Ser Jaramey Slizzard: Difference between revisions

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{{a|otto|{{image|wording|jpg|“Are we done, then, brother and sister nights? Are we ''done''?”}} }}An unfinished, mostly lost and certainly misguided operetta from that impenetrable Austrian plowwright {{otto}}.
{{a|otto|{{image|wording|jpg|“Are we done, then, brother and sister nights? Are we ''done''?”}} }}''Ser Jaramey Slizzard'' or, to give it its full title, ''Ser Jaramey Slizzard, that Fruty knyghte of the Isdere'' is an unfinished, mostly lost and certainly misguided operetta from that impenetrable Austrian plowwright {{otto}}.  
 
''Ser Jaramey Slizzard'' appears to have been assembled, as usual, from conflicting and dubious readings of mythology — this time the legends and fables behind the [[First Men]] and the genesis of The [[Single Agreement]].  


It is notable for the line — one of few lines of dialogue in the fragment that remains — that has now entered the [[negotiator|negotiators]]’ lexicon:
It is notable for the line — one of few lines of dialogue in the fragment that remains — that has now entered the [[negotiator|negotiators]]’ lexicon:
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For all his baffling obliquity, {{buchstein}} did have a knack for the occasional pithy aphorism.
For all his baffling obliquity, {{buchstein}} did have a knack for the occasional pithy aphorism.


{{PAGENAME}} is the story of a young Knight of the ISDA . The proceedings of that ancient order were, and remain, mortally secret, but the “Wording” — a sacred rite whereby fully-armoured ISDA knights are said to wrangle canonical text through the medium of hand-to-hand combat to product ISDA definitions — strikes us as plausible. Phrasing as pained as ISDAs’ can surely only come from martial combat: no-one of sound mind and in a state of peaceable reflection could perpetrate such tortured syntax could they?
''Ser Jaramey Slizzard'' appears to have been assembled, as was {{buchstein}}’s habit, from conflicting and dubious readings of [[Finance fiction|financial mythology]] — this time, the legends and fables from the time of The [[Single Agreement]], the [[First Men]] and the [[Children of the Woods]]. From this material {{buchstein}} appears to have extrapolated an entire chivalric order of Swap Knights that are not reported in any other reliable source.
 
In any case, {{PAGENAME}} is the story of a young ISDA Knight. The proceedings of that ancient order were, and remain, mortally secret, but the “[[The Wording|Wording]]” — a sacred rite whereby fully-armoured ISDA knights are said to have wrangled canonical text through the medium of hand-to-hand fighting has some mentions in the contemporaneous historical record. As an aside, this strikes us as plausible: phrasing as pained as ISDA’s can surely only come from martial combat: no sound mind, in a state of peaceable reflection could possibly perpetrate such tortured syntax.


The central drama of the opera occurs when young Ser Jaramey confronts the austere denizens of his calling during [[The Wording]] convened to finally consecrate the definition of “{{cddprov|Event Determination Date}}” in the {{cddefs}}.  
The central drama occurs when a young [[Ser Jaramey]] confronts the elders of his calling during [[the Wording]] session convened to finally consecrate the definition of “{{cddprov|Event Determination Date}}” in the {{cddefs}}.  


Sadly, only a fragment of the libretto now remains but, unusually, it was written in English, apparently transcribed by longtime {{buchstein}} antagonist, [[Winthrop Grumman]], who took notes while the author mumbled from the depths of a malarial swoon in an opium den in old Mandalay.
Sadly, only a fragment of the libretto now remains, but it is reproduced below. Unusually, it is in English, apparently transcribed by longtime {{buchstein}} antagonist, [[Winthrop Grumman]], who took notes while the author mumbled incoherently from the depths of a malarial swoon in an opium den in old Mandalay.


{{quote|{{jc:the Wording}}}}
{{quote|{{jc:the Wording}}}}