"We aren't gonna have to run any more, are we boss?"
"Anbel, we are going to a party. Not even Donovan would make us run." Trebar couldn't completely back that statement, but he had faith that Diana would step in should such a situation arise. "That being said, you need to be on your best behavior. I cannot guarantee he won't beat you to a pulp like he did to Zulf if you screw it up for him."
"Yes sir."
The group was a bit smaller than normal, even with Gawan in tow. Trebar had made an executive decision to not allow the twins to come along because of their historically abysmal behavior, while Zulf was bedridden with more than a few broken bones. All in all, seven of the ten were present leaving a group of eight.
"I really think we should have taken a carriage, Trebar." Gawan wasn't too concerned about being exhausted by the walk. He might be a little slower, but it wasn't like he would become unpresentable by the time they arrived.
"Probably, but did we really want to get there before everyone else? We are something like the guests of honor this time around."
"Then we could have left later. At this rate I worry we will make a bad impression." Gawan was contemplating the image that 'arrived on foot' would bring to the minds of those who learned about it. The Theocracy's political position meant he really didn't have to care about it, but that was not the case for Diana.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Sir Gawan. From my experience they don't care much about how you get here so long as you have a high status." Cholst was the only one who ever went out to these sorts of events. "I'm sure you could just make an excuse about the Theocracy's traditions or whatever even if that wasn't the case."
"Mm, yeah, I can't imagine those idiots thinking beyond your rank." Anbel, despite being from the Theocracy himself, was more than familiar with the tendencies of the noble class. "There might be one or two cautious ones, but they probably won't fuss."
Cholst nodded his head in agreement. It may have been his arrogance speaking, but he did not contest the fact that those in his strata could be considered 'idiots'. Most nobles would take great offense to the fact that a commoner had called them such.
". . . are you doing alright Zhoie?" Trebar finally decided to address the irritated woman.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, its just this dress is . . . well it's hard to walk in." She was the real reason they were so slow today.
"It does look a little tight." Stokkie, the only other women who semi-routinely wore dresses commented on the situation. "It looks particularly tight around the hips. How long ago did you get it?"
"Are you calling me fat?"
"Zhoie."
"Two years ago."
Stokkie sighed. "You need to get a new dress. Clearly you don't have many if you chose one that's tight. How did you even get into it?"
"It took a while." Zhoie didn't want to reminisce on the catastrophe she almost had, she was lucky she could put this dress on from below.
"General, may I request a few days of leave to bring Zhoie's wardrobe up to snuff?"
"Of course. I foresee our future training to be done with Donovan, so you will have a lot more free time going forward." Trebar wasn't keen on the 'full regimen' Donovan was subjecting his squad to. They were to take part in a far larger number of competitions, so exhausting them was not ideal. "It should keep us out of the way of our own barracks training ground while improving our physical condition."
"Bleh~" Anbel didn't bother disguising his dissatisfaction, but he didn't raise an objection.
"I look forward to it. That training was rather refreshing." Kerefel was lumbering alongside Trebar, focusing on nothing in particular as he worked something over in his mind.
"Hm, well you can express your delight to him personally. At the moment we should probably consider tidying ourselves up a bit." Trebar turned his head to look at the one member of their squad sulking behind them. "Will you be okay Nemo?"
- - - - -
"Good evening Lady Diana. I trust you have been finding everything quite well?"
"Of course I have. I take it you have been keeping yourself busy as well, Sir Gawan?"
"Naturally. Is there anything you fins yourself needing?"
"I believe we had a few questions for the Montaug about supplementary funding, however that is a matter for another time."
"Quite right. Now, might I ask who this is?" Gawan gestured to Merndil, who was standing politely to the side.
"This is the sponsor of the party tonight, Crown Prince Merndil Bulsa of the Bulsarszian Empire."
Gawan extended a hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Prince. I am Gawan of the Holifanian Theocracy. Unfortunately we lack such ranks as the nobility, but I am slated to become the Montaug in the future."
"The pleasure is mine, Sir Gawan."
"Please, the 'Sir' is unnecessary. Until such a time that I do become the Montaug I am but a commoner."
"If that pleases you, Gawan. I assume your entourage also hails from the Theocracy?"
"Most of them, yes, however I believe it prudent to allow them their own introductions." Gawan moved aside as the first years stepped forward.
"Anbel, swordsman. I'm a lowly commoner, same as Gawan, so don't bother with the title stuff."
"Stokkie Masfelen. I am the daughter of a vassal state administrator, so I too wish to dispense with pleasantries. If you feel so obliged I will begrudgingly accept being referred to as Lady Masfelen."
"Zhoie, also from the Theocracy."
"Cholst Ilfalia, future king of the Ilfalian Regency. As I am attending the academy in a personal capacity, I would prefer it if you dismissed the titles."
"Kerefel Martiz. My future title promises to be General."
"Trebar, future Grand Marshall of the Holifanian Theocracy's defense forces. I would normally request that you avoid using titles with me, but I have become comfortable with the use of Lord or General. I leave it up to your discretion." Trebar accepted Merndil's handshake with an impressed smile on his face.
"Well now. I must say I had not expected our esteemed guests to hail from the Theocracy! Tell me Lady Diana, just how did you manage to snare such elusive individuals?" Merndil did not bother with Nemo. It was evident that she was unwilling to take part in traditional greetings, and he had no intention to offend someone on Trebar's dime.
"Connections." "Obligations." "Favors."
Diana, Gawan, and Trebar each gave a different response, each being correct.
Diana had connections to them, why shouldn't she make use of them? Gawan had an obligation to assist Diana wherever possible, why shouldn't he respond to her invitation? Trebar had asked something of Donovan, why shouldn't he work to make it worthwhile?
"I see . . . you two wouldn't happen to also hail from the Theocracy, would you?" Merndil was becoming apprehensive about who Diana really was.
"Their situation is complicated." Gawan stepped in. There was a position that the Montaug wanted to maintain in regards to the Terrans. "You might say our countries have reached something of a diplomatic understanding." Intentionally vague, implicating everything while revealing nothing.
"It's a give and take relationship, something we have both found to be beneficial."
"We solve each other's problems." Gawan made it very clear they were not tied by any formal means. It was 'purely political'. "Should we head in?"
"Oh yes, let's."
- - - - -
Arc's boredom had grown as the days passed, primarily due to the lack of interaction with Donovan and Diana. They had talked, they talked every day, but it was becoming apparent to the sentient computer that they were beginning to reach the point where free time would be in short supply. Their conversations about topics not directly related to the matter at hand had dropped precipitously over the course of the last week, the fault of the party no doubt, but it was giving Arc an inkling of the near future.
It wouldn't be the case indefinitely, but they needed to prioritize their human resources and relationships. They had a limited amount of time to build those up despite the apparent magnitude of time available, and the earliest days were the most important. Titanyana, was the prime example. She had recently become a key to the future that was on par with Donovan and Diana, one they had even gone so far as to give an operator code even if that code was dormant. However Titanyana was still largely useless to them at the moment. She had combat power and a newly established reputation, sure, but she was in not yet in a position to further her studies of English and proliferate the language among her people.
That step was key.
Arc could handle everything about her education once Donovan and Diana got her foot in the door, but she needed to be able to read and write. Understanding of the language had been established by way of the Great Csillacra's meddling, but speaking and reading were different matters. All of it was necessary to communicate efficiently with Arc.
This was a fact that Arc had become acutely aware of over the course of the last hour. Donovan and Diana had both put a small device in their clothing that was close to their faces so that Arc could monitor them and respond to what they said. Unfortunately, Arc could not make out anything from those around them. Their voices didn't follow patterns and there were few repeated tones. None of the tens of thousands of hours of work that the speech recognition and translation specialists back on Earth had put in were going to waste, and there wasn't a thing that could be done about it.
"Donny, I think now is a good time to hand those out." Evidently there had been a moment of reprieve, Diana had found time to speak to Don about something. "Merndil insisted that the earlier we started with our main event, the better. It isn't like that would affect the plan, would it?"
"No, but it does mean that I'll be occupied while I teach everyone how it works."
"That's fine, we have all night."
"Alright, I'll go get everything set up."
Arc was bored, but that didn't mean he wasn't busy. Even he had made a contribution to the party, a contribution that only it could make. It wasn't the most complicated of tasks by any stretch of the imagination, but it gave Arc some much needed gratification. Casting, polishing, and engraving. That was all it needed to do, three simple tasks that would serve as it's proof that the foundry systems were operating correctly.
So what had Arc been asked to produce?
- - - - -
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" Donovan tapped a fork on the side of a glass to grab the attention of those present in the room as he stood on a chair. "How is everyone finding the food?"
He was met with a wave of murmurs. Some were approving, others reserved.
"So long as it is acceptable, that's good. Now on to the fun part of what's planned tonight. As I am certain many of you are aware, the theme of tonight's party is 'the Common Touch'. For those of you feeling a little apprehensive about that, don't worry. We have no plans to make you feel poor. Instead our aim is to expose you to some of the more entertaining bits of the common man's day to day and paint them in a better light. Before I begin my spiel, how many of you are familiar with dice?"
A slew of hands slowly rose up, five total. Anbel and Cholst were among their number, which wasn't too surprising. Rashtvice was practically expected to know about them. That left two that Donovan wasn't familiar with.
"No matter. This is a die, a cube often used in games and the like." Donovan held one up in his hand. "We have taken the liberty to make the dice we are providing a little more suitable for the nobility, made of metal and engraved, but they are functionally the same as those used in bars. They are fairly simple to use, simply roll it on the table and the side that is face up when it lands is the 'number' you get. The number of course referring to the number of dots on the side. Does that explanation make sense?"
Further murmuring.
"Good. Now for the games. There are a few planned out today, all scattered throughout the barracks, however the one you will not need a host to play is the one I am about to teach you. It is a game I call 'Ship, Captain, and Crew' though it is often called 'Cargo' or 'Bar Dice'. It's pretty simple, even if it does rely on luck to win. Each round you get three chances to roll five dice. Your goal is to get a 'Four', the Crew, a 'Five', the Captain, and a 'Six', the Ship by the time you are done with your third roll. You don't have to get all of those on the same roll, once you roll one of those numbers you get to keep them, but that means that dice cannot be rolled in the next round. Are you all keeping up so far?"
Shouts of confirmation from the crowd.
"Great! Once you have your Ship, Captain, and Crew, your remaining two dice become the 'Cargo' dice which will contribute to your score, hence the other name of the game. Now if you get all three on your first roll, you will have two more rolls to get better 'Cargo', lower numbers obviously not being worth as much. If you get all three by your second roll, you only get one chance for better 'Cargo' because you only have one roll left. If it takes you three rolls to get your Ship together, the cargo you rolled at the same time is what you are stuck with. If you don't get your Ship, Captain, and Crew together by your third roll you can't set sail and you don't score any points. Does everyone follow?"
More confirmation.
"Good. Now because the purpose of this party is to make merry and mingle, we aren't going to do anything with actual money. Instead the goal of your games will be to get twenty four points or more, which is two full holds of cargo, and you will be gambling with these chips." Donovan held up a steel token. "The winner will get one token from everyone who played in that game, a rule which will also apply to the other games that are around. Each person will get 25 of them, so there should be little chance that you run out by the end of the night, but we have plenty to spare. Just to give you all an incentive, we have prepared a few little rewards for those of you that have the most tokens by night's end. How does that sound?"
A few cheers amidst a generally smiling crowd.
"Alright, settle down. Before I let you all loose I've got to ask if you have any questions."
One hand shot up. "What should we do if we forget the rules?"
"I have taught all of the staff the rules to the game. If you have a question, don't be afraid to ask them."
"What are the prizes?"
"Showing you this early on would ruin a surprise we saved for later, but the grand prize is a piece of art."
"Where are these other games?"
"Walk around and you'll find them. Obviously I would ask you to not enter any rooms with close doors, and I would like you to avoid going upstairs from this point forward, but you'll know once you see them. Is that everyone?"
Rashtvice raised a drunken hand in the back. "You never told us why it's called Bar Dice!"
"Ah, of course. It's because the loser of a round would buy the next round of drinks for everyone, each game is supposed to take you about a beer to finish after all." Donovan looked around, not seeing any raised hands he clapped his own. "Alright! With that out of the way, you can come up here to get your tokens and a pair of dice. Don't forget to have fun!"
cakeonfrosting Arc out here producin n sheeit.
"We aren't gonna have to run any more, are we boss?"
"Anbel, we are going to a party. Not even Donovan would make us run." Trebar couldn't completely back that statement, but he had faith that Diana would step in should such a situation arise. "That being said, you need to be on your best behavior. I cannot guarantee he won't beat you to a pulp like he did to Zulf if you screw it up for him."
"Yes sir."
The group was a bit smaller than normal, even with Gawan in tow. Trebar had made an executive decision to not allow the twins to come along because of their historically abysmal behavior, while Zulf was bedridden with more than a few broken bones. All in all, seven of the ten were present leaving a group of eight.
"I really think we should have taken a carriage, Trebar." Gawan wasn't too concerned about being exhausted by the walk. He might be a little slower, but it wasn't like he would become unpresentable by the time they arrived.
"Probably, but did we really want to get there before everyone else? We are something like the guests of honor this time around."
"Then we could have left later. At this rate I worry we will make a bad impression." Gawan was contemplating the image that 'arrived on foot' would bring to the minds of those who learned about it. The Theocracy's political position meant he really didn't have to care about it, but that was not the case for Diana.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Sir Gawan. From my experience they don't care much about how you get here so long as you have a high status." Cholst was the only one who ever went out to these sorts of events. "I'm sure you could just make an excuse about the Theocracy's traditions or whatever even if that wasn't the case."
"Mm, yeah, I can't imagine those idiots thinking beyond your rank." Anbel, despite being from the Theocracy himself, was more than familiar with the tendencies of the noble class. "There might be one or two cautious ones, but they probably won't fuss."
Cholst nodded his head in agreement. It may have been his arrogance speaking, but he did not contest the fact that those in his strata could be considered 'idiots'. Most nobles would take great offense to the fact that a commoner had called them such.
". . . are you doing alright Zhoie?" Trebar finally decided to address the irritated woman.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, its just this dress is . . . well it's hard to walk in." She was the real reason they were so slow today.
"It does look a little tight." Stokkie, the only other women who semi-routinely wore dresses commented on the situation. "It looks particularly tight around the hips. How long ago did you get it?"
"Are you calling me fat?"
"Zhoie."
"Two years ago."
Stokkie sighed. "You need to get a new dress. Clearly you don't have many if you chose one that's tight. How did you even get into it?"
"It took a while." Zhoie didn't want to reminisce on the catastrophe she almost had, she was lucky she could put this dress on from below.
"General, may I request a few days of leave to bring Zhoie's wardrobe up to snuff?"
"Of course. I foresee our future training to be done with Donovan, so you will have a lot more free time going forward." Trebar wasn't keen on the 'full regimen' Donovan was subjecting his squad to. They were to take part in a far larger number of competitions, so exhausting them was not ideal. "It should keep us out of the way of our own barracks training ground while improving our physical condition."
"Bleh~" Anbel didn't bother disguising his dissatisfaction, but he didn't raise an objection.
"I look forward to it. That training was rather refreshing." Kerefel was lumbering alongside Trebar, focusing on nothing in particular as he worked something over in his mind.
"Hm, well you can express your delight to him personally. At the moment we should probably consider tidying ourselves up a bit." Trebar turned his head to look at the one member of their squad sulking behind them. "Will you be okay Nemo?"
- - - - -
"Good evening Lady Diana. I trust you have been finding everything quite well?"
"Of course I have. I take it you have been keeping yourself busy as well, Sir Gawan?"
"Naturally. Is there anything you fins yourself needing?"
"I believe we had a few questions for the Montaug about supplementary funding, however that is a matter for another time."
"Quite right. Now, might I ask who this is?" Gawan gestured to Merndil, who was standing politely to the side.
"This is the sponsor of the party tonight, Crown Prince Merndil Bulsa of the Bulsarszian Empire."
Gawan extended a hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Prince. I am Gawan of the Holifanian Theocracy. Unfortunately we lack such ranks as the nobility, but I am slated to become the Montaug in the future."
"The pleasure is mine, Sir Gawan."
"Please, the 'Sir' is unnecessary. Until such a time that I do become the Montaug I am but a commoner."
"If that pleases you, Gawan. I assume your entourage also hails from the Theocracy?"
"Most of them, yes, however I believe it prudent to allow them their own introductions." Gawan moved aside as the first years stepped forward.
"Anbel, swordsman. I'm a lowly commoner, same as Gawan, so don't bother with the title stuff."
"Stokkie Masfelen. I am the daughter of a vassal state administrator, so I too wish to dispense with pleasantries. If you feel so obliged I will begrudgingly accept being referred to as Lady Masfelen."
"Zhoie, also from the Theocracy."
"Cholst Ilfalia, future king of the Ilfalian Regency. As I am attending the academy in a personal capacity, I would prefer it if you dismissed the titles."
"Kerefel Martiz. My future title promises to be General."
"Trebar, future Grand Marshall of the Holifanian Theocracy's defense forces. I would normally request that you avoid using titles with me, but I have become comfortable with the use of Lord or General. I leave it up to your discretion." Trebar accepted Merndil's handshake with an impressed smile on his face.
"Well now. I must say I had not expected our esteemed guests to hail from the Theocracy! Tell me Lady Diana, just how did you manage to snare such elusive individuals?" Merndil did not bother with Nemo. It was evident that she was unwilling to take part in traditional greetings, and he had no intention to offend someone on Trebar's dime.
"Connections." "Obligations." "Favors."
Diana, Gawan, and Trebar each gave a different response, each being correct.
Diana had connections to them, why shouldn't she make use of them? Gawan had an obligation to assist Diana wherever possible, why shouldn't he respond to her invitation? Trebar had asked something of Donovan, why shouldn't he work to make it worthwhile?
"I see . . . you two wouldn't happen to also hail from the Theocracy, would you?" Merndil was becoming apprehensive about who Diana really was.
"Their situation is complicated." Gawan stepped in. There was a position that the Montaug wanted to maintain in regards to the Terrans. "You might say our countries have reached something of a diplomatic understanding." Intentionally vague, implicating everything while revealing nothing.
"It's a give and take relationship, something we have both found to be beneficial."
"We solve each other's problems." Gawan made it very clear they were not tied by any formal means. It was 'purely political'. "Should we head in?"
"Oh yes, let's."
- - - - -
Arc's boredom had grown as the days passed, primarily due to the lack of interaction with Donovan and Diana. They had talked, they talked every day, but it was becoming apparent to the sentient computer that they were beginning to reach the point where free time would be in short supply. Their conversations about topics not directly related to the matter at hand had dropped precipitously over the course of the last week, the fault of the party no doubt, but it was giving Arc an inkling of the near future.
It wouldn't be the case indefinitely, but they needed to prioritize their human resources and relationships. They had a limited amount of time to build those up despite the apparent magnitude of time available, and the earliest days were the most important. Titanyana, was the prime example. She had recently become a key to the future that was on par with Donovan and Diana, one they had even gone so far as to give an operator code even if that code was dormant. However Titanyana was still largely useless to them at the moment. She had combat power and a newly established reputation, sure, but she was in not yet in a position to further her studies of English and proliferate the language among her people.
That step was key.
Arc could handle everything about her education once Donovan and Diana got her foot in the door, but she needed to be able to read and write. Understanding of the language had been established by way of the Great Csillacra's meddling, but speaking and reading were different matters. All of it was necessary to communicate efficiently with Arc.
This was a fact that Arc had become acutely aware of over the course of the last hour. Donovan and Diana had both put a small device in their clothing that was close to their faces so that Arc could monitor them and respond to what they said. Unfortunately, Arc could not make out anything from those around them. Their voices didn't follow patterns and there were few repeated tones. None of the tens of thousands of hours of work that the speech recognition and translation specialists back on Earth had put in were going to waste, and there wasn't a thing that could be done about it.
"Donny, I think now is a good time to hand those out." Evidently there had been a moment of reprieve, Diana had found time to speak to Don about something. "Merndil insisted that the earlier we started with our main event, the better. It isn't like that would affect the plan, would it?"
"No, but it does mean that I'll be occupied while I teach everyone how it works."
"That's fine, we have all night."
"Alright, I'll go get everything set up."
Arc was bored, but that didn't mean he wasn't busy. Even he had made a contribution to the party, a contribution that only it could make. It wasn't the most complicated of tasks by any stretch of the imagination, but it gave Arc some much needed gratification. Casting, polishing, and engraving. That was all it needed to do, three simple tasks that would serve as it's proof that the foundry systems were operating correctly.
So what had Arc been asked to produce?
- - - - -
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen!" Donovan tapped a fork on the side of a glass to grab the attention of those present in the room as he stood on a chair. "How is everyone finding the food?"
He was met with a wave of murmurs. Some were approving, others reserved.
"So long as it is acceptable, that's good. Now on to the fun part of what's planned tonight. As I am certain many of you are aware, the theme of tonight's party is 'the Common Touch'. For those of you feeling a little apprehensive about that, don't worry. We have no plans to make you feel poor. Instead our aim is to expose you to some of the more entertaining bits of the common man's day to day and paint them in a better light. Before I begin my spiel, how many of you are familiar with dice?"
A slew of hands slowly rose up, five total. Anbel and Cholst were among their number, which wasn't too surprising. Rashtvice was practically expected to know about them. That left two that Donovan wasn't familiar with.
"No matter. This is a die, a cube often used in games and the like." Donovan held one up in his hand. "We have taken the liberty to make the dice we are providing a little more suitable for the nobility, made of metal and engraved, but they are functionally the same as those used in bars. They are fairly simple to use, simply roll it on the table and the side that is face up when it lands is the 'number' you get. The number of course referring to the number of dots on the side. Does that explanation make sense?"
Further murmuring.
"Good. Now for the games. There are a few planned out today, all scattered throughout the barracks, however the one you will not need a host to play is the one I am about to teach you. It is a game I call 'Ship, Captain, and Crew' though it is often called 'Cargo' or 'Bar Dice'. It's pretty simple, even if it does rely on luck to win. Each round you get three chances to roll five dice. Your goal is to get a 'Four', the Crew, a 'Five', the Captain, and a 'Six', the Ship by the time you are done with your third roll. You don't have to get all of those on the same roll, once you roll one of those numbers you get to keep them, but that means that dice cannot be rolled in the next round. Are you all keeping up so far?"
Shouts of confirmation from the crowd.
"Great! Once you have your Ship, Captain, and Crew, your remaining two dice become the 'Cargo' dice which will contribute to your score, hence the other name of the game. Now if you get all three on your first roll, you will have two more rolls to get better 'Cargo', lower numbers obviously not being worth as much. If you get all three by your second roll, you only get one chance for better 'Cargo' because you only have one roll left. If it takes you three rolls to get your Ship together, the cargo you rolled at the same time is what you are stuck with. If you don't get your Ship, Captain, and Crew together by your third roll you can't set sail and you don't score any points. Does everyone follow?"
More confirmation.
"Good. Now because the purpose of this party is to make merry and mingle, we aren't going to do anything with actual money. Instead the goal of your games will be to get twenty four points or more, which is two full holds of cargo, and you will be gambling with these chips." Donovan held up a steel token. "The winner will get one token from everyone who played in that game, a rule which will also apply to the other games that are around. Each person will get 25 of them, so there should be little chance that you run out by the end of the night, but we have plenty to spare. Just to give you all an incentive, we have prepared a few little rewards for those of you that have the most tokens by night's end. How does that sound?"
A few cheers amidst a generally smiling crowd.
"Alright, settle down. Before I let you all loose I've got to ask if you have any questions."
One hand shot up. "What should we do if we forget the rules?"
"I have taught all of the staff the rules to the game. If you have a question, don't be afraid to ask them."
"What are the prizes?"
"Showing you this early on would ruin a surprise we saved for later, but the grand prize is a piece of art."
"Where are these other games?"
"Walk around and you'll find them. Obviously I would ask you to not enter any rooms with close doors, and I would like you to avoid going upstairs from this point forward, but you'll know once you see them. Is that everyone?"
Rashtvice raised a drunken hand in the back. "You never told us why it's called Bar Dice!"
"Ah, of course. It's because the loser of a round would buy the next round of drinks for everyone, each game is supposed to take you about a beer to finish after all." Donovan looked around, not seeing any raised hands he clapped his own. "Alright! With that out of the way, you can come up here to get your tokens and a pair of dice. Don't forget to have fun!"
cakeonfrosting Arc out here producin n sheeit.
