the Greeks like many early peoples did not culturally perceive blue until the invention of Egypt's blue dyes then I would be writing forever and you would never get an actual clear answer about Greek colour symbolism separate and apart from Egyptian cultural influence lmfao. )

A few of the documents that helped me consolidate this information include Sassi's 2022 Philosophical Theories of Colour in Ancient Greek Thought and Ierodiakonou's Empedocles on Colour and Colour Vision. There are also a fair few translations and discussions of the fragments of Empedocles' On Nature still floating about - my copy is a somewhat archaic volume of Leonard's 1908 translation but I never went out searching for updated interpretations and translations of the text since its constantly referenced in perceptional philosophy papers LOL

Anyway, yeah, hope this helps! :D

[daincrediblegg]

Nothing wrong with me

[amaraudermind]

A non-comprehensive list of Duke Thomas stories! :) These are not in any order, feel free to start with what sounds most interesting<3

Batman: Endgame--okay, mostly not in order. This story has admittedly very little Duke Thomas in it, but serves both as his reintroduction and as setup for his coming appearances(it is astoundingly easy to follow what comes next without this story, however, I skipped it when first reading WAR) if you are looking to read it, it's contained in issues #35-40 of Batman vol 2 if I recall correctly

We Are Robin--here we start in on the good stuff! This story is dark. It's bleak. Duke is dark, and bleak, and cynical. He's also quippy. And the entire series is about hope. Batman is gone. The heroes in general are gone. This is the aftermath of Joker wreaking havoc on everything and everyone, and it feels like no one's doing a damn thing. No except the mysterious Nest, and the Robins he's recruited. Truly one of my favorite comic series. Ever.

Batman and the Signal--if you can find the collected edition at the library or the secondhand shop, you should not skip it. Truly, a fun read. Duke tells Batman he "is the shit" and immediately regrets it. Daytime shift. The Hatch. Izzy and Riko. Jay. Just so much. Great times, what's not to love?

All-Star Batman--this has some overlap with the collected edition of BATS. You could totally just read the three issues of BATS and then All-Star Batman separately. The choice is yours. However, the meat of this series that is truly worth highlighting--bat and signal fucked up road trip! Compellingly complex and such a nuisance Harvey Dent! Duke plays flight tunes! Wonderful!

Batman and the Outsiders--another fun series! Bumblebee Bats(Cass and Duke bonding!) Evolution of Duke's powers! Probably one of the weaker series overall on this list but still very fun and worth reading!

Batman Secret Files: The Signal--this one comes with a warning: if you read this you will be Very Upset. Just as the rest of us are. Because it sets up a storyline that is Not expanded upon. That they completely dropped. This issue came out and there was no follow up. Is it good?... mileage varies? Personally, there was some good ideas set up, and some frustrating ones, but truly the biggest problem is that none of the ideas set up matter, because there was no follow up.

Once again, these are all just stories with Duke that I know of off the top of my head! He's had quite the short history, made shorter by DCs chronic inability to decide what the hell to do with him, but there's plenty to be found if you're looking! Please feel free to add your favorites to the list as well<3

[gidakata]

nothing could've prepared me for watching 1983's possession with a mild fever on so much medication like im just so lost and so entranced and also she's hot and hes pathetic and they're ALL monsterfuckers if you think about it and hes real for killing Heinrich but also what the fuck is up with Heinrich and the way this is filmed and written is so interesting but also what. WHAT. W H A T.

[thefloatingwriter]

okay so since i created vera and mateo does this mean that i should create beetee’s other great grandparents??? much to think about…

[suffarustuffaru]

i just. remembered again that i have a fembaru fic but also the premise is. Very Messed Up hah and also it was written before the canon genderbent au with its official genderbend names for everyone so its also outdated on top of that T^T i had like. Genderqueer subtext going on too. but i also wrote this fic like almost two years ago and havent touched it in forever so im unsure if i should go back to it…. o.o but i would love to finish it one day if only for my own satisfaction hah… i had a very detailed outline for ch 2 (its a twoshot) and several scenes written already anyway!! (and also i would probably update those names, make minor edits, etc etc hmm…)

[ilynpilled]

That post about the concept of deserving when it comes to ASOIAF makes me think of the arguments about Jaime deserving Brienne

i mean i obviously hold the same opinion on that whole conversation too. this is a fictional story where relationships serve a purpose. i can understand doylist criticism of certain trends in grrm’s writing (like the age gaps), but i personally will never give a shit about what a character “deserves” because they are not real people. they are tools to tell a story. brienne being a good person doesn’t mean her romantic arc being with an ideal/perfect partner that “deserves her” and would not send her to therapy or whatever would make an interesting fictional story. jb is extremely thematically central as a relationship when it comes to exploring gender, constructs of beauty and ugliness, the battle between cynicism vs idealism, and synthesis when it comes to interrogating knighthood and its deeper existential meanings in the context of the text. if you take out the uglier parts of it then that story is no longer there, or the story is not as strong. i like jb bc i think it is a very thematically functioning dynamic, that is also very interesting to follow in canon. and i like the dynamic at a surface level too. i am fine with ppl who do not like it or care for it, but this brand of criticism means nothing to me lmao. if you want more ugly female characters to be given romantic arcs that is understandable, which would mean a diversification of relationship dynamics, but this is one example with a specific intent, and it excels at that in my eyes

[smeehaw]

Research (derogatory) (affectionate)

[blackjackkent]

So, what Rakha really wants to do right now is go kill the people hunting Karlach, because they don't have anything else that would qualify as a direct plan other than the creche, and the "paladins" are closer. However, I happen to know that the paladins are level five and Rakha is level 2 and could be knocked over by a stiff breeze, so I think a better bet is a more full exploration of the Emerald Grove first.

I'm guessing that this is the result of a concerted effort on Wyll and Shadowheart's part, primarily - Wyll already knows the people of the grove and Shadowheart has fixated on Halsin as a useful lead. Gale doesn't seem to have any specific plan in mind and, left to their own devices, Lae'zel would already be heading for the creche and Rakha and Karlach would be after the paladins. But between them, Shadowheart and Wyll manage to convince everyone that at least TALKING to the healer in the grove would be a useful start before everyone goes off half-cocked.

Amused because I stopped in to talk to Zevlor and got a disapproval from Wyll purely for leaving the conversation without asking the question about whether the ritual could be stopped. XD Sorry, Wyll. I swear we'll get to a point where you like Rakha, somehow, but I doubt sincerely we're there yet.

Speaking of the ritual, down we go to the grove proper - with a quick stop to talk to the teeth-ling kids.

"Whoa. Hey! Can't say I've ever seen someone like you before."

Without preamble, he shows his hands to her, empty. Then a quick flick of the wrist, and suddenly he's holding out a tarnished gold ring between his fingers.

"Go on," he says cheerfully. "Take this ring. It's lucky."

Rakha, who has very little context for anything she experiences, has never seen slight-of-hand magic done before, nor is she familiar with the concept of a con man. So she watches this little display and is immediately fascinated. Magic - but with no surge of that visible tapestry around the boy, the network of power that Gale calls the Weave.

How?

"That was a fancy trick," she says slowly.

His eyes narrow and something subtle shifts in his expression, a flash of interest. "You haven't seen anything yet, lady," he says dryly. "Go on - take the ring and watch your fortune change!"

Take the ring.

She takes it and looks at it carefully. There is no magic on the ring either, nothing that she can sense. But the boy looks up at her earnestly as he draws a coin from his pocket. "Call it! Heads or tails."

She blinks at him, puzzled by the question.

Pocket the ring.

"Hey, hold on!" the boy cries at once. "You gotta pay for that!"

She does? She withdraws the ring out of her pocket again and squints at the boy, incredibly baffled by the entire situation.

("The boy seeks to deceive you," Lae'zel says impatiently under her breath. "His magic is mundanity. The ring likely the same."

Wyll sighs. "Be kind, the both of you. He wants to show you a trick, that's all. Let him flip the coin.")

Rakha's eyes narrow. She stands there with the ring sitting on her palm and feels foolish. "It's only a joke," she says slowly after a long silence and trying to sort through the words from her companions. "Go on... flip your coin." If anything, she is curious to learn what that means.

"Real sweet sense of humor you got there, chum." The boy looks as if he's starting to regret his choice of mark, but he presses on gamely. "Anyway, you gotta call before the flip. Heads or tails."

A long pause. "Heads?" Rakha says cautiously.

The boy grins, tosses the coin in the air, catches it, and then shows her the side with the head facing up. "Heads it is!" he crows. "See? That's the kinda luck you get from just one of my lucky rings! I've got more where that came from. Real cheap, too. Interested?"

Rakha is starting to understand the situation now that she has seen it play out, and her lips twitch with irritation. [SORCERER] "If there was magic in this ring, I'd have felt it," she says bluntly. "It's nothing but junk."

The boy flinches and raises his hands defensively. "Not so loud!" he hisses. "You caught me, all right? They're not lucky rings." His eyes grow wide, his expression twisting with sudden, exaggerated pathos. "I'm just... trying to earn money for my family," he whimpers. "My father left and my mother... she's so sick. I wish I had better things to sell than... trinkets, but it's all I have!"

Rakha squints. The shift in tone is abrupt enough that she is certain it's disingenuous and that Lae'zel is right - the boy is making a fool of her. There is nothing of value here.

Wordlessly she shoves the ring back in the boy's face.

Return the ring and leave.