Was paired with a Mer she found rough.
She huffed and she swore,
And muttered, "What for?"
"This teamwork is nonsense enough!"
- Goldie Honorhide.
“Makara,” I started, “how serious were you about joining us as a team? Were you thinking long term, or just to complete this contract and cash up and split.”
“I was thinking long term,” she glanced at Goldie, “but now I am not so sure.”
“Well, now is your decision time.” I said, “If we as a team decide to walk away from this, would you leave it and come with us, or will you keep trying to get into that cave?”
“Are you going to walk away?” she asked.
“It is still undecided,” I said, “Goldie wants to. Yoboc is still assessing the risks. I am unsure. I have never been concerned about having many coins, so I could go either way from that perspective. The question is, will you choose the team or go your own way if we choose the option you don’t like?”
“What about her?” Makara said, pointing to Goldie. “Will she help if we don’t walk away?”
Yoboc answered, “The three of us are tied together by something stronger than coins. Goldie and I have worked together for thirty years. She will be grumpy, but she will stick with the team regardless. What about you, lass? Will you walk away with us?”
This was obviously a difficult decision for her. She thought about it. She looked at the three of us and glanced out to sea.
Goldie grumped under her breath. I think she was trying to make her leave.
I saw Makara pull out the Blue Bastards Mercenary ID and then another trinket I couldn’t see properly. It was probably something that reminded her of her mentor.
Yoboc interrupted her, “I am going to take the first watch. I suggest you all get some sleep. We will hear what your decision is in the morning, lass.”
Godie got up to make herself comfortable, and I stripped off to her wolf whistle. I am pretty sure that was automatic at this stage. I transformed into my bear form and snuggled down comfortably for the first time since the fight. Felix was pleased as he liked sleeping against me in my bear form. I drifted off to sleep.
I was woken for my shift on watch and shifted to my humanoid form for it. I mapped the stars through the light cloud cover using my Clearsight. It pushed my Map to level 8. Two more to get it to Journeyman level. I flick through my star maps, watching the stars move across the sky in the jerky instances that I mapped. I compare the maps with the first ones, and the stars are not always in the same place as they move across the sky. Over time, they move. I have an inkling of why, as we are moving south, and that is partly how we navigate by the stars. There is more there that I don’t understand yet.
Makara stirred in her sleep. I wonder how long it took her to go to sleep. I think I would kind of like her to stay with us, but it would not be the end of the world if she left.
Do I want to open that gear cache? If we find it, I am guessing we will be diverting to wherever the Chelonian School is based. I don’t mind where we go as long as it has a good Lore Society with information on the stars and other astral phenomena for me.
What is the best case here? We open the cache and retrieve the safe and deliver it to the Chelonians without anyone else knowing about it.
Problem number 1. We don’t know how big this safe is. How large is it to move, and can we hide it? If I can’t carry it, then we will have to make a barge and move it by sea. That greatly increases our risks as one of the people searching for it owns a fleet of ships. It would be best if we could travel overland. If we can’t travel overland, then we are best at moving its hiding place and giving the Chelonians the location. It is their problem if somebody else finds it first. The only problem is if they don’t see that as their problem and blame us.
If we open the cache and it is not there, we take what is there and walk away. We hand in the kill bounty, and we are done. If we can’t even get in there without extended effort, then I think we should just walk and provide the coordinates to the Chelonians.
I think we should try to get in and see what is there. That sounds like my decision, but we will get out if there is trouble or it takes too long.
If Makara decides not to join the team, we leave her to it. She can do whatever she wants, and we can continue with our previous plan. However, if Doomsday Doreen is in World End, we should skip trying to catch a ship there.
Being hunted by an assassin sounds really scary as well. Lots of stealth, blade and poison skills. Probably. I definitely want to avoid that.
We have never really discussed how we make decisions as a team. I wonder how others do it? Is it up to the team leader to make the decision? Is there a vote or something? I will have to discuss it with Yoboc. I consider him to be our leader and I am sure Goldie does as well. If Makara joins us then she will have to follow his lead too. That might be a sticking point as Mer and Dwarves don’t seem to get along.
I wonder what Makara will decide. I am sure she can swim back to Asasaga or wherever she is from. She is stronger than me, and she is definitely one of the fastest things in the ocean. She can outrun trouble. Why wouldn’t she go back there? She must have family or friends there. Why join with an unknown and incompatible team? Surely, she could find a more compatible team back in Asasaga. There is more she isn’t telling us, isn’t there?
I watch Makara rise before dawn and head down to the beach for a swim. She took her spear. I guess that is how she thinks best, just like I watch the stars.
I reached down and patted Felix. He had already levelled his Olfactory to Apprentice. I guess he is using it more than Nightsight. He is not a young dog. Every now and then, I see Yoboc go quiet and realise it is mostly when he relies on Sheila and misses her. Am I going to be like that with Felix? I will miss his quiet, steady presence; I already know that. Bonds extend their lifespan over normal animals, but I don’t know how much. I doubt it will extend it a lot when Felix only has five years or so left.
I decided to give my status sheet a good look. My progress has definitely slowed. My classes are not levelling at the same rate, so I am not getting attribute points like I used to. This is normal, but I had a year of very fast levelling, and now I seem to have come to a stop.
Skills are where I can improve the most. I need to level my existing skills and learn new ones, especially ones connected with my affinity.
Resistances: Cold +37, Pain +5, Heat +5,
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Skills:
Novice:
General
Weapon Repair 4, First Aid 2, Cooking 4, Trapping 2, Spiritual Manipulation 4, Mask Status 4, Ocean Camouflage 4,
Fighting
Crushing Bite 4, Death Strike 2,
Senses
Lore
Anatomy 4, Troglobite Lore 3, Sapient Lore 4,
Astral
Void Sensing 4
Apprentice:
General
Fishing 7, Tracking 9, Tremor 6, Identify 8, Mining 8, Drawing 8, Subterranean Camouflage 5, Animal Bond 7, Map 8, Breath Control 5,
Fighting
Quick Claws 5, Unarmed Combat 7, Shield 7, Spear 6, Throw Weapons 7, Axe 8, Tough Hide 7, Small Blades 7, Spiritually Tough 6, Seismic Smash 5,
Senses
Clearsight 8, Hearing Aid 5
Lore
Arctic Lore 9, Animal Lore 7, Plant Lore 7, Herb Lore 6, Mineral Lore 5, Monster Lore 5,
Astral
Cosmic Aura 7, Frigid Void 6.
Journeyman:
General
Common 13, Sprint 10, Arctic Camouflage 10, Transform 10, Carving 10, Stealth 10, Dwarvish 10,
Fighting
Senses
Nightsight 14, Olfactory 11, Spiritual Sensing 11,
Lore
Master:
Affinity: Astral
Monster Kills: 1
Bond
Felix. Huskie Dog.
Resistances: Cold, Pain, Heat,
Skills:
Novice:
Nightsight,
Apprentice:
Power Running, Bond, Olfactory,
Journeyman:
Endurance Running, Team Leader,
Affinity:
Astral
I have decided on my priorities. I am going to concentrate on my Bond with Felix and see if I can learn Endurance Running and teach him Sprint. Secondly, I agree with Yoboc that Cosmic Aura should be my priority, and I see that Void Sensing is almost at the Apprentice Level. I am going to try and push that over the hump, as my Astral affinity is my next priority.
Tracking is near Journeyman level, so I should be able to push that over and teach it to Felix. I should also work on levelling Mask Status, as we can meet people anywhere. Then there is the mental shield thing that Goldie was teaching me. I am still working on it, but it is not coming for some reason. Goldie thinks it is my lack of mental attributes, and I can’t change that at the moment.
I think that is a good enough list of priorities for now. In fact, that is a lot. Felix is first, followed by my Affinity skills and then mental skills.
I settle down and watch night turn into day. Makara is not back yet. The dwarves are still asleep, but that is not unusual. Dwarves are not early risers.
I was starting to wonder if Makara was coming back. I stoked the fire, and Felix fetched some wood.
Yoboc and Goldie were stirring when Makara came back with a number of fish for breakfast. She was like me and is used to eating things raw but is quite partial to cooked food, especially with the right spices.
We quickly scaled and gutted the fish and set them to cook. I was nowhere near as good a cook as Goldie, but I can make breakfast, and it is edible—mostly.
We sat around, eating and waiting for Makara to start. She took her time savouring her breakfast. Will it be her last?
Eventually, she licked her fingers and said, “I have been considering things.”
I felt that was obvious. So did Goldie, who rolled her eyes and said, “And?”
“I have some questions.”
Yoboc said, “Well, go on. Ask your questions.”