Colonizing the Dark Continent (For Weiss Ritter)

[Xatarias]

Mauve toys idly with one of her pigtails, swaying to and fro, headless of the fact that her perch is more than two stories high. Your eloquent appeal to her better nature is met with a loud raspberry.


"You spoilsports make it all sound like this is all my fault! Here I was two days ago a humble indentured servant, working off my debt to society, and then everyone starts making for the docks screaming and hollering about how the jumpers are gonna get us. Now seems to me like that's a severe break in social order. Me and the boys here might be contracted into service, but that don't mean we lost our rights! Why should we stay and get poked full of arrows while the fat rich folk pack themselves onto ships safe and sound."


The mad maven flips her position, hooking her legs onto the roof's overhang, and swinging upside down. Mauve reaches into her tattered unmentionables and retrieves a crumbled and stained piece of paper. Oh gods, was that blood!?


"See, the boss man wasn't willing to make our freedom official-like even though he was leaving us to die. Took a bit persuasion and some burnt properly, but I managed to negotiate a fair and proper release from our bondage. Right civil, wasn't I boys?"

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel flinched ever so slightly as soon as Mauve's raspberry filled the air. One his footing subtly shifted to place him inches closer to Milly.


His fears seemed unjustified, at least for the moment. An entire gang of indentured servants desperate for their lives and freedom? Well, that certainly helped to explain the armed group's loyalty to their gleefully mad leader.


He flinched again when the contortionist pulled out her crimson-stained bit of paperwork. Very desperate for their lives and freedom, then. Nathaniel's eyes scanned over what text he could make out with practiced swiftness, though such contracts were probably old hat for him by this point.


"Alright...then you just happened to stumble across us on your way to the docks?" The young man's eyes flickered over Mauve's entrenched followers with naked skepticism. Perhaps it had been coincidence and caution that drove the armed servants to encircle them, but what now that Mauve had laid eyes upon her long lost former captain and would-be executioner? Was the mad maven really willing to give Milly all the time in the world to come around to her?


"Some of us intend to evacuate as well, but it's nothing we need to fight you over. There will likely be other ships to book passage on. News of Newport's...predicament will not spread instantly. It will take time for the commercial traffic to dry up,"

 

[Xatarias]

The dynamic has utterly changed. Mauve has turned from the avatar of destruction to a naughty child trying to dodge unwanted questioning. She looks everywhere but in your direction, feigning innocence with a pouty look... All while still maintaining that inverted position.


"Wwwweellll... Me and the boys might have had some fun on the way. I mean, there's all this good stuff laying around, if we didn't claim it, someone else would have."


Hard to argue with that logic given the cartfull of "re-requisitioned" material being towed by your company... That and the cannon.


"See, I had this idea: A town isn't all that much different from a ship," The mad gang leader intones like a lecturer delivering a prime piece of wisdom to her students. "Except it isn't wet, doesn't smell as bad, and there is an appreciably higher ratios of skirts to pants. So I figured, can't be much different taking over a town than a ship. You trash some things, beat up the naysayers, and stir the pot until everyone falls in line."


There is a massive rush of flame as a nearby vending cart collapses, one of its wheels rolling across the street pitifully.


"I might have overdid it just a teeny bit."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel couldn't quite decide whether it was better or worse that the mindless destruction surrounding him was apparently caused by something more akin overenthusiasm than true malice on Mauve's part.


"Well, you're somewhat correct-" The young man jumped at the rush of flame and heat that heralded the collapse of nearby vending cart. Then he cleared his throat and continued. "...except you generally don't have to worry about sinking a town, and it isn't mobile. You weren't planning on just staying here, were you?"


Nathaniel glanced at at some of the armed men surrounding him. Even if they, like their leader, were powder kegs in human form primed to go off now that they had their first taste of freedom after gods knew how long many months or years of indentured servitude, surely they knew of other frontiers they could make their mark in? Ones that didn't have an army of angry natives prepared to remove them by force sooner or later? Mauve was probably the only one to have a personal motivation to remain as well...right...?

 

[Xatarias]

Mauve executes a flip from her perch with a flare worthy of applause. Her chain's rattles against the ground as her lithe form tucks and rolls, absorbing the impact of the fall. You're starting to understand why Milly didn't favor an open fight with Mauve- you have a hard time tracking her with your eyes much less a pistol!


In an eyeblink, Mauve is level with you, her eyes looking you up and down and her head tilted at a disconcerting angle. You almost forget what your question was when she speaks.


"Wweellll, I figured this was a trial period. I've already done boats, so this was my chance to try things out land side. I like it here. Plenty of booze, pleasurable company, and no constables, policemen, or whathaveyou. Gods those types are such a bore, 'you can't take what isn't yours, Mauve', 'stop lighting things on fire, Mauve', 'ouch, you're hurting me, Mauve!'. I get enough noise up here as it is, I don't need someone adding to it."


She pats her temples as if giving hard evidence of additional residents within her skull... This whole negotiation this is looking worse by the-


"But most importantly, fate has saw fit to reunite me with my beloved snookums! We'll be together in this tropical paradise forever and ever and-"


She suddenly cuts off as Milly takes an involuntary step behind you. Mauve's eyes narrow once more in that look that sends shivers down your spine.


"-Unless there's some reason why my dear Milly can't reciprocate my unadulterated affections..."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel's eyes struggled to follow Mauve's awe-inspiring combination of sheer acrobatic prowess mixed with a seemingly impossible amount of flexibility. It wasn't hard to imagine how she'd managed to bend all of Newport to her will.


He reflexively tensed when she landed and closed the distance between them almost faster than he could perceive. The young man's heartbeat quickened. His powers weren't just a trump card now. If Mauve decided this negotiation was boring or not going to get her what (or who) she wanted, a strike against her very mind was likely going to be the only thing that could stop her from beating him down before the others could even take aim.


Nathaniel's mouth parted slightly to speak. Mauve's anarchic tendencies were all well and good, but the point about there being "safer" ports for that sort of thing remained.It wasn't her he needed to convince, but the gang of armed men at her beck and call. A mutiny over Mauve being eager to throw them all at a Forestfolk army just to spend time with Milly would utterly defang the threat she posed.


His body tensed, this time from something more more than merely being startled, as Mauve spoke and glowered at him. The blond glanced back over his shoulder at Milly for the briefest of instants and narrowed his eyes right back.


"What Milly does with her or anyone else's affections is her decision,"


Nathaniel's tone contained a steely note and his jaw clenched. It was as much an ultimatum as a quasi-reassuring statement.

 

[Xatarias]

(Charisma roll: 11)


Mauve's mouth opens and closes but the noise that comes out is more akin to that of a feral beast than human speech. Your entire party flinches as her hands clench and unclench, chains rattling ominously against the hard earth. Even Mauve's men seem uneasy at her reaction. Headless of the tactical advantage they possess, your group is well armed- and most of them can't have seen a Hillfolk before.


"You do want me to choose you of my own free will, right Mauve?"


Mauve jerks out of her conniptions as if slapped. Milly slowly, carefully begins pacing towards the madwoman, both hands raised.


"Remember what I said to you last time? Methods matter? You can't just take anything you want. Some things are given freely."


Mauve's bottom lip begins to quiver and her eyes well up.


"B-b-but Milly-"


"No buts. You deserved getting tied to that anchor and you know it. If you really wanted to earn my-"


"But deposing a rival in love is legal, right?" Mauve interjects. "That's in all of the stories! I won't do anything.... permanent."


Milly grits her teeth, gripping at her empty gun belt.


"Mauve, if you hurt Nathanial, I will never forgive you... Ever."


With that last word, Mauve begins bawling.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel's mind hardened as soon as Mauve's lips curled to utter her bestial cry. He could see her men flinching out of the corner of his vision. Good, it seemed to be sinking in that their leader was trying to drag them into a bloody battle over her love life. One good blow against the chain-wielder's consciousness would be enough to end it all before it began. The psychic equivalent of a point-blank canon shot, or as close to that as Nathaniel could muster with only a moment of prep time was primed to go off the instant a single one of Mauve's muscles tensed the wrong way.


Then Milly shouted and all that effort began to dissipate. Slowly at first, and Mauve's remark about eliminating rival's didn't help, but the young man relaxed both mentally and physically by the time he once fearsome mad woman was reduced to a bawling young maiden.


Nathaniel shot Milly a quick and thankful look before turning to address Mauve's men as much as the ringleader herself. "None of us want a bloodbath and there should be supplies to last all of us through the coming weeks so long as we stop burning what is left. More ships will come,there is no need for those of you who wish to leave to kill each other over the order of it."

 

[Xatarias]

Mauve's head snaps up as the grumbling of her followers grows louder. Desperately looking from side to side, she implores her men as they break ranks and disperse into the remains of Newport.


"Guys, come on! There's only- c-come on, I got you out of that mess! Get back here in the name of true love!"


"S-sorry, Mauve. You're not thinking straight again." One of them murmurs with a sincerity that surprises you. "Come find us when you're better, okay?"


"Y-you... I... Whahhahhahh!"


The inked gangleader falls to the ground and starts rolling in the dirt, pounding the ground with clenched fists. You take this as you're queue to become scarce. Even as you put several blocks between you and the site of confrontation, you can still hear Mauve's lamentations.


"You'll regret this, Milly! I-I can't believe you would put me aside for some.. Some boy! You'll be sorry! Sorr-"


"You know, normally she would have tried to snap someone's neck and light at least one building on fire," Milly muses, looking skyward. "I think this past few years have mellowed her a bit."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel exhaled a barely noticeable sigh of relief in spit of himself. Given everything that had happened on this continent since he arrived, seeing reason and diplomacy triumph was a pleasant surprise. Time would tell if this arrangement fared much better than the deal with the Forestfolk or the short-lived understanding with Cynthia.


As his followers turned to make off with their loot, the young man's gaze lingered on the shrieking ringleader. Mauve had lost this battle, but her personal crusade to claim Milly was anything but finished. How hard would it be to end it all with a lead ball to the back of her head or an eviscerating thrust of his mind against her's? Either would be quicker and more merciful than tying her to an anchor until her lungs filled with seawater...


Nathaniel lingered there for several solid moments, his mind steeling itself while his hand tightened its grip around his pistol. Finally the blond merchant turned away to join his comrades. The tension in his body remained even as Mauve's wails grew distant.


"You think so, Milly?" Nathaniel glanced pointedly at the gutted and burning remains of Newport. "I guess she was only temporarily planning to snap my neck to 'eliminate her rival in love'. Very...knightly of her."


He looked back over his shoulder with a frown. Gods, had he made a mistake? Another mistake? Executing Mauve in cold blood wouldn't have felt right, but what if she struck again? Maybe she wouldn't. Maybe the chain-wielding madwoman might even be good to have around if the Patron's forces threatened Milly, but was that a gamble he should take just because of his feelings in regards to the alternative?


"...What did she do that made you try to kill her, anyway?"

 

[Xatarias]

Milly gives you a sidelong glance.


"I didn't. Try to kill her that is."


Seeing your confused expression, the buxom corsair sighs and continues.


"You might have noticed, but Mauve is a little bit... Volatile? And in spite of a captain's combat and navigational authority, a the deck of a freebooter is a more democratic place than you might think. Mauve wasn't always so unhinged. One day she just... Snapped. Said she couldn't stop the voices from creeping in, said she could hear the voices of others. Crazy thing was, people started to believe her."


She hesitates for a moment.


"She always was a fearsome fighter, no one could deny that. But after her episodes started, it was like she knew what you were about to do before you did. Her speed turned from some fiercesome into the ultimate trump card. Combine that with her madness, and people were convinced she was cursed. We were about to lose the ship after getting it just a few months before... So I had to make a decision."


"I chained her to an anchor a mile out of port, but when no one was watching, I slipped the pins on the fastening link. the thing broke away the moment the chain became taught. Not that anyone could see. I knew it'd give enough time for mauve to slip out... Probably."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"Well, she certainly doesn't seem to be holding it against you..," Nathaniel mused aloud. He wasn't sure if that made things better or worse.


Suddenly he came to an abrupt halt and glanced to Milly with slightly widened eyes. "Was she always into women?" He paused awkwardly and shook his head. "I mean...it didn't feel like she was using...'woo woo powers', but she wasn't trying to flog me into submission either. If she underwent a similar...process as me while you were on the high seas..."


Nathaniel gave Newport another quick glance. Was there yet another Gifted individual on this continent that would have been thrilled to see him dead or worse? The siren he encountered before made her need for offspring clear, but he remembered what the one from the Patron's own memories claimed. Something about wishing to add his "dark" song to their collective? Could Mauve's song have been similarly fascinating? Or at least her...enthusiasm and sheer stamina?

 

[Xatarias]

"Well, she certainly was never interested with any of the men on board," Milly says with a frown. "At first I thought that was just a woman being cautious. It's usually not a good idea to get entangled with relationships in our line of work. It's a needless complication... And an exploitable weakness."


Which is probably why Milly got in the habit of "outsourcing" her affections.


"But after Mauve's mental break, she was a lot more forward. I suspect she always had the preference, just kept it under raps... What? You don't think she had a visit from that scaled slut-bag?"


All things equal, if the ready-and-single siren was a slut-bag, you wonder what title your little tryst had earned you. Things certainly got more complicated since you and Milly began your... Relationship? Understanding? Back in Avalon, things were far better defined and regulated when it came to courtship. You wouldn't be caught dead alone with a woman of interest without a suitable chaperone present, not without an expressed promise of betrothal. But Milly wasn't a highborn lady and... Could you even call yourself a gentleman anymore?... Times change quickly.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

"I see..." The barest hint of emotion flickered across Nathaniel's reserved expression. Where exactly did that put Milly's relationship with him?


...No, that was ridiculous. How many times had the buxom buccaneer made it abundantly  clear he was more than just a protracted fling to her? And what complications could arise that the two of them together couldn't overcome?


"Possibly. Maybe not that one in particular, but it would fit all the same. Alestra claimed each Gifted individual has their own specialty or quirk to their...'woo woo powers'. It matches up with what I've seen, and if Mauve got them from a similar source, then maybe all those other people's memories remaining ever-present in the back of her mind..."


...Complications that couldn't just be shot, stabbed, or mind-controlled away. A song powerful enough to compel and entire crew of hardened sailors to dash themselves across a rock had been involved in his tryst with the siren, but he hardly had that excuse when it came to Milly and Telai. Those came even before he needed company from more than dubiously loyal soldiers and semi-hostile natives to keep him grounded against the Song pulsing inside his mind. Those...gods, how would his family react if they found out those had been done of his own free will?


Nathaniel's gut twisted and his jaw tightened.


The thought seemed so distant and abstract as to almost be funny. He was as far from Avalon as one could get short of vanishing into the unknown entirely, with the vast powerbase of a ruthless madman on one side and an army of natives likely drawing up contingency plans to besiege him on the other, and one of the things that frightened him the most was hurt feelings and some social disapproval? But it was his family and everything they'd built...all the hopes they had for him...what would wait for him across the sea even if he did win here with his mind and body intact...?


Then again, how much about all this did they know? The Patron had made some systematic efforts to recruit other Gifted into his Syndicate, the Lentani had Claire from somewhere else altogether...had the Brightland clan held their own against such rivals in spite of such unnatural powers, or were there secrets even his father and all his mothers weren't willing to share with a child that seemed more likely to spend his time in a library or counting house than the bleeding edge of the Brightland business empire?


Damnation. Forget time changing quickly, it sometimes felt like his entire world was warping into an unrecognizable parody of what Nathaniel thought he knew back on Avalon's gentle shores.

 

[Xatarias]

Milly gives you a look but doesn't say anything more. You get the feeling that she's getting used to your prolonged mental exertions. The redhead falls out of step with you after giving a reassuring squeeze to your upper arm. A few moments later, you can hear Milly's "captain voice" chewing out some unfortunate member of the company for some minor infraction.


A tugging at your sleeve causes you to look down. The child you met in the warehouse district stares is stumbling along beside you, doing her best to keep up with your longer stride. She- this close you're able to tell for certain- holds up an eclectic collection of flowers for you to accept. Identical plants dot the nearby ditches, but the girl's reverence in offering them to you makes it impossible to mistake for anything other than a thank you gift.


Soon after, her mother quickly collects the child and murmurs an unintelligible apology. Even as she lifts her child up, the little girl stretches over her mother's shoulder, limp flowers extended.


Voices soon reach your ears as you near the company fort. You recognize Telai's normally mellow tones undercut with tension.


"-Understand. But you realize that these aren't normal circumstances. You and everyone else will have to wait until the Commander gets back."


"No you listen, Lieutenant. I spent the last week putting those walls up. It ain't right that me and mine can't stay safe behind them. Are you really going to turn us away while those fiends wreck the town and jumpers drive us into the sea?"


The fort comes into view and you spy a not-insignificant crowd of refugees, some with wagons and packs, but many with nothing more than the clothes on their back. Amongst them, you notice many of the carpenters and lumbermen that you had hired a few days after arriving shore-side. They along with your lieutenant congregate outside the gate- far too close for a real defense to be mounted, but still the remaining members of your company man the walls, shifting nervously as the group below becomes more raucous.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

A faint smile tugged at Nathaniel's lips when Milly gave his arm a reassuring squeeze and he allowed himself to feel tentatively good as he clutched the flowers given to him by the little girl. His world may have been turned upside down, but perhaps he would be able to regain some semblance of control over it. At least in the short term.


The young man came to a sudden halt at the sight of the burly laborers arguing with Telai while the men he'd left behind to guard the fort eyed the small army of refugees with naked unease. Nathaniel couldn't say that he was surprised, though. He'd seen the damage Mauve and her merry band had inflicted upon Newport for himself. Much more than just a woman, a child, and a band of youths with more desperate courage than weaponry had lost their homes and livelihoods on this hostile continent.


"I'm here now," Nathaniel announced as he strode up to Telai with as much dignified authority as he could muster. "Lieutenant?"


The request for a briefing was practically rhetorical. The fort had been constructed as an outpost to safeguard future investments and expansion, not a second town. Even with the better part of its intended garrison deserting, the barracks almost certainly couldn't support this many people at once. What Nathaniel really needed to know was Telai's thoughts on the matter and who she trusted to remain inside the fort. Mauve had been defanged as a threat and the Forestfolk were willing to give Newport the time it needed to actually evacuate unless the woodland's affairs were taking a very grim turn. Could he count on either of those facts to calm the townspeople down, and how severely would all these new mouths to feed strain their supplies?

 

[Xatarias]

"They, erm... Want to stay inside the fort, sir." Telai says rather deflatedly.


It doesn't take further exposition for you to see problem. There was no way you could fit several dozen refugees in the fort, much less feed them for weeks on end. Added to that, the men and women before you are almost entirely noncombatants. If it came to open conflict with the forestfolk or some other hostile faction, they would most certainly be more of a liability than an asset.


Turning them back towards Newport was unlikely to be well received, indeed, looking on each of the refugees' faces, you sense a certain air of deference and expectation. These people came to you with their problems. Finding some sort of accomodation for them might be a major inconvenience, but doing so would all but secure a loyal following.


"They just aren't going to fit," Telai murmurs, leaning in close. "And don't get me started on disease. If ever the jumpers decide to deny us freedom of movement, we're all going to be clinging to the walls. If you take these people in, start digging latrines is my advice."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Telai's words and, more importantly, her tone and body language confirmed Nathaniel's suspicions and fears.There was literally not enough room in the fort to house these refugees, even their bolstered supplies would be strained supporting them even making the most optimistic assumptions regarding the rate at which these people could be shipped to safety, and even the burly laborers among them were more likely to be dead weight than assets thanks to Laughingwind's ultimatum.


But what choice did he have? Even if these civilians were to meekly accept being cast back into the gutted and looted remains of Newport, could he really live with consigning them to that? Without even trying to help and provide for them?


The young man subtly glanced at Telai and nodded grimly. She was quite right. Most of the refugees would more than likely have to be packed together outside the fort, exposed to the elements to some extent or another until decent shelter could be assembled. You couldn't get a better breeding ground for sickness outside of some of the most detestable and neglected slums imaginable.


Nathaniel took a breath. The defering look in the eyes of the refugees didn't help his nerves in the slightest. However earnest their gratitude and loyalty might be if he could lead them through this ordeal, what good would it actually do him? Even if these people were not simply hoping to get back to more civilized lands as swiftly as possible, how much aid could they possibly offer him against whatever the Syndicate brought to bear next? Right now, all he felt when he gazed upon the desperate horde was more weight upon his already strained shoulders.


"We won't turn you away, but there isn't much room behind these walls. Those who are actually capable of manning and defending them must take priority within the fort, or else any protection it might offer any of us against the Forestfolk is illusory as long as they can simply scale them,"


His eyes flickered over the crowd to gauge their reactions. Given the desertion his ranks had suffered from, there might be some room left over for a few of the refugees within the fort itself. Perhaps that could be offered to the laborers? Telai and he were in agreement that the burly men would have at least some work cut out for them in the coming days. Plus, if anyone was likely to be able to fend off a raiding party or even Forestfolk siege in a pinch, it would probably be them.


"We can, however, share our supplies with you, work to assemble temporary accommodations, and provide security to ensure that the rest of this evacuation occurs in a more ordered fashion."

 

[Xatarias]

The builder stares at you for a few moments, incomprehension clear on his face.


"We'll help you out, so long as you pull your weight," Milly explains to the man. "We're going to hold out until you and yours are safely on sailing back-"


"We ain't evacuating," he says gruffly. "We all came here because we heard you was staying through. Everyone figured you'd be on a ship, same as every other blue blood, but you ended up staying..."


The rest of the crowd murmurs its assent, some nodding emphatically. Clearly your disagreement with Cynthia hasn't become common knowledge yet. They seem to be interpreting your recent action as that of some gritty hero, unyielding in the face of treacherous crime bosses and gibbering hoards of furry natives.... Well, whatever kept up moral right?


It occurs to you that these people are individuals of great affluence. Their coming to the Dark Continent was their gamble for a better life. Sailing back to the old world would mean giving up on a dream, not to mention embracing destitution since most of their wealth had been expended securing passage to Newport. You and your fort are the refugee's last hope at preserving a future that is looking more fragile by the hour.


"Nat," Milly whispers to you. "They're terrified. Say something."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel stared back at the builder. Oh gods, had the man understood a word he'd said? Well, standing here for the next couple moments struggling against every impulse he had to try and use plainspeak was going to undercut the mood even more.


He almost breathed a sigh of relief when his unlikely, but always dashing, knight in buxom armor spoke up to save him. Or so the young man thought. Nathaniel's body subtly tensed when man made his intention to stay, truly stay, clear. It wasn't just him. The entirety of the refugees wanted to make these lands, hostile though they were, their home as well.


His expression tightened. Was their interpretation of his actions flattering? Certainly. It even contained some measure of truth even if the townspeople had no way of knowing about the Syndicate or his true motives for wanting to remain here. But...gods, what did these people expect from him? To pry chunks of the forest away from the united and enraged Forestfolk? To somehow turn the sand and seawater along the coast into gold if Laughingwind grudgingly allowed them to stay? And what would happen when the Syndicate's replacement for him arrived with whatever forces and tools the Patron deemed necessary to subdue the Dark Continent with?


"I have business here...and perhaps less choice in the matter than any of us would like to thank," Nathaniel sighed. "The people who brought us all to this, that murdered the chieftain of the Forestfolk and turned them against us, still have designs for these lands and influence back in Avalon. Whether it comes from them or the natives, war will be upon is in the coming weeks. My home may be even less safe to me than remaining in these lands, but you all still have the chance to return to the old world and eek out your lives there if you're unwilling to risk them here,"


Nathaniel paced before the assembled crowd. It wasn't a motivational start and he didn't imagine Milly was thrilled, but he had to be sure these people understood what following him meant and that their loyalty wouldn't waver once things got rougher still. The desertion had hurt his forces, but the consequences would pale in comparison to desperate or disgruntled members refugees outright betraying him for the comforts the Syndicate might offer once they arrived.


"If you're sure this is what you really want...it won't be easy, but we are not without hope. It will take work, but the farmland we prepared can be restored. There are fish in the sea and I believe I will be able to hunt the beasts of the forest without risking the Forestfolk patrols. There are other, less hostile, natives we may be able to barter with. Hopes and dreams of a brighter future are what brought you to these savage shores and raised Newport from nothing. It will take courage and dedication to each other as well to stand against those who would see us dead or in languishing in chains of one stripe or another while they reap the fruits of our labor. We can have a future here, but I can guarantee precious little and we will all have to fight tooth and nail to protect it from those who would take it from us. Will you follow me despite that? Will you stand with each other and not let fear and desperation destroy all we may build here just as it destroyed Newport?"

 

[Xatarias]

You can feel the crowd's approval as you deliver your ultimatum. You have presented them a choice when disaster seemed all but preordained. The various builders and townspeople nod there assent as your defiant tone reaches is peak and man step forward when you ask for their cooperation. You have won them over... Milly, of course, steals their hearts.


"And a free forty acres for every family that stands with us!"


The split-moment of silence gives way to an ear-splitting cacophony as spontaneous cheers break out. Facing your buxom lover, you find Milly grinning sheepishly. Clearly she didn't think her outburst through.


"Hey, nothing like a bit of added incentive, right? Besides, it's not like we'll have time to argue over deeds when the jumpers are swarming over us."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel wasn't sure how how he should have felt about the refugees' response, but something about their silent determination and, dare he say it, grim optimism was contagious.


Not contagious enough that his eye didn't twitch right before the young man shot Milly a cross yet wide-eyed look.


"Forty acres...?" He grumbled. "Let's just hope it doesn't incentivize them to do anything that will get the Forestfolk to jump us faster..."


They may well have been playing with fire on that front. Laughingwind claimed to want to avoid shedding more blood enough to give them the weeks they would need to evacuate, and perhaps being able to point to a burning Newport would buy them a bit more time on that front, but he doubted Thornpaw had advised him to abandon the territory around the fort as quickly as possible just so he could grandstand in Laughingwind's wake. The Forestfolk were a group of fractured clans whose differences their new chieftain had papered over with a rousing speech. Even if Laughingwind didn't realize the people of Newport's true intent until after the Syndicate reinforcements arrived, who was to say the formerly coastal clans wouldn't take matters into their own hands?


"Well, we certainly do have more immediate concerns," Nathaniel said with a sigh as he turned back to the fort. Latrines to dig, temporary shelter to set up, supplies to estimate, ration, and somehow expand enough to care for his new followers...would he even have time to dig deeper into the Song's lessons? On the bright side, at least the coming weeks wouldn't be boring!

 

[Xatarias]

Seeing the confrontation deescalate, several of your men take their cues to descend from the palisade and help haul in the loot. The gathered townspeople look onward with desperate, envious eyes as the supplies are cataloged and directed to storage by Telai. The sleek amazon stoically carries out her task for the better part of an hour before the pitiful onlookers break her resolve.


"Alright, fine! It doesn't make sense to stack the stuff if it's going to end up in someone's belly in an hour or two. Drail! get a few fires going. We have a lot of people that need taking care of."


A sack of grain, some harvested local vegetation, and salted meat soon are compiled into a savory stew simmering in several kettles. While modest fare, it must look like a veritable feast to the tired and hungry folk of Newport. The children swarm in first, snooping in for seconds before the line even completes a full circuit. Telai is fair and conservative in dolling out portions, but the rate at which the food is consumed alarms you even so. Evidently, your lieutenant is also aware of this fact.


"They're going to be a lot less grateful when we're at half rations and turning them from the supply stocks at bayonet point," Telai murmurs to you while handing over one of countless bowls of steaming sustenance. "I don't know Nathanial, maybe we shouldn't have..."


She trails off as the small girl you rescued steps up for her turn and demurely accepts her ration before scampering off to her mother.


"We'll make it work."


She pauses in her work to wrap Milly's hand when the pirate attempts to filch a piece of hardtack.


"And how about you strip that shiny stuff?" Telai asks her. "We'll be needing everything of value held in common trust if we're going to hold things together. I don't know if some jumpers would be willing to part with food on the sly for some stolen jewelry, but I expect you to cough up it that proves the case."


Milly snorts at the words 'common trust' but still divests herself under Telai's withering stare, dropping the several shimmering bands of gold into her outstretched hand.


"Oh of course, lieutenant. Anything for the success of the mission. Always selflessly contributing, that's me." She goes to leave, but then turn as if just remembering something. "Oh, I guess you might be interested in some of the other valuables I pilfered, but then again...."


Telai smarts and you are left wondering what exactly Milly was referring to when the swaying waist of the redhead draws your eyes to the silken lace garment just barely peaking above her trousers. The pirate shoots you a wink before slipping past the gate back into the fort.


"We are not encouraging this." Telai growls. "The time she spent trying on pretty unmentionables could have been spent gathering more food! Can you believe- Nathanial? Nathanial!?"


(making a bit of an assumption on Nat's reaction but... Well, staring is what I would have done )

 

[Weiss Ritter]

(Oh yeah. Because Nathaniel has a fantastic track record against Milly's womanly wiles! Well...he actually did manage to win that card game, but considering how all that ended... )


Nathaniel watched the first of what would be many careful rationings of supplies to the starved people of Newport with mixed contentment and wariness. Even with the bulk of his forces deserting, the Brightland expedition had succeeded in not only salvaging Newport, but stopping the madwoman who turned a bad situation nearly hopeless from ruling over the ashes. Whatever lingering concerns he had about pride or foolishness compelling him to pointedly reject Cynthia's terms for leaving the shantytown behind for the relative safety of her island fort were gone. Now he just needed to worry about providing for an entire settlement's worth of people in a land that was quite hostile enough even without an army of Forestfolk or whatever the Syndicate intended to send.


His gaze flickered over to Telai. "We'd simply be turning them to the sea inst-"


The child approached, unwittingly silencing them both. Telai's words echoed his own thoughts. What was the alternative, really? Delivering a speech meant to crush what little hope these people had? Effectively holding them prisoner and forcibly marching them onto the next ship that arrived?


Not that it made their present situation any easier. While his amazonian lieutenant berated the buxom buccaneer, Nathaniel contemplated his own contributions to the food situation. Psychically hunting through the forest would help, especially if he could find something large like the beast Agatha tried to murder him with, but he couldn't count on that to feed this many mouths. Especially if the Forestfolk took issue with it. Farming would take time they may not have had, and trading with the Hillfolk would still mean braving the Forestfolk territory...


"Other valuables?" Nathaniel snapped out of his reverie with a puzzled frown. Why was Telai making that face? What could Milly have possibly found that-Oh.


Heat flooded the young man's cheeks as his rather impressive imagination almost instantly extrapolated everything from that one little hint Milly gave him. Gods...damn it, it didn't make any sense! He'd seen her naked! How could the thought of her wearing some clothes, no matter how scanty, tight, and flattering her to perfect bosom be even more arousing than-


"Pardon?" Nathaniel snapped to attention. His eyes were widened ever so slightly as he cleared his throat. "I mean, I heard. I just...I don't know, Telai. We had a very heavy load even with Shen'ri and the others aiding us. Two scraps of silk weigh so little as to not even count towards that, so I don't think it really mattered..."


...Damn the Syndicate! They probably could have had a lifetime supply of silk undergarments if Agatha hadn't destroyed the trade agreement!

 

[Xatarias]

"Typical man," Telai mutters before tossing you her ladle and stalking off. Manning the soup line isn't a task you are accustom to, but it does provide an opportunity to ask them questions and ascertain what tasks they could be used for. After all, it doesn't take much mental effort to ladle soup, you might as well finalize a plan of action for the coming days.


Defense and supplies were the immediate concerns that dwarfed all others. With so many mouths to feed and enemies encroaching on all sides, the land surrounding the fort needs to undergo a lot of construction and supplied with a flow of regular provisions. That meant work parties and a command structure. Where you had started out with a select group of specialists, you now find yourself mayor of a veritable village. There is a lot of potential to be tapped with this many followers, but their efforts need to be directed efficiently in order to ensure everyone's survival.


Next was diplomacy. While you had skirted conflict back in Newport, you sincerely doubt that the anarchic elements of the ruined city will be eager to play nice. In terms of useful building materials, weaponry, and food, the ruins of Newport are a treasure trove. Assuming every excursion didn't result in a street fight.


While Laughingwind clearly outlined her people's policy of the containment and expulsion of all humans, your mercantile blood senses an opportunity for negotiation. No matter how skilled or numerous their warriors, it would cost the Forestfolk dearly to conduct an all-out war. After all, it was one thing to demand a fair trade while imprisoned deep within enemy territory and quite another to parley with a settlement fortified with a battery of cannons at your back.


Oddly enough, the friendly faction in the region are Alestra's Hillfolk. You don't see how a trade route could be established through hostile jumper territory, but it was something to keep in mind. Maybe you contact Alestra in the Song's dreamstate again....


On that note, shoring up your mental defenses was also a priority. Beyond bolstering your party's mental defenses, you needed to fine tune your own abilities. Having been exposed to the wider psychic world, you are beginning to realize that your mastery of the song was amateur at best. Whether the finesse of Claire or the raw depth of experience of Alestra- even the elderly Threeberry managed to best you. If this was an arms race, you were definitely on the back foot... That needed to change (let the hate flow through you~)

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel flinched at Telai's words. Did she really have to bring his gender into this? Milly was the one gleefully finding luxurious undergarments to flaunt! And what about those piercings Telai went out of her way to get?!


He couldn't quite call having his husky amazonian right hand woman irritated at him a blessing in disguise, but the chance to personally get a feel for the refugees-turned-followers and ponder how to proceed was certainly a boon. Between Telai, the more tactically minded of his mercenaries, and the workers who had helped to build this fort in the first place, Nathaniel was reasonably certain organizing and directing the workflow wouldn't be a major ordeal. The question of where the materials to get it all done wouldn't be so easily answered, however. The remains of Newport were his first thought, but that would depend on Mauve's gang. Were they really planning to stay on these shores in their own makeshift settlement? Would they be gone with the next ship to arrive? And what of Mauve herself...?


The other option, at least where wood and food were concerned, was the forest. That would mean dealing with Laughingwind's people one way or another...but then, how many of them were truly her people? As impressive as her speech had been, the squirrel maiden felt such a display was desperately needed to hold her precious confederation together for a myriad of reasons. Thornpaw and those sympathetic to him may have been but a single faction within the fractured clans who might be more open to trade and some form of coexistence with humanity. Whatever reservations he might have had about preying upon such divisions were swept away by the memory of how the new chieftain had abused his trust.


In any event, that could be the only real path to setting up some sort of trade route with the Hillfolk as well. If the Forestfolk distrusted Alestra and Ruan's people even more than he and his, or if the methods and products of the Hillfolks' blacksmithing were a poor fit for Forestfolk needs compared to human wares, then Nathaniel's expedition still stood a chance of carving out a profitable role as a middleman between the two cultures. Conferring with Alestra to make sure such an arrangement was possible and worth the hassle would have to come first, though.


Which brought him back to the Song and power it offered. He'd held his own in a straight up clash with Claire and managed to startle Alestra with the raw power his mind could muster, but beyond a rudimentary understanding of how to conduct a psychic duel he was blind and ignorant. What would happen the instant one of his opponents who had made the powers he had only just begun to tap their life's work employed a technique or ability he had no understanding of? All Laughingwind needed to guarantee the success of her semi-harmless trap was his ignorance of the fact that it was even possible for the Forestfolk to possess the Gift as well!


Nathaniel couldn't permit that to continue, and he couldn't trust Alestra to teach him without weaving in some flaw or leaving out a crucial detail in his technique that would probably let her or anyone else who realized it dispose of him at their whim. The Song was dangerous, but he had no reason to believe that it could lie to him. It may well have contained the memories of the greatest Gifted fighters and scholars the world had seen. Perhaps it even contained information that would prevent anything on this continent from blindsiding him again. He was just going to have to take the time to find out once the matters that required his personal attention were settled.


One thing was certain though: the "negotiation" with Laughingwind was the last time he ever intended to negotiate from a position of weakness. Whether it came from the young man's followers, resources, or personal might, Nathaniel intended to find the strength to finally stop being a pitiable victim of this land and its terrors.

 

[Xatarias]

Interviews conducted along the soup line reveals a fair number of tradesmen of various types, but you are surprised to discover a majority of families with agricultural backgrounds. These individuals seem to have been promised verdant valleys and rolling hills of black earth- a veritable paradise for the poor tenanted farmer dreaming of a plot of land to call their own. Of course the con artists that dropped them off refused demands for refunds, favoring to fill their holds with much more lucrative trade goods.


Well their misfortune was a blessing in disguise. You couldn't ask for more hardy and earnest unskilled laborers. Directed by a few experts, you are confident that any construction efforts will move at a reasonable pace. Even faster if you could persuade Shen'ri and his packmates to abandon their favorite sun patches and help with hauling.


"Well seeing as we've got little in the way of lumber, it's going to be tents and lean-tos for the first few days. We can build more as soon as we get the stuff to do it.," Tiana says to you through a haze of pipe smoke. The rugged female blacksmith is as close as you could find to a spokesperson for the townspeople and she also has a firm grasp on all matters crafting. "Spars from the docks, or salvaged boards from anything that isn't burnt out in town would be best. People will want houses and walkways, but honestly? A well is what we need. There are already fights over what little water we collect from the rains. With your permission gov'nor, I'll see the boys get on it tomorrow."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Well, the farmers' predicament may have been a blessing in disguise, but Nathaniel couldn't help but note that it could have been an minor miracle if not for the Syndicate's machinations or Laughingwind's policies. An entire plantation of the sugar plant and gods knew what else he might have been able to survey and harvest if the forest had not been closed off to him could have been well on its way to being erected by now. Instead, they would all have to settle for using all that eager labor just survive while he struggled to find something else productive for the people to do after that.


Nathaniel's gaze flickered from Tania to the remains of Newport. They were certainly on the same page there. Even setting aside whether he wanted to risk antagonizing Mauve's band or the Forestfolk less, wood from the burned and gutted settlement would be much easier to work with than trees that would need to be cut and converted into useful materials.


"Do so. Let me or my officers know the instant there are any problems with that,"


The young man nodded sternly. Tania was absolutely right. A lack of water would kill them all faster than almost anything short of violence or poisoning even if his expeditions hadn't managed to salvage some supplies from Newport. Getting a reliable supply would have to be one of their top priorities, and one they would have to accept nearly any risk to fulfill.

 

[Xatarias]

Tania soon leaves with a few men experienced in surveying. Hopefully with what daylight remains they will find a nearby site suitable for well-digging.


It doesn't take long for the newest additions to your company to settle themselves near to the fort, their improvised tents and lean-tos forming a loose circle along the palisade wall. Already the tramping of many feat back and forth has reduced the surrounding scrubland into so many patches of hard packed dirt. The mess was manageable now, but you know that the climate is sure to bring rains and with it mud- lots of mud. Telai's recommendation of latrines as a means of staving off disease might be a fruitless endeavor if everyone is forced to live and work in so much muck. Your fort is sturdy and practical, but it was never intended to accommodate so many.


"We've got our work cut out for us," Telai murmurs next to you as you survey the scene from atop the walls. "I've got the men assigned to watches. Hopefully we'll get some of the newcomers acquainted with the right end of a musket, but for now everyone is going to be pulling double shifts. I know Drail made a show of leaving, but he's a good soldier. I'd like for him to be my second. Seems prudent to establish some chain of command with so many more people... That is, unless you have some other idea."


The question doesn't need voicing: what to do with Milly. The pirate certainly had experience commanding men, but you could hardly call the deck of a freebooter a formalized setting.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniell took a breath as his gaze swept across the small village of tents forming under the shadow of the fort's walls. It merely confirmed what he suspected: that proper shelter would have to be erected as quickly as possible and at almost any cost. Even a minor disease spreading among the refugees could spell doom for their settlement if it was able to sap enough of their strength and morale. If they couldn't salvage from Newport, then he would just have to gamble on the Forestfolk not taking enough offense at losing some of the outskirts of their land to seriously retaliate.


"Yes we do..." Nathaniel murmured dryly back as Telai took her place beside him. Mauve's renegades were the wild card in all of this. They probably wouldn't be keen on taking orders from yet another high-society sort, even with the refugees vouching for him, but perhaps some sort of alliance or cooperation could be arranged? Whatever their differences, the Forestfolk and the other dangers of this continent only saw their common humanity.


"I have no objections to that," The young man looked thoughtful, though. Drail was as trustworthy as any of the soldiers who hadn't deserted outright. If Telai vouched for him as an officer, all the better. The unspoken concern about Milly, though...yes, that needed to be sorted. Quickly.


"She isn't a soldier in the same vein as you and the remainder of the company, but she does have experience commanding in a more...informal setting," Nathaniel's gaze pointedly flickered across the refugees encamped below. "I'm fairly certain the vast majority of our new recruits aren't military and not all of them may take to it well. It may be best if she handles the ones who don't and continues to answer to me,"


He glanced back at Telai to measure the southerner's response. There was a certain amount of...tension between the two he was wary of. Not that he could claim to be entirely free of bias either, but the last thing this struggling company needed was infighting right now.