Ludospex

“Nuhlimkilaka, Koskimo — Kwakiutl person wearing an oversize mask and hands representing a forest spirit, Nuhlimkilaka, ("bringer of confusion").” Edward Curtis’ Photographs of Kwakwaka’wakw Ceremonial Dress and Masks (ca. 1914)

The ludospex! What lovely cupids these be, those who Watch the Game. Creatures of chaos and imagination, little champions of fortune, strategy, charity, barter…

No aspect of the Game is truly chance, as no Thing can truly be a matter of chance.¹ In Games, the element of chance is dictated by the moods and favors of the beings called the ludospex. Unseen, they embody every aspect of the game, from the roll of a die to how pleasant the handfeel of any given pawn is.

There are a legion of the little creatures, imagined by poets as little cherubs. Occult theorists explain their manifest forms as (alarmingly) felt puppet monsters. Seldom seen directly, warlocks and others who play the Game make an art of manipulating the ludospex, or currying favor. The reason for this form is unknown, and in the view of this humble arcanist, unlikely.

It is understood that all spells wrought by the Long Game are performed directly by the unseen ludospex, summoned in the playing of the Mirths and Wretcheds.² Their rapt, enthused, and obsequious servility tell us that these are not daemons.

1. Nau, Robert F. De Finetti Was Right: Probability Does Not Exist. Theory and Decision 51 (2/4):89-124 (2001)

2. Certain writers are believed to depict magic more accurately by describing the ludospex in the first draft, before editing them out. For example, a floating vase would first be picked up and carried by a spirit resembling The Great Gonzo, and only then in the final draft become the unseen magic.