by Jan Stryvant
"Can I see?" Steve asked, "Please?"
"You know if you hit on her I'm going to take a bite out of your ass," Sean growled.
"Pfft, Terri would have my balls. No way I'm throwing over my fiancée."
Roxy shifted into her hybrid form and Steve just shook his head, "Wow, you're even better looking with fur. All these years watching anime, and now I finally get to see a real cat girl." Steve shook his head again, "Almost tempted to ask you to bite Terri after the wedding!"
"You're taking this rather well," Jolene observed.
"Eh, coping mechanism. My father always believed in throwing me into the deep end with business and everything else. Said that learning to cope with unexpected events calmly would make me a successful businessman. Don't think I'm not freaking out over here, but," Steven gave Sean's shoulder a push, "it's Sean. I can't go freaking out just 'cause my buddy got into some weird shit. What kind of a friend would I be?"
Sean shifted back to his human self then, and Roxy did the same.
"So, what are your plans?" Steve asked, looking at the three of them.
"To find a safe place to lay low for a while and start figuring out our options while I try to find out if my dad did leave me anything."
"And that's it?"
Sean spread his hands and looked at Steve, "What else is there?"
Steve shook his head, "All those years of playing RPG's and you don't see it? Sean, you're leading a revolt here, and everyone knows it, except for you! You need to plan accordingly!"
"What?!"
"Look you just told me that all of the lycans are living under oppression, you're searching for the key to end that, and you're facing the combined might of a bunch of magic users?
"Tell me that doesn't sound like a revolution? Or at least a kick-ass D&D campaign!"
"Umm,"
Roxy sighed, "He's right, Hon."
"It's definitely how all the councils see it," Jolene agreed.
"See?" Steve said, "They agree. And no one is going to leave you alone, ever, until you win it. Because they're always going to believe you're still fighting them. So, unless you're planning on selling out, which we all know from years of gaming never works, it's do or die.
"Excuse me a minute," Steve said and pulling out his cell phone started texting.
"What are you doing?" Sean asked.
"Telling Terri that I have an advertising issue I need to resolve and I'll be home late. There," Steve set his phone down, "now, tell me everything, and I do mean everything."
Sean shrugged and looked at Roxy.
"Not like we have anything to lose," she said.
"Roxy's right," Jolene agreed.
"Alright, it started the Friday before last...."
It took Sean over an hour to tell Steve everything, or almost everything. He left out the watch, and he didn't go into details on any of the sex of course.
"Okay," Steve said slowly, thinking about it for a few moments. Then he turned to Jolene, "Jo, how many magic users, of all types live in the area?"
Jolene shrugged, "Between all of the different councils here, there are probably fifteen hundred or so. Add in another five hundred to a thousand to include family members who are too young, or people who don't affiliate with any of the organized groups, say twenty-five hundred, three thousand, tops."
"So out of the half million living in Washoe and Storey counties, we're looking at less than one-hundredth of one percent of the population?"
Jolene nodded, "Yeah, about that. The ability to work magic is pretty rare, and most folks who can prefer to live in cities, there tends to be more power there. That and they don't like roughing it."
"Roxy," Steve asked looking at her, "how many lycans would you say there are?"
Roxy pondered that a moment, "That's a tougher question, both cause I've only lived here a few years, and we don't organize anywhere near as well as the magic users do, but there are definitely a lot more of us. Probably three or four times as many of us as there are of them, but we're also a lot more spread out. Some lycans like cities, some don't."
"So, less than ten thousand?"
"Umm, probably around that many, but it's just a guess."
Steve nodded, "So less than a tenth of one percent of the population is going to be involved here."
Roxy, Jolene, and Sean all nodded slowly.
"But," Roxy spoke up, "you have to remember that magic users effect a larger amount of control here than the average person. Most of them are rich; quite a few of them have some level of influence with the local politicians because of that."
"And they can cast magic," Jolene added. "That's something of a multiplier. It lets them do things that the mundane can't."
"How many of those magic users are going to be actively looking for you? Actively involved? Ten percent? Twenty? Oh, I'm sure the rest will back them, but you're probably only going to be worrying about two or three hundred people, tops!"
"That's still a hundred times the three of us," Sean pointed out.
"Ah, but how may of the ten or so thousand lycans are willing to be on your side? Ten percent of that is still a thousand people, and I'd suspect that the overwhelming majority will support you when push comes to shove.
"And that leads to the first thing you need to be doing," Steve smiled.
"And that is?" Sean asked, a little skeptically.
"Advertise! There are two things every movement, organization, or business needs! Money and followers. You don't get those by sitting on your butt! Trust me, that's why my mom and dad are sailing around the world while I'm sitting here running the business. You need to advertise."
"We do that, and every magic user in the world is going to be on our case!" Jolene replied.
"It's all in the presentation," Steve grinned. "Sean redoes his facebook page, talks about this epic 'game' he's involved in, and how he's fighting against the forces of evil mages to save the enslaved lycan race.
"Once a week or so, he updates it. Then, you start a go-fund-me campaign, tell everyone you're going to be making like a novel, or a graphic novel to memorize the campaign, that you'll sell or giveaway a ring or a necklace to those who contribute over a certain amount. Say ten grand maybe?"
"But, what if we don't deliver?"
"That's the beauty of go-fund-me versus a kickstarter; you don't have to pay off. But think about it, it lets everyone in the lycan community know you're out there, fighting the fight as you give them weekly status reports, and all they have to do to take part is contribute some cash."
"Yeah, but what happens if mundanes start donating?" Roxy asked.
"That's the whole point!" Steve laughed, "You can fundraise from them too, and no one can ever claim you spilled the beans. You're just some RPG nerd trying to bring his favorite campaign to life! While raising money and recruiting people to your cause right under the enemy's nose."
Sean leaned back against the couch and blinked. Steve had a pretty good point.
"We'll need a website too of course," Sean said slowly, thinking about it.
"Of course."
Jolene laughed, "You know, it'll be weeks if not months before any of the councils tweak to it. They're notorious for not using the internet."
"Stickers," Roxy said, "we need to sell stickers. We can make a bunch of different ones for each of the different lycan races with some logo or phrase on them. We sell them so people can show their support by plastering them all over the place. That'll bring in lots of mundanes, and once the mages see that," Roxy growled, grinning, "they'll fucking freak."
"Just be careful of one thing," Steve warned.
"What?" Roxy growled.
"The goal isn't to get rid of the mages; the goal is to free the lycans. You don't want to drive any mages who are sympathetic to your cause into the arms of the other side."
"He's got a very good point, Rox dear," Jolene said smiling at Roxy.
"Okay, okay," Roxy sighed, giving an embarrassed grin, "We can add a couple of stickers
for those magic users who support the cause."
Sean nodded, "Okay, so we have an idea to make money, get the word out there, and rally support, right?"
Everyone nodded.
"So, once we have all that money and support, what do we do with it?"
"You go and talk to Chad," Steve said.
"Chad?" Sean blinked, "Why Chad?"
"Because he's the best damn DM in Reno, that's why," Steve grinned.
"Steve, we're talking real life here, not some game!"
"Oh? Who do you know who has studied war, combat, revolutions, and hell even small uprisings and riots in history, more than Chad?"
Sean had to stop and think about that. Chad was always pulling stuff out of history to throw at them in games to see if they went the same route as history took, or came up with something different. Chad gamed everything that he did in life, he'd even opened up a small gaming store that was doing rather well.
"You know, this just keeps getting more and more complicated," Sean sighed.
"It always does."
"So how do we keep in touch?"
"Talk to John about that, he got me an email address on one of those secure email sites a while back. Maybe we should all get a couple of those disposable phones from seven-eleven too."
Sean laughed, "He got me one of those accounts too. Hell, I think he got all of us in the gaming group one. Guess it's time to start using it."
Steve stood up then, "Well, I need to get home, or Terri is gonna kill me," reaching into his pocket he pulled out a set of keys, "These are for the Mercedes wagon in the back. The windows are tinted enough to make it hard to see in, but not enough to get the cops on your butt, and around here it blends in pretty well."
"Thanks, Steve," Sean said standing up and taking the keys, he shook hands.
"Are you kidding? This is gonna be more fun than any D&D campaign we ever played as kids! I miss not being able to play anymore."
Roxy came over and game him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, making Steve smile, then Jolene did it and actually made him blush.
"Whoa, girl, you trying to get Sean and Terri to kill me?"
Sean sighed, "Jo's a tantric witch, she can't help herself."
"I don't think I needed to hear that," Steve laughed. "Now go, use the back door and I'll finish locking up. Night!"
"Night!" They all replied.
Outta Town
It was late, and Sean was lying back in the bed, panting, with the girls cuddled up to either side of him.
"There has to be an easier way to do this," Sean said slowly as he caught his breath.
"I don't know, this way definitely has a lot to be said for it!" Roxy, laughed. She wasn't panting as hard as Sean was, but her naked body was just as covered in sweat as his. This of course looked incredibly sexy on her, especially as he'd had something to do with getting her that way.
"You're both right," Jolene sighed, "and while I'm all for doing it this way, we'll never be able to keep up with demand. The time alone for each one is just too much."
"What about ley lines?" Sean asked, "Don't they have the power?"
Jolene scowled, "They have power, and you can tap into it, but all of the powerful ones tend to have someone or something living on top of the key points. But I've been watching you work, Sean. Making these things requires a decent amount of energy, but only a third of it gets used. Two thirds of it comes back to us, anyway you can at least cut down that upfront amount?"
"No," Sean sighed and gave his head a small shake, "the program needs all of that to function. It has to do with the way the archive is restored. You need the full amount of magical energy when you 'playback' each of the spell components and device functions in order to put them into the item properly. I'm not sure yet why I get as much energy back as I do when the spell completes, I'm still trying to understand all of that. But that initial amount we need is just one drawback of the process."
"Doesn't feel like a drawback to me!" Roxy giggled.
"There has to be another way to tap power," Sean said, thinking about it. "I've seen magical batteries. They don't hold much, but maybe a lot of them built together?"
"And just how much time and energy would that take?" Jolene asked.
"Too much, I'm sure," Sean sighed.
"Maybe you should look through your books and see if your dad left you anything on it?" Roxy suggested.
"That's an idea, but let's get some food first, then maybe a nap."
"After a shower," Jolene said.
"Yeah, definitely a shower," Roxy agreed.
"You two go first, while I build up my strength," Sean teased.
Sean smiled and watched them as they sauntered off to the bathroom, then he called up his monitor spell and checked. They were about an hour's drive east of Reno in a small town, and no one was scrying for him here at all. They'd spent the day enchanting necklaces and now had a dozen of them. Two he'd mail to his lawyer, the other ten he'd mail to Sawyer with instructions to send his cut to his lawyer.
Getting out of bed Sean stretched and shifting back to human he looked at himself in the mirror. He really did look different now, and it wasn't just the blond hair. He was a lot more muscular, to the point where it was obvious to him that he'd changed, and there wasn't a bit of fat left anywhere on him.
Going into the bathroom he leaned against the sink and enjoyed the sight of his wives washing. Sean snorted to himself at that, he didn't know if that came from him or his lion, and he honestly didn't care. They were his now, they knew it, he knew it. He'd have to get them rings so everyone else would know it too.
"So, I've been thinking," Sean said and stretched again.
"Uh-oh, should we be worried?" Roxy teased.
"I need a new laptop, one I can build the website on, then we need to find someplace with a good internet connection, so I can find a good hosting service to set it up, then update my facebook page, and then setup that go-fund-me campaign."
"Don't forget the stickers, we'll need to set up an account with one of the online stores for that," Roxy said from inside the shower.
"Yeah, but we'll need an artist first to do all the artwork."
"Oh, don't worry about that. I gotta friend. I'll call her when we're ready to leave here, and get the ball rolling."
"I'll probably need some graphics for the website too," Sean said, thinking about it. "Can I borrow your laptop and start laying it out?"
"After we eat!" Jolene warned.
"Yes, after we eat," Sean agreed.
"So when are we heading back to Reno?" Roxy asked.
"Tomorrow," Sean said and yawned, if he wasn't so hungry, he'd just go back to bed. "Right now they think I'm dead, so we have a breather. If something big is supposed to happen on my birthday, well, they'll know I'm not dead.
"Besides, Reno is probably the only place we'll be able to get online."
"Umm-hmmm. Too bad we don't have anything else to enchant!"
"I think I'm going to spend the night studying. There are a lot more spells I need to learn. Maybe something nice and offensive for a change."
Sean was sitting in his 'classroom' and he was digging through the books. He'd pushed a few more points into enchanting spells; because he wanted to be sure he had that completely understood. He knew now that any magic item he held, he could easily just make a tarball of, and then play it back into another, similar object. Eventually he'd rewrite that spell so that the object didn't have to be the same, but right now, it was good enough.
The thing he wanted to do next was figure out just how to put his firewall spell into an object, like a coin or a ring, so he could then give it to Roxy. That was turning out to be just a little more complicated than he expected, but not because it was difficult, but because the way his firewall spell worked wasn't typical for an enchanted item.
Once he'd finally figured out just how to do it, Sean moved on to shield spells. He wanted ones to protect him from spells cast on him, like the paralysis spell that had b
een used, or some of the attack spells that had been cast at him. He found and learned spells to protect against magical fire, magical cold, and the like, but it wasn't until he was too sleepy to continue that he realized the spells like paralyze and sleep were mind attack spells, not manifestations of physical elements, and were in a completely different book.
Checking his stats before calling it quits for the night he saw that his strength had gone up a little more and that he'd gained another point there, surprisingly. He pushed them all into regeneration, because almost dieing had scared the hell out of him.
Mental he was very surprised to notice that both his Intelligence and Wisdom had increased a little, but he was still out of points. In his magical abilities he'd gained four points and split them between Mana and Will. Having those go up would be helpful.
He'd already spent most of his points for spells tonight, and he figured he was finally getting the idea of just how this part worked. You had to dedicate your magical potential to specific fields of work as you matured. If you put it all into fire, you'd be better at fire and have an easier time learning fire type spells. Sean now had a lot of points into enchanting, which meant he had more magic and understanding available for enchanting.
However, because he'd cheated with his new idea 'framework' spells, it had actually created a new category on his 'character sheet', and it looked like whatever spell he cast using those frameworks would have the power of his framework magic behind it, and not say that of fire spells, which he'd only put a point in to be able to learn the basics.
All in all, it was still a little confusing, but he was finally starting to make sense of it.
Leaving the classroom, he let himself fall asleep. Tomorrow was another day after all.
Sean let Roxy drive them back to town while he sat there with one of his gold coins and started to enchant the firewall spell into it. He'd punched a hole through it, near the edge, so it could be worn with a chain or cord, the book on enchanting had been clear on two things, the first was that an object couldn't be physically altered after it was enchanted, or it would destroy the enchantment. The second was that those metals known as 'transition metals' were the only things that you could enchant, and the purer or more 'expensive' they were, the easier it typically was to enchant them. That made gold about the easiest to work with, so as this was his first effort, that was what he decided to start with.
