Fool

A jester who wanders the world bringing hope.

The Bronccour

There is a religion based around a figure known as the Bronccour that most see as a bringer of hope and miracles. There are many stories of the Bronccour, ranging from depicting him as a great warrior to depicting him as a revolutionary, from a speaker to the people to a learned teacher. But one that persists for reasons unknown is that he was a fool. From him a tradition began, whether directly or merely inspired by, of jesters who would travel the world and perform for the common people to bring them hope.

Training

Fools train other fools. They find someone likely and take them under their wing, then make sure they get all the right skills, lores, and tools. They do this subtly and quietly, as being a fool is often illegal. There are three steps to training: personal mentorship, studying at a circus, and observed solo performing. The last is done when another fool deems them ready. They follow them in disguise, watch them perform, and give them notes later, letting them do this until they are ready to be truly on their own.

Performance

The performance of a fool is designed to lift hearts. The goal is always to make people feel better, to lighten their burdens, and to give them guidance and understanding. This can take many forms, whether to inspire them to carry on through hard times or to fight back when necessary, whether to simply give someone a smile or to grant a deeper lesson. In service to this goal, fools use many different tactics and tools.

Simpleton

Fools often, but not always, present themselves as simpletons. The goal is to be unthreatening and to mask insights in silliness. They will try to seem stupid if necessary, or simply slow. Othertimes, they will use tricks such as taking everything literally, twisting words, or intentional misunderstandings as part of their performance.

Sometimes, they are not truly performing, but sincerely this way. Either way, the results are the same.

Innocence

Part of their performance (or not) of being "simple" is to convey innocence. This is part of seeming unthreatening, but it is also a tool to lift hearts.

Mockery and Parody

The sharpest, most dangerous weapon of a fool is their skill at mockery and parody of their foes. They taunt, mimic, and satirize with their words, and in doing so, they reveal truths about those in power, expose their misdeeds, or show them to be paper tigers.

Impropriety

A fool may ignore rules of propriety to make their point, often intentionally but under the guise of being a simpleton. This allows them to get close to those who should otherwise be untouchable.

Privilege

"Jester's privilege" applies to fools on an esoteric level - if they are successful in their mockery, they are immune to reprisals from the powerful for a short time.

Music

Fools play music with small instruments that are easily carried. They sing bawdy or satirical tunes, dance silly dances (often with inappropriate partners), and play intentionally badly (or surprisingly well). Their music is a critical part of their performances for both simpleness and mockery, but also to make people laugh and feel good.

Storytelling

The stories fools tell are always localized, designed to give hope and inspire resistance or resilience, and usually contain more than a mere grain of truth. They will sometimes be barely disguised insults to local lords, and othertimes, they will be deeply allegorical legends.

Babbling

A fool can babble nonsense in two different ways: the first is to directly start spouting nonsense as a part of their performance as a simpleton, in order to allay suspicions or make people laugh; the other form is when they are satirizing a local power, their stories, jokes, or other words are heard by the authorities as nonsense but understood by the commoners.

Comedy

Other jokes, japes, jests, and humorous performances are employed often, but are really just filler around the mockeries and stories. Bawdy jokes, puns, imitations, and so on are common. A skilled fool can make an enemy a friend within seconds with the right jokes.

Acrobatics

Most fools are acrobats, tumblers, using somersaults, pratfalls, cartwheels, and other gymnastic tricks to impress, delight, and amuse. It also means they are good at escaping, running away, and dodging.

Juggling and Prestidigitation

Like any other clown or jester, a fool is often also a juggler. Juggling tricks are mostly employed to instill wonder. They also use prestidigitation and sleight-of-hand tricks in order to instill awe. These are usually small parts of performances, and also skills useful elsewhere, such as throwing weapons or picking pockets.

Miracles

If a fool has built up enough awe, wonder, hope, resilience, and/or defiance, they will be able to gather it around themselves and perform "miracles". These are esoteric feats that have no explanation outside of the impossible. There are three common "miracles" performed by fools:

1. Walking off cliffs: fools will often walk of a cliff or high surface, feigning inattentiveness and simpleness, and then be seen to walk upon air as they depart.
2. Impossible contortion: fools will often perform acrobatic stunts that are physically impossible, such as turning their heads all the way around, moving their legs through their arms, etc.
3. Removing the mask: fools will remove masks from figures of power when they are not wearing masks, revealing magically their evil secrets.

Venues

The commonest venues used by fools are

• Royal or noble courts: the court of a king, emperor, or other powerful figure is where they wield their most vicious mockery. They often get work at these by pretending to be other jesters.
• Town markets: any large, open market is a fine place for a fool to perform to the local people.
• Fairs: any fair or festival is also a fine place to reach the people.
• Schools and universities: the stuffier, the more ripe for mocking.
• Eateries: fools will stop in, uninvited, to places where working people eat in order to have a metaphorically captive audience.

Inventory

The tools of a fool are much as those of a jester, with some variations:

Motley

The usual motley colors for a fool are orange, platinum, black, and green, but they sometimes wear other colors as necessary. The colors mean

• Orange: the freedom of the jester.
• Platinum: renewal and uplift of hearts, as well as the light that exposes lies.
• Black: hope in the dark.
• Green: generosity and life.

Cap'n' Bells

The cap 'n'bells of a fool is usually that of an ass's ears, with matching tail on their motley, and colors similar to the motley. The ass's ears amplify their hearing, and the tail will act of its own accord when the timing is right fo ra good swish, often slapping someone in power "accidentally".

Bauble

A fool's bauble is a marotte with the head of a chicken, which can open and close its mouth and squawk of its own accord. It creates the babbling nonsense that masks a fool's mockeries when necessary.

Mask

The mask of a fool is invisible. They will put it on and their face will transform into a grotesque drollery, a distortion of local authorities, or an animal's face.

Bundle

A fool carries a bundle, usually on a stick, that has a lot more room inside for their possessions than is physically possible. Generally, they carry anything in the fool's primary inventory (see above) plus enough food, clothing, and other necessities for a month of travel.

White Rose

Fools carry a white rose, which is also often embroidered on their motley, which protects them from temptations of power and comfort.

Sword

All fools carry a fake sword, usually made of stiffened cloth or paper, cardboard, papier mache, etc. This sword is entirely useless unless used against authorities or their agents during an escape, and then it is a powerful holy weapon.

Animal Companions

Most fools have a common animal that joins them, often a dog, chicken, pig, or duck. The animal will have no special powers or properties except being part of their performance in ways that are completely innocuous, but add emphasis.

Gender and Sexuality

There are no rules for a fool's gender or sexuality, but they are disproportionately gay men, agender, asexual, non-binary or genderfluid, and/or third gender.

Variations

Every fool is unique, but there are a few variations of note:

• Bronccourian acolyte: a fool-in-training working for a circus to learn clowning and other skills.
• Panon: a fool who has ascended into the Celestial Realms.
• Vidooshak: a fool who uses lhair to speak out against injustice in rhyme, verse, and jape.
• Wisecracker: a fool on the Long Path, whose words contain more wisdom than most.

Societal Role

A fool is a joy and cheer to the common people, and they will often rally to protect them against the authorities they mock if need be. Jester's privilege protects them to a great degree, but when pressed to the limits, they are subject to violent suppression, persecution, and criminalization.

Skills

Fools have the usual jester's skills and then some:

• Mockery
• Imitation
• Parody
• Satire
• Comedy
• Jokes
• Performance
• Acting
• Tumbling
• Acrobatics
• Prestidigitation
• Juggling
• Music
• Singing
• Storytelling
• Babbling
• Sewing
• Dying
• Politics
• Dancing
• Legends
• Escapology
• Riding
• Tracking
• Crowd pleasing
• Pickpocketing
• Thievery
• Lockpicking
• Travel survival
• Direction sense

Stats

Modifiers from base of nation/species:

PRO +2
ATH +5
STR /
AWA +4
WIL /
STH +4
PRS +9