TedLore: The Grey Letter
As chosen by the wonderful humans of the HIWEZ Squadron, today we will be talking about The Grey Letter.
You can can enlist to the Squadron for future TedLore votes and other fun stuff right here!
THE GREY LETTER.
Most teddy bears are first made aware of friendly forces from beyond the darkness of the Nowhere by the arrival of The Grey Letter, but it is not the first thing from TTHQ to enter the room of a potential new recruit. That honour falls to the Recon Spider, a recording device bearing the likeness of a small cranefly with the sole task of collecting footage for analysis.
Important information such as the behaviour of a new bear while their charge is asleep, their reaction to potential visitations from the Nowhere, how their charge treats them while awake, all factor into the aptitude of a potential new
Curious bears are good candidates for the research department.
Cowardly bears are better suited to administrative roles within HQ.
Brave bears are more likely to excel in stressful combat situations.
Mistreated bears are more likely to defect to the ever-present Hunter Faction.
All these details to some degree predetermine a new recruits path through training modules before they are officially enlisted to the TTHQ.
Once the information has been collated and approved by Recruitment (and in some rare cases crosschecked by Comm. Gen. Caedes) The Grey Letter can be delivered.
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Fairly unassuming in its appearance, The Grey Letter is designed not to overwhelm its recipient. It is a simple envelope with a folded note inside addressing the bear by their Child Given Name. Simple and direct the note typically reads something like this:
Dear Snuggles.
Theodore Caedes.
The letter omits any military suggestion in an effort to make the recipient as comfortable as possible in the early stages of recruitment. A heavy stigma hangs over words like "Headquarters" or "Commanding General". Over the years The Grey Letter has become more and more relaxed in its written approach.
There is a law for the Nowhere which is the same for the Tedlands: If not of this plain it may not remain. That is to say anything that did not already exist on Earth can only continue to exist so long as the Dream Gate is open, only to become dust if it stays once the Gate closes. By morning The Grey Letter is no more.
When the night of the teddy bears picnic arrives, the new recruit receives a small black tie for the event which acts as a ping, when the tie returns through the Dream Gate the TTHQ are able to add the new bedroom to their Nexus, allowing them to open and close the Dream Gate on command. No more visitations from the Nowhere for that sleeping human.
Sweet dreams.
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I hope that was an enjoyable snippet of TedLore for you, I have personally spent so much time imagining the comings and goings of the Tedlands that beginning to document it is an exciting project for me. There is more to come throughout the year with some extras and behind the scenes of art and musings happening over at the Hiwez Squadron base of operations.
Please consider enlisting so I have more folks who are interested in the Tedlands casting their votes and chatting in the comments.
Stay awesome, stay safe.
HIWEZ OUT!