Arcana: Among the Spheres

The Motley

An Everway Family

by Mark Edwards

He was being badgered by a Motley, one of those halfarsed performers who are too stupid to get into Mask or too clumsy to join Boggle. This one had bells all over his shoes, his trousers, and his silly little cap. He was skinny and rubbery and his clothes were a patchwork of different colors, all sewn with those bells.
-- from Strangerside

They are a garish sight on every great street and every square throughout Everway and Strangerside. Mismatched colors, ill-fitting garb, and ridiculous hats, bedecked with chiming bells or clanging rings. The Motley are known for their poor singing voices, rude japes, sad puns, and pathetic juggling skills. They are the masters of the pratfall, the ill-timed jest, and drunken acrobatics.

There are street performers throughout Roundwander, but none so poorly skilled and received as the Motley family. Some say they were formed by outcasts from the Mask family, others believe that members of Motley all share a madness. And a few believe that these gibbering, croaking, stumbling buskers are actually members of an obscure religious sect dedicated to chaos, confusion, and annoyance.

Mask members shun the Motley as they would the unclean. Boggle performers have been known to break off mid-dance to pummel any Motley that come into view.

The Motley family is considered by other performers to be a disgrace. And most of the rest of the populace have no patience for them. In recent memory a squad of Watcher guards stood by unconcerned as an impatient crowd coated a Motley piper in naphtha and set him alight near Fool's Bridge.

Yet Motley survive and thrive in Everway. They shill for merchants and con-artists, and are more often paid to stop their performances than to continue.

And they do seem to be everywhere. It is said that although Mask may publicly denounce these pathetic performers, that the Motley are spies and informers for the more prestigious family. Of course this, as well as any other speculation on the actual workings of the Mask family, is simply a rumor.

The Motley copyright © 1999 Mark Edwards, used with permission.