---

Eljara:
“That’s not funny.”

Sean:
“No.”

---

Eljara:
“He knows that.”

Sean:
“Yes.”

---

Eljara:
“Then why is he still laughing?”

Sean:
“Because it works.”

---

A second voice joined.

Then another.

---

Eljara:
“That’s not how that spreads.”

Sean:
“It is now.”

---

Eljara:
“They’re reacting to each other.”

Sean:
“Yes.”

---

Eljara:
“Not to anything real.”

Sean:
“No.”

---

The laughter stopped.

Abruptly.

---

A shout replaced it.

Same place.

Same people.

---

Eljara:
“That should have ended it.”

Sean:
“Yes.”

---

Eljara:
“But it didn’t.”

Sean:
“No.”

---

A shove.

Immediate.

Clean.

---

Eljara:
“They’re skipping steps.”

Sean:
“Yes.”

---

Eljara:
“That’s not how people fight.”

Sean:
“No.”

---

The room leaned in.

Closer.

---

Eljara:
“They’re watching.”

Sean:
“Yes.”

---

Eljara:
“They want it to continue.”

Sean:
“Yes.”

---

A glass shattered.

No reaction.

---

A laugh followed.

Too fast.

---

Eljara:
“That was timed.”

Sean:
“Yes.”

---

Eljara:
“They’re not coordinating.”

Sean:
“No.”

---

Eljara:
“Then what are they doing?”

---

A pause.

---

Sean:
“Following.”

---

Eljara:
“Following what?”

---

Another shout.

Another laugh.

---

Sean:
“Whatever comes next.”

---

Eljara:
“This isn’t escalation.”

Sean:
“No.”

---

Eljara:
“It continues.”

Sean:
“Yes.”

---

Eljara:
“No one is stopping it.”

Sean:
“No.”

---

A brief silence.

---

Eljara:
“They don’t want to.”

---

Sean looked toward the street.

---

Sean:
“They don’t remember how.”

---

The noise didn’t fade.

It moved on.

---

Exactly where it needed to be.

---

🜍 Month 4 · Misrule

🜍 Week 1 — The pattern spreads

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game — The Old World

It doesn’t need a reason.

Only a next moment.

---

Stay a little longer.