Stones of the Rolekeeper
More actions
| Stones of the Rolekeeper | |
|---|---|
| Type | Sorting stones; role-assignment artifact |
| Origin | Unknown |
| Created | 1920s |
| Creator | Unknown |
| Current holder | Delacroix's Tomes and Treasures |
| Effect | Each stone carries a symbol that calls to someone compatible with the role it represents; used to assign roles at social gatherings |
| Canon status | Confirmed |
| First appearance | Comply |
About
The Stones of the Rolekeeper are a series of sorting stones created in the 1920s and held in the inventory of Delacroix's Tomes and Treasures. Each stone bears a different symbol and is charged with an energy that calls to someone compatible with that symbol. They were originally used as a party game: stones would be placed in a sack, attendees would reach in and draw one, and the symbol drawn would suggest the role that person was meant to play for the evening's festivities.
The stones are first encountered in Comply, when Haley Wegner is caught shoplifting from Delacroix's Tomes and Treasures and is found to have taken one of the stones. Margot Delacroix uses the encounter as the trigger for placing The Anklet of Inevitable Accord on Haley.
Description
The stones are physical objects, each bearing a different carved or inscribed symbol. They are held in the shop's inventory, accessible to customers who enter unaccompanied. Their size and material have not been specified beyond being hand-holdable.
Origin
The stones were created in the 1920s. Their creator and the specific context of their creation have not been established in canon. The 1920s places their origin in the same period as the Darewright Game and the development of The Anklet of Inevitable Accord, though whether the stones share any connection to those artifacts or to the Order of Aetherion has not been established.
Effects
Each stone is charged with an energy that calls to someone compatible with the role its symbol represents. The calling is not a compulsion — Haley describes being drawn to her stone without knowing why. The stone selects; it does not command.
Known symbols include one meaning "to be controlled." The full range of symbols and roles represented across the set has not been established in canon.
Role in Comply
Haley Wegner enters Delacroix's Tomes and Treasures unaccompanied and is drawn to one of the stones, taking it without paying. When Margot Delacroix catches her attempting to leave, Haley is unable to lie about the theft — the stone is already in her palm, extended toward Margot, before she realizes what she is doing.
Margot explains the stones' purpose and notes that Haley's chosen stone bears the symbol for "to be controlled." She does not dwell on the implication. Instead she uses the shoplifting incident as the trigger for compelling Haley to return to the shop every Friday at 9 a.m. to work off her guilt — the first compulsion she places on Haley before the Anklet itself.
Haley's instinctive reach for the "to be controlled" stone is unlikely to be coincidental given what Margot subsequently does to her. Whether the stone's call reflected something genuine about Haley or whether Margot arranged the encounter is an open question.
Margot's observation
Margot notes that coming into the shop unaccompanied is dangerous precisely because of artifacts like the stones. "You never know what could call to you." This frames the stones as genuinely active objects, not inert curiosities — consistent with the broader SSU understanding that the Delacroix inventory contains objects that exert real influence.
Canon notes
- Creator and specific origin have not been established
- The full set of symbols and their meanings have not been established
- Whether the stones have any connection to the Order of Aetherion or other 1920s-era artifact creation has not been established
- Whether the stone's call to Haley was natural or arranged by Margot has not been established
- Whether the stones appear further in Comply beyond this scene has not been established