So, in a way, the Scribe and Curator are on their side without actively getting involved? He doesn't want to press that further, so instead he asks, "The story we choose to use against the fae... does it need to follow something we've experienced?"

Because the closest experience he's had to their current situation resulted in all the captives dying.

"Or can it be one we make up? One that could theoretically give us, say, magic that we wouldn't otherwise have, or a," he gestures to the Scribe, "weapon with other effects?"

He's not creative himself, as evidenced by all his dealings with the book spectres, but if the Carnival could create a fictional advantage where they have none currently...