by Kris Schnee
Arden charged with his own spear at Eva. Eva was too shocked to do more than defend herself.
Thorn said, "Come on! Won't you kill me too, so you can become king and queen of the enemy's game pieces?"
Miles tried to gag him with more rope. At this rate the man could beat him up with taunts alone.
[Mental attack, power 6. Your defense: 4.]
Miles' 2-point mental stress box filled up, so he had none left. Any further words from Thorn would start really hurting him. The guard stabbed at Eva and scraped her arm. Miles' gag flew at the captain's mouth.
"Concede!" the captain said, staring at the incoming attack that had paused in front of him. "I will escape!"
"Now, why would I allow that?" said Miles.
"So you do intend to murder me!"
"I'd rather leave you alive and captured, on my terms."
"Then I agree to be captured, traitor." Meanwhile the remaining guard was trying to fight Eva, but couldn't do more than strain his muscles against the GMs' enforced paralysis.
Miles cursed. Anything short of killing the man basically meant handing him a bonus fate point to make a dramatic comeback later. "Accepted," he said with disgust. The magic, its fate decided by negotiation, securely bound Thorn.
Arden, the guard, yanked the tarp aside and stared down at the unconscious body of Johnson, who had a bloodless hole through his chest. Eva said, "You attacked me first! I warned you!"
Miles said, "We've won. Stop this now, Arden."
The guard threw down his spear and spat. "Congratulations; you've gotten your way by force and die rolls."
Miles became aware again that there was a crowd watching. Short of engaging in surreal battle with the whole crew, he actually had to persuade them. He called out, "Mister Thorn tried to have Eva and I arrested for nothing more than exploring on our own. We have important news about the threats we're facing, the resources available to us, and what to do next."
"You're trying to take over?" someone said.
He looked at Eva and mouthed, "Election?", and she nodded. He said, "No. We notice that mister Thorn is the captain of a ship that we're no longer aboard. In the King's name, I declare that we're in a colony situation and not subject to shipboard discipline, especially not military discipline. Under royal law, I call for the immediate election of an interim governor."
Arden said, "I nominate Captain Thorn!"
Eva called out, "And I nominate Miles Hochen. Anyone else?"
Samatra the sympathetic crewman said, "Miles here has been off on his own travels, seeing more of the world than we who've been cooped up on the edge of a dragon's territory. He knows more of what's going on here."
Arden said, "We shouldn't even be having this discussion while the rightful captain is bound and gagged. If Miles won't release Thorn right away, he's nothing but a tyrant imposing his rule by might."
Miles discreetly checked his stats. His mental stress had not cleared, since he hadn't had even a minute out of at least social danger. He leaned toward Thorn and said, "If you do anything the GMs consider an attack, know this. I still have multiple fate points, I bet you haven't got any, and I'm willing to get a lot nastier with my magic." Then he yanked off the gag.
Thorn told the assembled crew, "I withdraw my name from this farce. We are a royal crew on a mission, I was rightfully appointed, and we do not settle disputes by seeing who can win an imaginary fight."
"That's right, mister Thorn," Eva said. "On colonies we begin with elected officials."
Thorn said, "I will not legitimize a colony-type election when we're actually prisoners in an ongoing emergency. If mister Hochen wishes to seize power now, he can, but let no one pretend he's doing otherwise. Go ahead and have your 'vote', Hochen."
Miles grimaced. Thorn was being stubborn in his insistence that this was a battle, a hostage situation, any way of seeing the aliens' game that justified having a naval captain in absolute command. The irritating thing was that, if this truly were a war, Miles would have backed him as the most competent leader within light-years. "If there are no other nominees, show of hands. Who will support me as interim royal governor of this colony?"
Eva's hand was the first, then Samatra's, and then after a frightening pause, a clear majority of the crew. The men and women of the Silver Hart looked at one another with suspicion, and a few hands went up or down, but Miles had won -- for now. Thorn's look of satisfaction at maintaining a bloc of dissenters echoed Miles' own worry that an uprising was coming.
Miles said, "Then I assume the governorship. Note that we're being watched, everyone. The alien presence, benign or hostile, is observing how humans can cooperate. I suggest showing them that we can be strong and united in the face of danger. For my first act, in a few minutes I'm going to issue everyone here materials to make new clothing, bedding and other supplies. I suggest taking a day to regroup and use it while we confer and compare notes."
8. Governor
Miles had Thorn re-assigned to the crew quarters, while he and Eva took over the man's personal cabin. (Miles had his tent, but decided it'd look better if he were in the established command post. Besides, he could hide that extra power of his until he was more sure of his position.) He rested just long enough to get his stress boxes emptied.
Eva sat on the hard wooden sleeping platform, trying to calm down. "I stabbed my own crewman."
"You gave fair warning, and we were under threat of violence. He survived, too." The man was being tended for a major wound in the sense that someone was trying to do a Heal roll on him.
She said, "When the healing rules changed, did you have something to do with that? We all got a notice."
"I made a complaint about the default skill levels, yeah."
Eva hugged him. "Thanks. We now have to figure out if we're doing a raid on the dragon, or what."
"Right away? No. If I'm in charge, I have an obligation to get people equipped comfortably. Besides, it'll help us build support."
Miles got to work by casting his first spell of the scene: a roll of white wool cloth, then copies of that. "GMs," he said. "Isn't this takeover worth a milestone?"
[You are correct. This successful reunion and rest period marks a major milestone. Again, gain the swapping benefits of a minor milestone, and a skill point, and a point of refresh or a stunt.]
As planned, Miles swapped Mind and Survival around, then upgraded Magic, so that he now had boosted spellcraft with an average of just 1 backlash damage. "What are you doing for yours, Eva?"
"Thinking about it. As far as I know, we two are the only ones to even get stunts or have multiple aspects."
"That's consistent with the south crew. And you said you're getting 3 fate points a session instead of their 1, right?"
She nodded. "I haven't told anyone else that, yet. It's... why I went out on my own, actually. I was marked as special, and I figured you were in the same boat, somewhere."
"I'm glad you did. I would've expected Thorn to interrogate you about the rules if he made the connection to your horrible gambling operation."
"Oh, he saw it right away and demanded an explanation. Sensible, really. I explained the basics, and remarked on the fact that 'we' were underpowered characters. He wasn't persuaded by the hint that going out and exploring would make us stronger. I gave up arguing, and didn't mention that I had more powers than them."
"Probably a good idea, considering how suspicious he is of us. The south version of him threatened me with a knife." Miles shook his head. "Anyway, do you want to get into magic? I know about some places where you can gain spells, though my powers are unique."
Eva said, "If I can slay the dragon, I want to be a dragon as a reward. The Vizier said I'd be able to pick the form of the special powers I get."
Miles blinked. "I thought we were going after the dragon to get information."
"We are, sure. But if the answer is that the GMs have turned us into digital ghosts, then why not ask to spend time in a fantasy world as a magical c
reature?"
"Playerist religion, again."
Eva said, "It really is. Miles, we in the Church had mostly given up. We'd dismissed most of our hope that we could get into an existence like this in a literal way. I mean, the chance to be immortal and enjoy ourselves in a world of magic and meaning. Instead we had to impose rules and quests for ourselves on the plain, heartless reality we were born in. But it now looks like the aliens, Hexapods, whatever, have already invented the kind of digital paradise we thought was impossible. If that's true, then we should enjoy it! And then tell all of humanity how to build whatever technology the aliens used on us."
Miles had assumed he would get through whatever quests the Hosts imposed on him, satisfy their demands, and eventually convince them to let the Hart's crew go. "You would want to stay here?" he said.
Eva shrugged. "With some changes. I'd want to make it plain that death isn't permanent, and give everyone cool powers, and probably not actually run the place on Fate rules. But better yet, once we've had time to talk with the aliens on more fair terms, we could go home and share the secret. You and I could sail the stars forever, not crowded aboard a starship but exploring a virtual world inside that ship. Living in a paradise of our own design until the stars burn out."
He boggled at the idea. A new starship that wasn't a cramped cryo-chamber, but a computer center hosting a virtual world the size of a planet, in regular communication with other worlds. Full of living minds for the entire trip. "But... but what would that accomplish?"
"Making the lives of the human race better, Miles. And it's not like we'd force everyone to participate, the way that's been done to us. And we could... well, if my guess is correct, we already have no physical bodies outside of a simulation. We can still interact with the real world using robots."
He felt his breath, his heartbeat, and the presence of his friend and fiancee. Those things seemed real. But he also saw the holographic interface of an alien game that invited him to manipulate this world's physics by "magic". He said, "How does all that change if the answer is, we're really floating in glass tanks with VR helmets strapped to us?"
"Then we still have mortal lifespans. That's... not as good. But it still means a level of technology well beyond ours, to make it this convincing. We're still obligated to spread the word and see what humanity can do with it."
Miles took a deep breath. "I'm not sure I'm on board with this. But you agree we need to win this game by whatever standard the GMs are using, right?"
"I do. And then we'll know more, and hopefully have some powerful new friends. We still haven't had a proper, honest first contact."
"Okay. We have a quest to do, then." Nothing much had changed, seemingly. But if they ever got out of here, there was a strong chance Eva was going to ignite a species-wide religious movement.
He smiled. He wasn't sure he agreed, but he couldn't fault her ambition to change the world.
Miles said, "So. Stunts. GMs, what can I get?"
The message appeared right away:
[Available stunts:
-Magic Carpet: Levitate cloth objects carrying up to 300 kilograms.
-Tangler: +2 to create advantages in combat by entangling a foe with cloth.
-Seven Veils: A spell to surround yourself with a shield of whirling cloth, granting Armor 2 for a scene.]
"All my options are magic-related," he said, and recited them. "I like the idea of a magic carpet; can I steer it with Magic or is that Ride?"
[Either.]
Eva said, "My options are a Melee bonus to hit someone attacking you; a once-a-session Athletics gimmick; and a non-combat Athletics trick to get perfect balance. This is only my second stunt."
"Flying is hard to turn down," Miles said.
"I know! One of many reasons to be a dragon. I think I'll go with a straight-up Melee boost for when we need to fight one... Aww, I forgot about the caps on having too many high-level skills."
"What's that, again?"
"The skills stack up like columns, or at least that's the standard rule. You can't have more level 4 skills than level 3, more 3s than 2s and so on."
So Miles couldn't boost Magic to 5 without getting another 4 and shuffling other skills around. That was fine. "The GMs let me ignore that once in return for fixing the 'mistake' afterward."
Eva paced, thinking. "For your stunt... That Seven Veils one is actually pretty good."
"We need some non-combat ability too." They pondered the options. Miles said, "I'm not getting much use out of 'Master Artificer'. Time to replace that aspect."
Eva said, "Time to be something different?"
He wasn't captain of Hart, nor aiming only to be governor of one of two settlements. "I'm Ambassador To the Hexapods. Figure I'm going to want that."
Also, since he was planning to rely on Magic for offense, there was little point in keeping his level 1 Shoot skill around. He swapped that out for a level of Melee, so he'd have a little unarmed defense the next time something chomped him.
Eventually, Miles ended up with:
Miles
Fate Points: 3 (Refresh 3)
Ambassador To the Hexapods
Engaged To Eva
Need To Learn Why I'm Here
Fateweaver
Skills:
4: Magic
3: Mind
2: Craft, Survival
1: Melee, Athletics, Toughness
Stunts: Magic Bolt, Workshop Tent, Got You Covered, Stately Pleasure Dome, Magic Carpet
Stress: Body [][][], Mind [][][][]
Consequences:
2:
4:
6:
As Eva had to point out, upgrading Mind to 3 had a side benefit of giving him a fourth mental stress box, capable of absorbing another 4 points of mental or magic harm. Short of having to cast a lot of different spells quickly while being called mean names, the Magic skill was probably pretty safe from now on.
Eva's skills and stunts read, according to her:
Melee 4, Athletics 3, Healing/Notice 2, Mind/Toughness/Stealth 1
Stunts: Battlefield Scout (+2 to create advantages using Notice to spot terrain to climb/balance on), Perfect Balance
Miles began rolling cloth out of the hut and turning it over to the crew, saying, "We have an unlimited supply, but you'll need to make sewing tools." He began creating thread as well.
Samatra watched him casting his spells. "That isn't anything like what we can do. The few of us who picked Magic for a starting skill got directed to --"
Miles said, "A magic canyon where you learned basic spells to enhance tools?"
"What? No, it's a hilltop. But then Captain Thorn forbade anybody else to wander off and find it, once we'd gathered." He said, "A couple of us were wondering, what the heck were you doing all this time you were missing, Miles?"
He sighed. "We need to have a meeting," he said. "Let's convene one over dinner."
* * *
It was getting cold that evening, though the town was mostly outside of the dragon's frosty territory. There had been some hunting of the yak-like beasts that wandered in this area, so there was meat and some bone and leather to work with. The ease of crafting in this world had led to the first sewing kits and coats being made in just hours, along with simple blankets and pillows. One of the crew said, "This will be our most comfortable night out here yet. We've been shivering."
"Why did you pick this spot?" asked Miles.
"Water, wood and meat."
There was endless fuel for the fires, too. Miles fed more scraps into one of the cooking flames and said, "I can't directly help you with food, but we can take a day or two to completely gear up. And then, we need to decide on our next step."
Eva briefed them on the existence of a duplicate town, containing copies of the crew. She and Miles had been uneasy about whether to reveal that information to everyone, because of the disturbing implications of fake people or brain duplication. Thorn certainly hadn't taken it well. They'd decided to say it anywa
y, for the sake of getting as many allies as possible who understood the situation.
There was a clamor from the assembled crew. Thorn was present, sullen in a corner but listening. The guard Johnson was near him and bandaged from the fight. Johnson said, "Can you prove this?"
Eva said, "Sure. We can go to Hartstown and meet the other crew. Along the way, we can stop by the Wind Shrine to get magic for anyone who has that on their skill list. It's also possible to swap skills around to gain it if you haven't."
Miles added, "Our overall goal is the defeat of the dragon Iskandar. I learned its name because I've been in its lair, seen the terrain, and fought its guards."
"Why would we do that?" asked Johnson. "Why should we risk our lives?"
Miles said, "Because we've been contacted by the aliens and promised vital information about what they've done to us, along with additional power."
"Power for you."
Samatra heckled the man. "Hey, Johnson, where did you get those bandages? And that blanket you're keeping warm with?" Other people laughed.
Miles smiled despite his own nervousness at working the crowd. "That's why I'm focusing first on making sure everyone here is as comfortable as we can be, given the frontier conditions. I'd like to organize a party to visit this magic hilltop some of you found, so that anyone who wants access now can get it. I won't stop you if you feel like wandering off unauthorized, but I strongly suggest grouping up, and I'm willing to come along if you want. Then with that overland travel experience, we can do a trip to the Wind Shrine and onward to the south settlement."
A crewman said, "But what are these other people in the south fort? Alien impostors?"
"That's part of what we're trying to determine. But I think we can get them on our side."
He'd beaten Thorn once, and he could do it again if he needed to.
* * *
They spent a day setting up everyone with warm clothing, and the base with bedding and partitions and insulated tents so that people could have more living space. There'd been no air attacks here yet, and against a dragon a roof would be useless, so he didn't push for one. He did set up a large enclosed gallery, though, and travel tents and bandages and padded armor.
