The Ineffable Jest

There are mysteries at work in the world besides the gods and the beings from the cold hell of space. Some of these forces are easily witnessed, such as that which causes a hurled stone to plummet to the ground. Others are fickle powers that possess incomprehensible motives and unknown origins. Of these uncanny powers, the Ineffable Jest is the one most often cited when unexpected events—both for weal and woe—take place.

The Ineffable Jest rears its head when least expected and it can win battles and destroy empires on a whim. Combining elements of the Force, the Tao, and Murphy’s Law into one unfathomable force of nature, the Ineffable Jest is never worshiped, but often warded against and occasionally invoked by those in dire circumstances.

There are tales which connect the Ineffable Jest with a figure known only as the Laughing Fool. Debates rage amongst the wine-sodden sages of the Citadel of Mysteries as to whether the Laughing Fool is an avatar of the Ineffable Jest, one which has taken human form, or if it is a mortal servant chosen by that power as its temporary champion. A third school of thought argues that a connection exists between the Laughing Fool and the Splintered Court, that mysterious cabal of powers which contains the enigmatic figures of the King in Yellow, the Queen in Red, and the Black Jack, but any such relationship would be tenuous at best.