Back at Base
When Travis left, Clyde was worried. Not so much that people wouldn't listen to him, but he worried that people would need to listen to him. He was not built for leadership, at least not in a quasi-miliary setting. Maybe in an academic one.
All he wanted to do was research magic, teach Omar, and keep setting up the base using his manipulate wood spell. He had assumed that Paul would try to horn in on his leadership position anyway, but it turned out that all Paul wanted to do was work and teach his specialty.
Everyone was pretty focused on doing what they do. The only people that were even a slight problem were Vincent and the married couple, Trevor and Wendy.
You would have thought that their losing pretty badly in the fight vs Destro’s top people would have been a come-to-Jesus moment for them; it wasn't. They still considered the way they fought to be superior.
Even in the face of a literal professional telling them that it wasn't. To be honest though, they were mostly harmless. He had to ‘order’ them to put in the required 2 hours a day training with Paul, but besides being annoying that was the worst of it.
Paul and Clyde had come up with a training schedule; he was very open to ideas and suggestions, leading me to believe that for whatever reason, he just didn't like Travis. Paul really was an easy-going guy.
Since Travis brought Javy, who was going to be the #2 on the strike force team, Paul mostly focused on basic weapons and combat training. He had no experience with things like spears and swords, but he still knew more from his time in the military than anyone else.
He was learning that one of the problems training NPCs that learned fighting through a skill book was physical. As PCs ranked up, their physical prowess evolved. No one knew how much or what factors dictated it; people could just tell that they were in better shape.
NPCs, however, were in the same shape. Take Wendy, for example. Several weeks ago, she worked in an office, wasn't overweight or anything, and ate healthy but didn't exercise much. So when she started training, no less fighting, fatigue would set in fast.
That is actually the basis of their argument as to why their technique was fine. They said they were just tired by the time they fought the two rogue-type enemies.
Paul thought that was bullshit, but he picked his battles. Travis needed to come back with more talented people for this faction, or honestly, he didn't think they would last long.
---
Travis and his party sat down in the Sheriff's office. They were given some water, which was good because back at base supplies weren't plentiful. They weren't going to starve anytime soon, but something would have to be done eventually.
The Sheriff was off checking on his people. He shouldn't be much longer now though. They had mostly sat in quiet until Gary turned to Travis, “can you check my stats, Trav? I'm dying to know if I am close to 5.”
Travis really liked to do these types of things at one time when they could settle down and focus, but he understood that Gary was frustrated. Clyde used to be the same way, although much more subtle about it.
“Sure thing, Gary.”
He opened up to the Party page. Now that he was a faction leader, he had access to the entire sheet of anyone in his faction.
Gary - NPC
Race - Human
Tier 3/Level 5
Class - NA (not available)
Subclass - NA
Faction - Joint Task Force - Unranked
Alignment - Neutral
Base Attributes
Strength: 7
Intelligence: 6
Reflexes: 6.5
Endurance: 6.5
Charisma: 7
Secondary Attributes
Luck: 7 Willpower: 8.5 Perception: 5
Upgrade Points - 8
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Looks like you got there, brother,” Travis said with a smile. He got up and shook Gary's hand. “Congrats, man.”
Javy got up, and they shared a bro hug—very unnatural, but the mutual respect was apparent.
“Mucho bueno, amigo,” Javy said with a smile. Sometimes, Gary would give him a hard time about speaking English—mostly in jest—but Gary wasn't the most open-minded fella. At this moment, though, it was good cheer all around.
Until it wasn't, “So we are going to go back to base to get my book?” That was Gary in a nutshell. Presumptive, not asking if they can go or admitting that he knows it would be a pain in the ass but can we please go anyway type thing.
They weren't that far, but they also couldn't go back to base every time something changed, or they needed something; otherwise, they would never make any headway. That said, Travis had an idea.
“No, that was not in the cards (that puts Gary on the backfoot, so the positive mixed with a change taste less bitter), but it might open up a great opportunity to get some training. You fought great, and now that you have your book, it only gets better. Paul is training people all week, mostly just to train but what we didn't say was that roles will be developed over the course of the training.”
“You think I should stay back and work with Paul then?”
“I do. See if you can be the frontline fighter I always hoped you could be. Or if you will just be really good at keeping the base safe (little bit of verbal carrot and stick action).”
Javy watched in fascination; he actually had the highest charism in the faction. He hasn't gotten a chance to take it out for a spin yet, though that will change somewhat sooner then he thinks.
He knew Travis wanted Clyde with them because he also thought Clyde should be here. They needed someone who understood and could use magic. The problem was that they also needed people to learn magic, and that was Clyde's job at base camp.
Gary thought for a minute, only briefly considering whether or not Travis was trying to dump him back at the base. He was excited to share his war stories with everyone back home anyway. He was the type to get a hole in one and spend the next two weeks telling everyone he meets about it, strangers included.
“Okay, it be cool to tell my daughter the good news. Are we there yet?”
They all saw the crooked smile on his face and laughed. He did have some self-awareness.
Soon after, the Sheriff walked into the room, “Sorry to keep you guys waiting. That was good fighting out there. Though I fear what will happen the next time he attacks.”
“Do you know he will attack here? Are there other settlements around?”
“That actually leads me to something I want to talk to you about, and no, it's not for sure he will come here. Only if our luck holds up. Did you guys rank up?”
Gary jumped in first, “Nope, the boss likes to sit down somewhere quiet and drink tea before doing it.”
Travis gave him a flat look but took no offense. “It just seems like something that shouldn't be rushed. Why do you ask? Hey, what's your name, by the way? I'm tired of calling you sheriff.”
“Yeah, I hear that. You can call me the...” He trailed off.
“The asshole?” Gary said, scoring laughs from his party members.
“The sheriff, but I can't sneak a joke past you lot. But no, I don't have a name. Here I am boss, or sheriff, or badass mother fucker.”
“If you say so. What's up?” Travis wanted to get on the road.
“To answer your earlier question, there are other villages and settlements, some big, some small. You should have a mission at one; it's apparently under siege and needs relieving, but you have time. Weeks if not months.”
“Whoa, how big is dis fucking place, mang?” Javy asked, falling into a more casual speech pattern as fatigue and boredom set in.
“It's a factory that has been fortified; there are two PCs I think, who run it. But this place has been gearing up since day one. Both of the guys were hardcore gamers, so they have shops, an Inn, brothel, and are trying to set up guild halls.”
“I told them they aren't going to be called Guilds in this world; they are called Orders, but those assholes don't listen to shit.”
“You've been there?”
“Not technically; my counterpart used to run it before they came along. They never completed the mission; they just took it. By rights, we could have taken it back, but that was early on when the boss just wanted some organization.”
“The boss?” Travis asked. Everyone looked at the sheriff waiting for an answer.
“No comprende, no English,” he started laughing. “I ain't saying shit, just know we all have a fucking boss. Even you, MC.”
“Look, it's getting late; why don't you guys stay here, get a few hours of sleep early, and then wake up and catch that fucking monster that keeps killing my people? The reward has gone up, and there is a level advancement attached to this one.”
“You mean like experience?” Travis asked.
“Look at the big brain on Travis; you must have been talking to Clyde. But no fucknut, not like experience, level advancement. Not even close to the same thing,” he said with a face that signified he wasn't being totally serious but also wouldn't expand on it if you asked.
“How dangerous is this monster?” Travis asked.
“We really don't know. We shut everything down at night, but of course, people sneak out. At first, we rotated all able-bodied people to be lookouts. After the first one disappeared, I created a smaller defense force, and they took turns looking out. Now two of them have gone missing, as had one kid who was trying to get lucky with his GF.”
“How do you know it's a monster?”
“We have a tracker. The way he describes it, this thing is huge, but how can it be huge and also be silent. Sometimes I think he's full of shit. Tracking always looked made up to me in the movies.”
“It's definitely not made up; this guy might be full of it, but tracking is a science and an art. I want to talk to the guy.”
“Fine.”
At this point, the Sheriff called in his number two, who was going to show the guys to where they could sleep. As they were walking out, Travis hung back and asked to talk.
“Hey, listen, you said I could integrate this village into my faction; what does that look like?”
“Eager to take my place from me?”
“Well, no, but I do need more people. To be honest, this place is pretty open; besides the water supply and farm, I'd say it's a bad place for a settlement. My base can be defended; we just need more people.”
“Well, first off, I am fucking with you; you and PCs like you are supposed to take this place from me; I'm just a placeholder. Second, I hear you, but once we left this spot, it would be taken by someone else. That's why you should do the missions to integrate it; then you could bring the less combat-oriented people back to your base. Maybe use it as an administrative center.”
Travis looked at him thoughtfully, “What are these missions, man?” He asked in an exacerbated tone. When Clyde told him about fetch quests and similar type missions, he hoped those wouldn't be part of the game. He hated busy work as it was.
If he was the best man to run this village, he should just get to run it, or negotiate with this guy or convince the people, something. But not do a favor for five people in the village and get ten bottles of wine for Sandy, the shopkeeper.
The sheriff looked at him, thinking about something. “You would need to convince people that they should follow you for one thing. Then you would need to earn the trust of the three or four most influential people here. Nothing mundane like bringing back eight flowers for the alchemist.”
Travis chuckled at that, “Okay, can you send the missions to my journal? If you can, that's going to freak me out a little. What the fuck is going on in the world?”
“Word of advice, Travis, don't ask too many questions like that. Talking about it with your team is not a big deal, but believe me when I tell you this, you do not want the answers you are seeking. And sorry to say but yes, I can send them to your journal; it's done.”
“Look, I'm speaking out of place here, but I respect you; just get stronger. Strength in this game counts for more than it was supposed to.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning it was supposed to just be about killing monsters and doing cool shit with weapons and magic. It's turning out that abilities take on a life of their own. That's all I've got, now drop it.”
As he said that last sentence, he gave Travis a look that was so deadly serious he actually got a chill. Travis nodded and headed out of the house.
“Oh, by the way,” the Sheriff said in his regular half-serious tone again, “I have a chest here. If you wanted to get Gary's journal.”
The look on Travis's face almost made the sheriff crack out laughing.
“I'm just fucking with you, man. Well, I do have a chest, but I know you need to go back to base for something.”
“It's not that I don't want Gary here; I picked him for this trip. But I need Clyde more than I realized, and Gary can be a loose cannon.”
“No need to explain yourself to me; I'll send the tracker to your room in a bit.”