Editing The Paths (section)

===Boons and Trinkets===
Others and objects on the Paths have had to come unmoored from the rules of reality to arrive there, and so they tend to have weird behaviors and interactions, even when taken off the Paths and into the mundane world, and so Finders may collect them for their eclectic properties. Some items are given to Finders by specific Paths as rewards. Finders who complete Paths find that some of that Lostness rubs off on them, or they Lose something themselves, and they gain some of those strange properties that Lost things have, to interact with the mundane world in strange ways or find the normal rules of reality and society have less hold on them. These more abstract and continuous effects are boons, and certain Paths or certain actions that can be taken on Paths are known to consistently provide specific boons.<ref>But we’re Finders ’cause when we run a lot of Paths we kinda end up positioned a little bit out THERE even when we’re on Earth. Which means that when something in our world gets Lost, too disconnected from everything or missing what it takes to get grabbed by the great nets of the Ruins or the Abyss, we can see or use it before it slips away. Every path we run makes us better at seeing those tattered connection-rules or things that are going to be Lost, along with other benefits like boons & Lost items.<br /><br />Items that don’t always have powers linked to what they look like.<br /><br />Like a pen that gives you a quarter every time you click it.<br /><br />Finder families like Jude Garrick’s are often hoping to find something that breaks the rules in a way they can use. One finder family in the Blue Heron Libary’s books found a Path that they can have people walk that takes any curse on them and removes it before giving you another one instead. They dropped everything they were exploring to work out the rules for that randomness so they can be what’s basically a curse removal business. They ran that path so often it basically stopped being Lost and came down to Earth again. They’re not even really ‘Finders’ anymore. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/02/18/9-3-spoilers-path-practicalities/ Excerpt] from [9.3 Spoilers] [[Path Practicalities]]</ref>

Alternatively, boons can be understood to be the result of hacking or glitching reality; Paths are made up of mismatched bits of meaning and story strung together with dream logic into a nonsensical narrative, and passing through this narrative and completing a Path tricks the universe into thinking a Finder has done things they haven't really, and awards them the logical benefits for their efforts.<ref>The GOOD part of all of this is that it’s cool to explore, sure.  But a journey that’s loaded with hidden meanings + obstacles + stuff is a cool story. Not like, ONLY as a thing you can tell people but also it’s kind of a hack or a trick that makes the universe go “Wait that person did all of that? They passed go + killed a dragon + ate a bag of garbage for some reason (Snowdrop’s contribution) + they won the lottery and turned down money? They need a whole lot of personal growth and adjustments and stuff!!! Or Lost magic items! Something!”<br /><br />Except we didn’t kill a dragon or eat garbage or turn down real fortunes for noble reasons…<br /><br />…What we actually might’ve done was figure out ways to get from A to B in a riddle of a place + skip ahead to do the journy of self discovery or the epic journey without actually doing something boring like growing as people or spending decades adventuring. And we get the weird treasure or new abilities that come with the same broken logic of free-association and dreamlike nonsense that the journeys did. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/02/18/9-3-spoilers-path-practicalities/ Excerpt] from [9.3 Spoilers] [[Path Practicalities]]</ref>

While it's debated whether or not Paths and dreams are really connected, Finders seem to have an affinity for navigating dreams, whether or not this is a true boon or simply a result of practice interpreting the dreamlike logic of Paths.<ref>The nature of the Paths that Finders walked, like Oz and like Alice’s Wonderland, were whimsical, sometimes, or random, or weird.  For a long, long time, according to Jude Garrick from the Garrick clan of Finders, they’d thought the Paths were special dreams that went on forever.  There was apparently evidence to support that idea, but the Paths were weird enough that someone could take anything and find a pattern as far as how it linked to the Paths in general.<br><br>Whatever it was, she was better in a dream than some.  She could pull out tricks, like the Dropped Knife, and she could push the boundaries of what a dream allowed, she was the last one to wake up, and that might have had to do with mentality, but it might also have been tied into her wearing the Finder label with pride. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/07/10/false-moves-12-6/ Excerpt] from [[False Moves 12.6]]</ref>

One needs to be a Finder to get the full benefit of a Path.<ref name="vp8.7"/>