The problem with the team descriptor, Jonas thought, was that it did not provide direction. The only indicator would be whether or not anyone was in “range” to be truly considered to be in the team – the deciding factor if you got experience from combat or lair completion from final guardian defeat.
The health totals of the team hadn’t budged at all during Jonas’ trip back from Portsmouth, where HMS Northwind had landed earlier this morning. The three cavalry officer and Jonas had reported back at the War Department, where staff had told them that the Duke had already left earlier. So, Jonas had taken its leave from his temporary staff, expressed polite hopes they’d get to work again someday, and headed back straight to the Gate.
Of course, he had forgotten his employment papers and got delayed until one of the guards had recognized him and vouched for him. But now, he was at Gatepost, and, well, although it was Thursday, it was also New Year’s Eve. So, when he was half a block away from The Frozen Hog and the names in the team descriptor flipped to their in-range indicator, they merely confirmed his intuition that they were not out in Othary or Markandon fighting some creatures.
Now, would one of them notice?
He opened the door to the inn and found it packed. He had to crane his neck to check until he spotted Finn Murray making wild gestures at the back. He beelined for the Scotsman and was unsurprised to see the team at the same table.
Ira noticed Murray’s look of surprise, turned his head, and nearly jumped out of his chair, rushing to hold Jonas in his embrace.
“Look who’s back! Hey, Jonas, we missed you so much! It’s good to see you at last!”
The rest stood and clasped him, cheering.
“Made it just in time. Thought I would miss. Even if our modern ships don’t rely on the sail, weather can still delay you,” he said, once the hubbub had died down a bit.
“So, what are you doing here, Murray?”
“Thought I’d replace you in the team. I am trying to convince them to switch and take me instead,” the scot deadpanned.
Then he laughed, took a huge swig of ale, and corrected, “Was getting one with your guys and everyone else I know in Gatepost before heading back to me team. It’s a wild one, my first Hogmanay in the Labyrinth. Missed the previous year, we only arrived late January.”
“How do you scots celebrate the new year?”
“With lots of drinking, of course. And gifts, and fire dance. Although First Footing will be different at an inn. Dunno how that one works. Bah, we’ll see. To 1819!” he said, raising his mug again.
“So, how was it in the Colonies?”
“Yea, tell us everything.”
“You first? You look barely levelled up. I said get levels, not sit on your asses at the Hog.”
“Hey. We did work out. Guess what? One hundred!” Laura replied with mock anger.
“One hundred? Nope, I can see the team descriptor.”
“No. One hundred Strength!” she said, proudly.
“Wait, what?” Jonas said.
“Well, got the Milestone, and replaced my belt from one of the boars at the ruins.”
Jonas reflected on his current 77 in Intellect. Even with one missing Milestone, that said more on the gear than current progress. A few good pieces, like her heroic one, made quite an impact at their current levels.
“You always get lucky with the treasures,” he said.
The team laughed as one. Except for Laura.
“What?”
Ira took over the narrative.
“Well, we did a few runs while you were away…”
“Hope so,” Jonas replied.
“We didn’t do the last lair, we were waiting for you to come back. But we ran the molemen ruins again last week since we felt okay with the three elite pack. So we finish, and she goes to check the treasure…”
“And…”
“And she opens the box, and finds three items…”
Suddenly, Jonas could see it coming from, well, zones away.
“And this is such a fustilarian’s lair. A basic pair of gloves, a basic steel helmet and a lantern. Without its Power Crystal,” Laura growled.
“Hey, the lantern was common quality, not basic!” Ira mock-countered.
“Yea. At least the Archives were interested. The lowest item ever to have 1% regeneration. Useless without potentials or vitals,” she elaborated.
“But a most interesting curiosity, they said. They did not know you could even have it on a common,” Ira added, earning himself an unamused glare back from the infuriated treasure specialist of the team.
Jonas had to intervene, or they might have kept at it for an hour.
“Can’t win all of them. So, no big lair adventures?”
“Nope. The frogs and the wolves are less and less useful, the experience drops every run and the loot is always worse than we have,” Guss said.
“Hey, me lads do like the loot. Can always find something to trade, since the brokers don’t look at the zone it came from!” Murray countered.
“Well. We’re still popular at the faire,” she admitted. “There’s even a mix-tier team coming now, tier twos and a fresh three. We did swap only a single item, though.”
Ira put down his mug and turned serious.
“And you? What was life outside the Labyrinth like?”
“Well, it’s wet. I spent two weeks and a half in the Atlantic, after all,” Jonas started.
“Wait, you really snuck into their operation? Like that?”
“If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be back yet. I might even still be out there.”
“I can’t believe it. You did that exactly once back in Covent Garden, when we were seven and only because you were sure your mum would tear you in half if you didn’t bring back something to replace that piece of trash,” Ira said.
“Hey. It’s you that suggested it,” Jonas replied.
“Well, obviously Ira’s an American,” Guss replied, half chuckling.
“What?” they both exclaimed near simultaneously.
“If it takes one to make you do something unexpected…”
Jonas settled back into narrating his trip, and the next bit stopped the team silent.
“So… she could access the descriptor. Just like that?”
“The Professionals on the last day as well. But not the mundane manager, apparently, despite the fact that they could while the Gate was locked.”
“That, I have to see,” Murray noted. “One of you will have to show me.”
“So, 113. Just like London,” Jonathan noted.
“Yea, just like London.”
“Does this mean all Gates are like that?”
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t be. It’s a different meaning. Maybe like the number of times the Gates have opened. Or something like that.”
“Talked with Babbage about it yet?”
“No. The year is ending, that one will wait,” Jonas replied. “For now, it’s just us, the Labyrinth, and a warm inn. With no sea, even if Professionals are immune to seasickness.”
“I’m sure there must be a zone in the middle of the ocean,” Murray replied.
Jonas mock-glared at the Scotsman joker.
The doors to the Frozen Hog opened yet again.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
It’s been like that all evening and into the night. Revellers going out, a new batch of Professionals arriving to see if there was room, and sampling the local offering. There had been an upper tier five team who had paid a general round. Whether they had just struck a particularly good treasure or were blowing the year’s savings, nobody particularly cared.
This time, though it was a very, very large crowd. Led by Finn Murray himself, back after three hours. The tavern keeper watched the crowd, very surprised at the number of Professionals pouring in at the same time, and worrying about the rising risk of bar brawl. A bar brawl in London was a mere brawl… brawls in a Professional bar required high tiers to keep in check, and a few Sacrifices afterwards to bring back the worst cases, lower tiers that didn’t know when to run away.
“Here they are! They haven’t moved.”
Jonas frowned, then looked at the team, checking to see if any of them had an inkling of what was going on. But from the look on their faces, they had no idea of what was coming whatsoever.
Jonas could guess of only one thing that would have brought the man back.
“Come on you lazy Londoners! It’s almost time.”
“What hare-brained scheme have you concocted again, you daft Edinburgh exile?” Guss glared. The team had opted to stay put, letting everyone else try to map the shortest distance between inns and taverns. A few enterprising souls were even going back to London to extend their choices, although everyone agreed that the best lounges would always be this side of the Gate. But the Adapted were happy to stay and steadily try every bottle of the innkeeper’s collection.
“It’s nearly bells! The old year’s gone, and you need to enter the new with a fresh start. And what else can it be, but looking at what you can’t look on another day!”
“Should have guessed you couldn’t wait,” Jonas groaned.
“When a lowlander has an idea, he has an idea,” replied the Scot. “Now come on. We have time to get to the Gate before the bells ring for midnight.”
Jonas threw a glance at Odhran O’Hogan, but the Irishman merely gave a slight twitch from the head, signifying ‘get up and stop complaining’. The rest of the various independents that Murray had brought in surrounded the table and started hassling the team.
“Okay. We surrender,” Jonas said.
“What? The British never surrender to the enemy!” Ira replied immediately.
“In this case, you’re surrendering your table,” Murray countered, to the general laughter.
The crowd in the streets of Gatepost was one of the largest. By and by, they crossed paths with small groups, certainly individual teams or pair of team members, but the half dozen teams made an impressive showing.
One of the advantages Jonas saw was that Gatepost streets at least were lighted. In New York, only the main thoroughfares used gas lighting and relatively sparingly. By comparison, all of the Gatepost streets had Power Crystal lamps at intersections and in front of any significant Company headquarters, warehouses and tavern or inns.
The crowd crossed the town and arrived at the Gate clearing. The traffic through the Gate was never heavy at night, and it was empty as they arrived.
By then, it had been decided that each of the team would emplace himself – or herself for Laura – at an equal distance from the Gate, the rest would surround them, and as the church’s bell started to toll for the year, they’d all get the descriptor. “The first new sight of the year,” Murray had called it.
Jonas found himself surrounded by mostly O’Hogan’s team, almost all of which he’d met at the faire. The only addition was a laconic level 80 from Nottingham, whose team was mostly Londoners who had headed back to their families in town. O’Hogan pulled out a watch, checking.
“We’re just in time!”
As if to confirm the constatation, Jonas heard a bell starting not too far away. Another started to answer from further away.
The Professionals started yelling.
“Down with the old!”
“Get with the new!”
Then, Jonas received grasp and clasp, grabbing wrists, neck, and even the top of his head, as each Professional tried to get the descriptor.
Transit: Grailburg - Earth 113
Integrity: 100%
Active
Stability: 100%
“Whoa.”
“Awesome.”
“It’s incredible.”
Shouts and yells came from Jonas left, sounding a bit less enthusiastic.
“Lords! Never trust a Scots from Edinburgh!”
“Can’t refrain from pranks, even on New Year…”
“Hey! I did trust them! That guy Jonas said we could…”
“What’s the problem?” Jonas said as he arrived at the clump surrounding Jonathan. The rest of the revellers, alerted by the shouts were converging on the place.
“No descriptor, no nothing. A good tale you served me, Jonas,” Murray replied.
“Uh? What are you saying? It works,” O’Hogan countered. “Saw it myself just now.”
“There’s no descriptor to be seen, that’s what I’m saying,” Murray replied hotly.
Jonas immediately intervened before the two other Professionals started getting worked up.
“Murray? Grab this,” he said, proffering his own wrist.
“And? The joke doesn’t get better if you keep on…” he said, the voice trailing as the Gate descriptor registered.
“Bollocks? It’s not a joke?”
“No.”
“But why,” Jonathan interrupted.
Jonas immediately understood.
“I think you don’t have enough Adaptation yet,” he said.
“So, you think that it’s the Milestone that enables it,” Charles Babbage said.
Jonas – and all the team – had come to London in the morning. This time, the Archives in London had been the correct spot. Babbage had brought in some old papers and notes, to sort and archive as he did every new year.
“That’s the only thing that makes sense,” Jonas replied.
“That, or tier three,” Babbage replied. “You also have a tier three Profession, which Mr Gilbert doesn’t have yet.”
“That’s… a possibility. Maybe?” Jonas admitted.
“Never discount an explanation outright. Even if it is not the obvious one, it might be the right one,” Babbage said. He added, “But in a way, that does not surprise me.”
“Uh?”
“Once you finished adaptation after restarting the Gate and everything, nobody who helped you back up and getting to London noticed any descriptor. If you could share the descriptor then, odds are good that someone would have noticed.”
Jonas thought about it. Now that Babbage mentioned it… nobody had seen. Everyone had assumed that the descriptor was simply something they saw, not a shared perception.
“So, we’ll have to wait until I get 86 and my last Milestone. A month or one and a half, if we push it,” Jonathan said.
“Not a problem. We got good experience spots to use,” Jonas said.
“There’s other possibilities, but that’s the easy way,” Babbage acknowledged.
“Other possibilities? Like what,” Jonathan asked.
“There’s a possibility that I’m loath to suggest,” Babbage replied.
“Which one,” Jonas asked.
“We still do not know whether or not Adaptation triggers on every Profession change, or by reaching a new tier. You might not qualify for tier three yet, Mr Gilbert, but you qualify for every single tier one or two that exists. Well, except Planner, for which you only have 24.”
“So… you’re saying I should take a new Profession, see it if triggers Adaptation, and see if the descriptor sharing starts working?” Jonathan asked.
“That solves a few questions – potentially. But it’s also not a thing to be done lightly. First, no respecting English scholar is going to ask you to submit yourself to torture for the sake of a few more answers to a question that can be answered in a satisfactory manner by waiting for natural growth,” Babbage started to count on his fingers.
“Two, if it fails to trigger Adaptation, we still have to wait. But you’ve lost the progression to your tier three. If you immediately switch back to Layman, you won’t get new Milestones until you earn back all the lost experience – and you’ll also lose the levels in the meantime.”
“But I could switch to Protector. I’d need a single Milestone to get enough Constitution to finally get the tier three. Heck, I can even use Defender – I need only three points, and tier one Professions provide enough.”
“You’d lose out on vitals. Although, strictly speaking, you’ll always get far more than another Professional of your level can, it’s still less than you’d have. Plus, you saddle yourself with a Profession that is not entirely necessary for your build,” Babbage countered.
He added further, “Even if you just take it for one level, it increases what we call professional burden, which reduces the amount of experience your entire team ends up, relative to your level. Each additional Profession anyone has in a team does increase the split. So it’s not a decision to make lightly, even with that Adaptation at stake.”
Jonathan stayed silent.
There was only one thing to say, Jonas thought.
“It’s your choice, Jonathan. The team will be behind you, no matter what. As Babbage says, it’s a question that will be answered in time anyway.”
“How fast do we get to the Plaza in Grailburg?” Jonathan asked.
The carriage from the Grailburg Drivers had been parked at the end of the road leading to the Plaza, and the driver – the same Watcher that had driven them around months ago – had left her vehicle and followed them, curious about the entire proceeding. Jonas thought her probably excessively nosy, but he did not remark anything out of politeness, and neither did anyone else in the team.
Two guardsmen were standing watch at the Plaza. Apparently, it was somewhat of a tradition, maybe in case someone unexpectedly appeared there. Unlike the Adapted team, normal Professionals entering the Labyrinth for the first time would land there, although normally, it was a scheduled appearance, and their company would arrange for transport back to Gatepost once the Profession had taken hold.
“You’re sure?” Jonas asked one last time.
“Best case? I get my tier three this week and forge ahead of Ira in a few months because I get better levelling speed,” Jonathan replied, a forced light tone in his voice.
They reached the centre of the Plaza, where the list of available Professions became available.
“Activating,” Jonathan announced.
Jonas was looking very carefully, so he immediately spotted the eyes rolling, showing whites, as the Layman – strictly speaking, he was still one since that was the most advanced tier Profession – started to drop. Alton had positioned himself to catch Jonathan, and lowered him gently to the ground. Then Ira and Laura joined him to hold their teammate as he started to convulse with the terrible torture of Adaptation.
“Your side Professions will do this as well,” Babbage said after a while.
“Yes. Every time,” Jonas replied as they watched Jonathan buckle. The carriage driver had retreated, pallor draining her face. Apparently, she had not been there to witness the Adaptation when they had re-opened the Great Gate. The sight of it was upsetting. If you were not used to it.
“I wonder…” Babbage said.
“What?”
“I have a new theory on your Adaptation, but I need a bit more before I start explaining. Or you’ll start torturing yourself needlessly to see how far you can push. Adaptation VI will come soon anyway, thanks to his actions.”
“You expect something new from six?”
“Possibly. Who knows, maybe that will give him the ability to share that descriptor with non-Professionals.”
Jonathan Bennett Gilbert
Health: 1287/1287 (1102)
Mind: 623/623 (587)
Endurance: 701/701 (584)
Aether: 609/609
Effective level: 75
Level 1 Defender
Level 44 Layman
Level 30 Watcher
Experience: 0/2400
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 42 (39)
Agility: 42 (37)
Constitution: 64 (47)
Stamina: 36 (31)
Wisdom: 32
Focus: 48 (43)
Presence: 36 (31)
Fortitude: 29
Intellect: 34
Defence Rating: 112
25% faster levelling
10% team defence
15% armour
Milestones: Adjustment V, Watcher II, Layman III
Skills: Notice Attack (1), Brace (1), Cross (1), Turn Blade (1), Gauge Enemy (1), Deflection (0), Dodge (0)
Equipment: Large Iron Coif (5CON/5PRE), Blue Ringmail Tunic (54end), Woven Ringmail Gauntlets (5FOC/4CON), Boar-Head Iron Belt (4AGI/58hp), Blue Iron Ringmail Legwarmers (39hp/38end/36mind), Sturdy Ringmail Sollerets (18hp), Blue Curved Iron Sword (4CON/3DEX/41hp), Boarhead Pommel Sword (5STA/4CON)