Crooked Rook

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Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details about an upcoming episode.

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   <default>Crooked Rook</default>
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   <label>Alias</label>
 
 
 
 
   <label>Age</label>
 
 
   <label>Gender</label>
 
 
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   <label>First Appearance</label>
 

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The Oni known to Kennet as Crooked Rook is a late but major player in the story of Pale.

Personality

She is described as a strategist more than a manipulator.<ref>“If she asked for the reinforcements not because she needed them, but because she wanted to show us?” Lis interrupted.

“Yeah.”

“I thought that too, at first. But the more time I spend with her, the more I think she’s not… not a schemer. She doesn’t lie while telling the truth or pull tricks like a Fae does. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t like sneak attacks, she does. But she’s a tactician.”

“More overt?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah. She doesn’t leave you wondering, I think. It’s about where, when, and how she makes her moves." - Excerpt from Shaking Hands 9.1</ref> Has a large amount of prejudice towards practitioners based around her experiences. Largely conflict averse, not cowardice, but rather liking to have outcomes decided without having to have physical confrontations happen in the first place.

She is adroit in saying one thing and meaning another.<ref name="Mcr"/>

Hates practitioner society as an institution.

Miss

Knows her, met years ago and helped her heal

Reggie

Taken him under her wing though keeping much to herself.

After Bridge was captured she kept him imprisoned in a birdcage in her home.<ref name=":0" />

Description

She appears as an elderly woman of the stiff-backed/strong & no-nonsense variety.<ref>8.7 Spoilers: New Other Correspondence</ref> She has skin that ranges from dark, cold purple at the broader, flatter parts to a warmer pink and orange-pink in places.<ref>Shaking Hands 9.5</ref> She is described has having "the face of a demon", with a narrow overall structure, narrow eyes, all framed with white hair so fine and light that it hangs like a halo around her head and down her shoulders.<ref name="sh95" /> The interior structure of her mouth is distinctly non-human.<ref>“I assumed.  How do you think things went?” Rook asked, not taking her eyes off of Lucy.  She moved the mask away from her mouth, and Lucy got a glimpse of those fangs of hers, that curved too far back into Rook’s mouth, until it looked like her narrow tongue would have to dance between them as she spoke. - Excerpt from Dash to Pieces 11.7</ref>

"She wore a black dress that was layered in panels, more at the lower body than the upper, each panel decorated at the edges. More decoration was mounted at her back with crescent blades and a birdcage, scrolls were pinned to her sleeves so they hung down with the fabric, and an assortment of items were dangling from her belts, all like they were supposed to be there. One of her hands rested atop an asymmetrical walking stick coated in so much black lacquer that the wood only remained in the shape of the branch it had once been. It had been a nasty branch too, straight, with bits sticking out all down its length, almost like wide thorns."<ref name="sh95">She wore a black dress that was layered in panels, more at the lower body than the upper, each panel decorated at the edges. More decoration was mounted at her back with crescent blades and a birdcage, scrolls were pinned to her sleeves so they hung down with the fabric, and an assortment of items were dangling from her belts, all like they were supposed to be there. One of her hands rested atop an asymmetrical walking stick coated in so much black lacquer that the wood only remained in the shape of the branch it had once been. It had been a nasty branch too, straight, with bits sticking out all down its length, almost like wide thorns.

Her other hand held a mask at her lower face. The face of a demon, narrow, eyes narrower, cheekbones like razor blades, all framed by the white hair that she didn’t tie into any visible ponytail, so fine, light, and uncombed it was like a halo around her head, extending down her shoulders. The bone-white mask of a serene human grandmother’s face was held up, covering the lower half of that face. The light that shone from the streetlight below her feet had the same effect as that thing where people would shine flashlights at their face to highlight the shadows. - Excerpt from Shaking Hands 9.5</ref>

She tends to hold a bone-white Menpō, a mask that cover the lower face, that depicts a serene grandmother's mouth. <ref>Shaking Hands 9.5</ref><ref>Shaking Hands 9.Z</ref>

Abilities

She has demonstrated the ability to manipulate the spiritual makeup and to undo or twist the bindings of Others after trapping them in boxes.<ref>[8.7 Spoilers:] New Other Correspondence</ref> This can allow her to radically alter the type of the Other in question.<ref>“Scary like… I saw her trap an Other. Bogeyman, strapped to a spiked wheel. Had a bunch of spirits with her, and they dove into the trap. A wind elemental too, I think. Adjusted the box, rotated parts of it. She asked for reinforcements in case it came out fighting. I was there, so were goblins. Trap opens, and the Other isn’t strapped to the wheel anymore. No spikes. Looked happier, balancing on the wheel, cavorting around like a circus performer. Then she bent down, picked up a corroded iron spike that had been stuck in the ground, and put it in her belt. For the next time.”

“She changes them, fundamentally?” Verona asked.

“Took the abyss out of it, put in some wind and spirit. Like it was easy.” - Excerpt from Shaking Hands 9.1</ref> She has showcased the need to be specific about what changes she makes to others so that they are stable long term.

She is capable of storing a room or location inside a box, allowing her to move her base of operations easily.<ref>Lucy asked about some plants and about the structure of the space, and Rook explained the various purposes different plants had, the origins, and told Lucy how this space was one of several she could fold up to put in a box and keep with her.- Excerpt from Fall Out 14.6</ref>

She mentions that she's a member of a sect of Oni who build boxes and cages, with an implication that these are related to the positions and roles that Others take in the world.<ref>Shaking Hands 9.Z</ref>

She is battle-hardened and has experience in combat, despite suffering many losses.<ref>“The tense wait before calm turns to fighting, before a letter is delivered, before an army arrives on the doorstep.”

“How many nights like this have you had?”

“I couldn’t say for sure, because it’s hard to say for sure what qualifies.  At least twenty.”

“How many turned out okay?”

Rook was silent.

“Rook?” Lucy asked.

“In the longest run?  Two nights out of those twenty, I was happy with the outcome.  I was disappointed after, in both cases.  Because the victory was squandered, in the first case, and because the victors became as vile as the people we’d been fighting in the second.” - Excerpt from Summer Break 13.10</ref>

Chronology

Before the Story

A very old Oni coming from Europe that allegedly never really stopped fighting the Oni Wars.

At some point she visited Wales and raided three villages for food. Many of the villagers died whilst others became Others<ref> - Excerpt from Left in the Dust 16.10</ref><ref>“At what point,” Verona added, “do we take food from people who could starve without it, to keep the war effort going?”

“Ah,” Rook murmured.  “The three mountain villages between Snowdon and Glyder Fawr?”

...

“The distinction I would make,” Rook replied, “is that yes, I was part of forces that raided mountains and mountain villages.  We took the food in as cold a winter as they’d seen in their lifetimes, but that food gave us strength and the ability to barter that saved over a hundred of ours.  Thirty-nine women and children that we took the food from either survived, or they became Other.  Many of those Others joined our cause.”- Excerpt from Gone and Done It 17.3</ref>

At some point, she met Miss.<ref>“How did you meet [Miss]?”

“When you live long enough and when you wander as I do, as she once did, meetings are inevitable. Friendship less so. I found her injured. I made her tea, we talked. Talk turned to frustration, enemies, a greater understanding of the world.” - Excerpt from Summer Break 13.10</ref> Claims to have seen many situations like Kennet.

Claims to have seen many situations like kennet.<ref>“You said you’ve seen this play out.”

“I have. Sometimes in small groups of Others, sometimes closely knit Other and practitioner, sometimes Aware and Other. Sometimes they’ve tried to prepare, sometimes they’ve done without preparation and the consequences crushed them. For what it’s worth, my focus and attention is on the consequences. I’m assuming you’ll fail, and I’ll try to ensure that Miss and I still have influence in the wake of that failure.” - Excerpt from Dash to Pieces 11.7</ref>

After Fall of the perimeter

Was recruited by Kennet council to help protect the town.

After Miss returned she revealed that the two of them were friends and that her earlier hostility towards the trio has been a front to mislead the conspirators.<ref name="Mcr">“Friend?” Lucy asked.

“A good one,” Miss said, walking past the girls.  She walked up to Rook, and the two of them hugged.  “Hello, it’s been some time.
[...]
“What is this?” Lucy asked.  “Why do this?  How are you okay with us if you hate-”

“Practitioners in general?” Rook asked.  “I was under the impression you three weren’t the biggest advocates of practitioner society in general, either, especially after your stay at the Blue Heron.”

“I asked Rook to make sure you three were more or less alright until I could find my way back.  She has, I hope.”

“She said she didn’t want to associate with us.”

“Maintaining that position let Matthew, Edith, and the rest draw their own conclusions about my intents and goals,” Rook said.  “And it helps keep this secret right here.”- Excerpt from One After Anotehr 10.4</ref>

Rook and Tashlit rescued Cherrypop from drowning, she then informed her that the rock she carried was cursed.<ref>Yellow eyes stared at her.  A squishy thumb compressed her chest rhythmically.

“Bring her here,” Rook said.

Cherry’s head lolled, and she looked up at Tashlit, who strode through the knee-deep river, carrying Cherry.

Cherry opened her mouth to talk and coughed up water.  “My rock.”

Tashlit nudged Cherrypop’s arm, so the rock was secured at her side.

“Cherrypop,” Rook said, as they met her at the western shore of the river.  “That rock is cursed.” - Excerpt from False Move 12a</ref> Rook accompanies Cherry to Jasmine's house and gives her three instructions, put her rock in Maricica's shoe, tip over her bag and get along with Peckersnot.<ref>“Three things.  Concentrate.  Maricica’s not wearing shoes, is she?”

“She almost never wears shoes.”

“She took them off at the door.  Get inside, find her shoes, and put the rock inside.”
[...]
“Job two is that I need you to knock over her bag.  She should have things with her.  Try to make as big a mess as you can.  Don’t hurt the house, but hurt Maricica’s things.”

“Yes,” Cherrypop said, eager.

“Third?  Get along with Peckersnot.” - Excerpt from False Move 12a</ref>

Bloody Days

After the contest for the Carmine's throne she kept the Dog Meat Bluntmunch had helped make in a cage at her home.<ref name=":0">Lucy’s eyes looked for and found the cage, back corner of the roof, draped in a cloth.  The Dog Meat was within it.  Off to the side, framed by tall plants, a birdcage dangled, a watch perched on the roost, unmoving.  Bridge.- Excerpt from Fall Out 14.6</ref>

She spent much time in the background organizing opposition for various lordship contests that Musser and his allies made.<ref>“Some opposition is coming soon. Oni organized Dog Tags, according to Chase Whitt. I thought I’d check in and let you know.”

Abraham cracked his knuckles. “The cohort of the Dog Tag that died in the Carmine contest? And the same Oni that keeps contesting Demesne and Lordship claims?” - Gone and Done It 17.z</ref> When Basil Winters tried to claim the Lordship of Nipigon she managed to trick him into getting taken over by Bridge the body snatcher.<ref>- Fall Out 14.z</ref>

During the invasion of Kennet Rook gave the local Dog tags advice for challenging Mr. Musser.

She did heavy politicking to get the right forces lined up for the creation of Lost Kennet, among which was the ascension of a new Higher power.

Endgame

Started cooperating with the St. Victor's practitioners when the group started making their moves following the outser of the Kennet Trio.

References

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