Frank stopped and stared ahead, unsure of what to do. It was certainly possible to skirt around the fire and reach downtown Seattle, assuming it hadn’t been consumed as well. That wasn’t the issue, though. The big problem was that Seattle was in worse shape than he expected.

Fires hadn’t been uncommon, according to people he’d met that had originally been in cities. Candles, lamps, bonfires; really anything that could provide light after dark was a hazard now. Without running water, without fire departments, it was kind of a given there’d be one eventually. So soon though, and so large that was just unlucky.

“Well, that’s a bad sign,” Maria said. “What are we gonna do now?”

“We’ll go around it,” Frank said.

“We aren’t going to do anything about it?” Rina asked. “People could be trapped.” Felix nodded in agreement.

“I don’t think we can do anything about it,” Frank replied.

“We should at least see if we can.” Rina insisted.

Frank thought about it. He wanted to see if there was some sort of provisional government anyways. The easiest place to find them would probably be wherever people fleeing the fire would head. Seattle was a nest of peninsulas and lakes and inlets. If he reached a bridge that went from the fire to an unaffected area, that’d be a likely spot.

“Sure,” he said, after a short pause.

“I bet someone is going to get flame powers. Felix got ice from the ski hill, someone’ll get fire,” Bill said.

Rina glared at him, but any conflict was forestalled by Frank.

“We’ll skirt around the fire until we can see the rest of the city. Then we’ll try and find whatever is passing for an authority, and you can find out if you can help out with that.” Frank gestured at the conflagration.

He got on his bike and started out again, heading Southwest to avoid the fire. Suburbs, clusters of commercial buildings, parks, and schools passed by, as they made quick progress around it. Vehicles had been pushed aside on the arteries to let people use the roads, otherwise, the morning rush hour traffic would have closed many routes off. Eventually, they ran into a makeshift checkpoint, and Frank was forced to stop.

Two men in police uniforms stood in front of a pair of vans that had been placed across the road. A gap large enough for people to pass through existed, though it was currently blocked by a metal fence. They appraised Frank’s group as it arrived. Without any sort of hostility, the older of the two greeted them, addressing Bill.

“You all look like you’ve been on the road, whereabouts'd you come from?”

“Redstone,” Frank replied.

The man turned to focus on Frank. “Redstone? You come around all the way along the south? People trying to head East haven’t been able to get through the pass.”

“We got through. Got forewarning and got up there with winter gear.”

“Oh? Provisos will probably want to hear that story. What brought you to head all the way here at a time like this?”

“Seemed like the place to find out what’s going on,” Frank said lightly.

“Well, I honestly have no clue about that, but there’s a team working on it.”

He looked at Frank’s clothing and equipment up and down, noting the sword and the gambeson. “Looks like you’ve already gotten some stuff from this thing.” The man waved his hand in front of him, roughly where the system interface would have appeared for him.

“That’s fine, people are allowed weapons. Second amendment, all that. Just keep it holstered, err, sheathed, no brandishing or threats. We aren’t doing searches or anything right now, bigger problems to deal with. Normally I’d take you to someone who’d interview you, but people are kind of busy. I’m sure you all saw Bellevue.” He shook his head. “Hope most people got out alright.”

“If you need a place to stay, there’ll be someone to put you up in one of the hotels for the time being, if you head towards the city center.”

He looked at his partner and motioned him to open the gate, before turning back to the group. “Any questions?”

Frank went first. “Who are the Provisos?”

“Emergency government. Most of the old city council is missing, and we can’t really contact anyone else. Dunno why they are called Provisos, honestly. I guess technically me and Jason here are actually Provisos as well.”

“Is there anything we could do to help deal with the fire?” Rina asked abruptly.

“Not that I know of. Can’t imagine they’d leave people standing about manning checkpoints if we thought we could stop it. I think they are just going to let it burn itself out and help anyone who fled it, personally. It’s fall, it’ll rain soon enough and that’ll be that,” the man responded. “It started during the day at least. Most people were up and about.” He had a faraway look for a moment.

No one else had any real questions for the man, and the group continued. Felix’s ragged appearance hadn’t garnered any sort of reaction, and when Frank had handed the officer his document, the man had just shrugged. They biked for a couple of minutes more before they were stopped by a figure stepping out in front of the road.

“You look like you came from out of town.” The figure said, stopping in front of them. The voice revealed him as a man. Frank came to a halt fifteen feet away and dismounted.

“Any reason you are stopping us?” Frank asked, looking at the man flatly.

“I just want to give a warning. The Provisos are worried about what’s up north between here and Bellingham. They are going to be making an announcement soon, and I think it’s probably going to be a draft.”

Frank nodded. That was within expectations. He’d simply refuse if it did happen. “Why exactly are you going around telling people?” He continued, suspicious.

“They’re a bunch of bootlicking fascists. Fucking assholes. Worse than the old city council, worse than the cops. Gotta warn people otherwise this’ll be some fourth Reich bullshit. We haven’t even spoken to the people there or tried to communicate and they want to go to war. In this situation. People weren’t on board so they stopped making the meetings public! The government is always the same shit. Took all of three days for them to fall back into the same colonial bullshit.” The man ranted.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Frank said in response.

“Yea. Tell anyone else if you can,” the man said, before walking away.

Frank turned to his companions. There was a good chance, that if that man was speaking truthfully, Frank would be in conflict with the authorities here. That meant man pitted against man. He’d have to have a discussion about that. The presence of Felix stopped him, however. He needed to get the full story of how that man had acquired magic before he said anything that might make him leave.

“Well, lets head to the city center and find out what’s going on,” Frank told them.

“What if that guy was telling the truth and we get drafted?” asked Maria, her tone concerned.

“Two women, a Canadian, and a man who looks like he’s starving,” Bill responded lightly. “I think I’m the only one at risk. Honestly though, what are they going to do? Demand it? Then what?”

Frank nodded. Bill had gotten right to the core of the matter. There was almost no chance the ‘Provisos’ were capable of compelling them to do anything. “We should first try and find out what exactly has gone on. It’s not that much further to the city center.”

All five started biking again. It took a bit, but they eventually reached Seattle proper. There, people went from infrequent to everywhere. They slowed down as foot traffic began to predominate. Individuals mostly dressed completely normally, walked to and fro. Cafes were full of people discussing things. For the moment, everything was normal. Frank brought the party to a stop, intending to ask for directions from a group of people sitting inside a McDonalds. His attention wandered, however, when he saw a woman walking down the street, looking every bit the fashionable college student except that she had a big, angry-looking mace strapped to her side.

Vicious Shillelagh

+2 STR +2 CON

Made of hardwood, this petrified mace was the personal weapon of a Celtic chieftain slain by a Roman patrol, recovered from a bog centuries later.

Frank couldn’t help but stare. Bill nudged him. “That your type? Didn’t know you had a thing for black chicks.”

Frank responded by simply walking up to her, ignoring his crassness.

“Excuse me,” he called out, stopping her.

She turned to him, eyes flitting over Frank and his group, her face defensive. Upon noticing Maria she relaxed a little but remained wary. “What?” she asked, coldly.

“I want your weapon. I’ll trade you mine.” Frank said, pointing to her mace.

“What, you Scottish or something?” She looked at Frank, noticing the sword he had.

“Mine gives more of those attributes things. It should be worth more than yours,” she said after some consideration. She was quick to adapt, apparently, and took a bartering mindset immediately.

“Mine’s a sword,” Frank responded, getting off his bike.

She considered that. “I think mine’s still better. No deal.”

Frank paused, pretending to consider. He took off his sunglasses, also equipment. “I’ll throw these in. That should even it out, right?”

She didn’t hesitate to respond. “Aviators are fucking ugly. No way.”

Frank brought out the monocle from his pack. “What about this?”

“That’s even worse,” she replied.

“You could trade them to someone else,” Frank suggested.

“Or you could do that and come back with something better,” she riposted.

Frank thought for a moment. “I could show you how to use the sword too.”

She looked at him disdainfully.

Frank pulled the sword out, took a stance, and demonstrated a basic swing, explaining what he was doing while he did it.

The woman looked at him less disdainfully. “You one of those renaissance fair guys? Or some sort of martial artist?”

“HEMA,” Frank replied, lying unhesitatingly. “Historical European Martial Arts.”

She looked thoughtful for a moment, considering. “How the hell did you get so many of these things anyways? I haven’t met anyone else with more than one, but you have like five, and your friends have them too.”

Frank shrugged in response. “I’ll give you my sword and the monocle, and I’ll give you a lesson on swordsmanship.”

The woman looked at him. “I want the sunglasses too.”

“No,” Frank stated simply, leaving his final offer on the table.

The woman stared at Frank for a while, to which Frank simply put his glasses back on. Eventually, she relented.

“Okay. You teach me the basics, then we trade the items.”

Frank nodded in return. “First though, I need to find a place to stay. Can you meet me by this McDonalds tomorrow at eleven in the morning?” he asked her.

“Yea, I guess, but I don’t have anything to tell the time with anymore.” She looked at the dead smartwatch on her wrist. “I might not be on time.”

“Fine by me,” Frank said. “I’m Frank by the way.

“Lana,” the woman replied.

Frank shook her hand, and then she went on her way. He walked back to the group.

Felix, surprisingly, was the first to speak. He was looking at Frank curiously. “You suck at bargaining,” he said, a hint of a smile on his face.

“Doesn’t matter, really. The monocle is more trouble than its worth, and I’ll teach anyone who asks, within reason.” Frank said.

“Teach me then?” Felix asked.

Frank nodded, then got back on his bike. All five travelled through downtown. Soon, they saw a crowd, and then a huge line. A middle-aged woman in a safety vest was directing people to queue, while several tables staffed with people at the far end of the line were processing people. Frank brought the group to a stop. He approached the vested woman when she had an idle moment.

“What’s this line for?” he asked her.

“Safe place to sleep, guarded. There’s been some dangerous things in certain parts of town,” she said.

“Where are you bedding people?” Frank continued.

“In a clump of hotels and buildings downtown. We’ve got a solid perimeter around the downtown core, so we can keep the area free of danger,” she said. “If you want in, you can line up. Probably still get a room for the group of you if you do now.”

“What’s the check-in process?”

“Any weapons have to be surrendered. They are returned when you leave the temporary accommodations. The guys at the tables will explain more, and give you a slip so you can recover your stuff.”

“Thanks for the explanation,” Frank said and left her be.

He turned to his group and directed them off to the side. “We’ll have to find somewhere else to sleep.” Frank had no intention of giving up his weapons.

No one argued with him on that point. Frank started wandering up to people and asking questions. He soon acquired a basic understanding of the situation. There were five dungeons in Seattle and the adjacent suburbs, another two in Tacoma to the south, and one in Everett to the north. No one was in contact further away, that any of the people Frank spoke to knew. There was also something going on at the Space Needle, which sounded suspiciously like a Tower of Wishing. With Bellevue burning, a lot of people had chosen to look for a local authority, and the Proviso in Seattle was it. They were currently managing a pretty significant volunteer effort to house and feed people who’d fled the fire.

That was honestly much better than he had been expecting, especially given that he’d walked into a firestorm consuming the largest suburb of the city. They had communication out to the two nearest satellite cities, as well as across the water via small sailing boats, canoes, and kayaks. That meant the entire area within half a day by bike was at the very least still connected. He didn’t have a clear understanding of why Seattle had been lost last time, as it’d been gone by the time he made his way to the area, two years in.

That’d have to be a topic of consideration. The most likely culprits were whatever was stopping people coming from the North and South, but without actual knowledge, it was all just speculation. In the immediate, he’d do what he could to help the situation. If he couldn’t figure it out, he might have to leave proactively. There was a lot to consider. First though, shelter.

“One of the dungeons is in a suburb called Broadmoor,” Frank told his group. “We’ll head there and set up in a house for the night. We can figure out a permanent residence later.”

“What if someone’s living there?” Rina asked.

“We’ll knock. Most of the houses will be empty.” Frank responded. The implication of that sagged the mood, and Rina especially seemed down after considering that.

Everyone was fine with that, but Maria had a question. “Well, you wanted to go to Seattle, so what exactly is the plan here?”

Frank fell into thought. There were a bunch of things to do, and the justifications for them required past knowledge. He’d have to give a thorough explanation to the others. Maria and Rina didn’t seem like the types to just go without a clear purpose long term. Bill might trust him due to character he’d painted over who Frank actually was, but he needed to put everything clearly on the table. That meant he had to order his thoughts and prioritize things.

“I’ll explain things once we get settled somewhere for the night,” he said, finally.

Maria was satisfied with that response for the moment, and so the group got back on the road. It was a little under half an hour to reach their destination. On the East side of Seattle, closer to the fire, the effect it had was even more stunning. Frank could see its light over the rows of houses. Broadmoor, as it turned out, was pretty posh. Frank biked until the roads stopped going forward, where the mansions and mini-mansions stopped abruptly, backing on to a golf course. A significant portion had doors left open, broken windows, and other signs of looting. He found one that looked untouched, a large, boxy, modern design that had been skipped over simply because it was locked and so many others had been left open, thus were easier pickings.

Frank stopped in front of it and walked up to the front door. He knocked several times, and hearing no answer after two minutes, proceeded to kick in the door. The door gave with a groan and a few splinters, the portion where the knob was secured being the weak point in otherwise solid wood construction. It whipped open, a big chunk in the middle missing. Frank stepped inside, followed by the others, who, besides Felix, had a look of trepidation as they entered. The thought of breaking into someone’s house still caused some distress, even if looting stores hadn’t.

Inside, it was dim, the late evening time of day combining with the smoke overhead to make it darker than normal. Everyone moved their bikes and trailers inside at Frank’s insistence, and then he dragged a cabinet across the door to prevent entry or at least entry without hideous amounts of noise. He gathered the group in the living room, which had the best visibility due to the massive bank of windows it possessed.

“Here’s the situation as I see it. The area directly around Seattle seems to be relatively organized. There’s a government forming right now, which is probably going to gradually take control of the area, although I don’t know if other groups are competing or cooperating with them yet. Especially in Everett and Tacoma, which are separated enough that they might develop their own structure. That means that relatively speaking, this place is safe, for now.”

“There are five big issues, though. The fire in Bellevue is going to leave a highly dangerous region. A burnt ruin like what will be there in a few days is going to be a breeding ground for nasty things. Past Everett, there’s something blocking the way, from what I’ve heard, a force of non-humans. To the south, we know nothing past Tacoma. Zero, it's like it might as well not be there anymore. Whatever is there is a problem. It’s also going to be winter soon, and people will need both food and shelter. Finally, the new government itself might be a problem, if they decide to conscript people or materials.”

Frank dropped the five biggest issues he saw immediately. Immediate questions ensued.

“How do you know the fire will make that place dangerous?” Maria asked.

“Seen it happen before,” Frank responded.

“What kind of danger is it?” she continued.

“High-level enemies, usually a field dungeon. Given the size and location of the fire, it could be beyond the scope of anything I’ve seen before.” Frank left unsaid that the number of casualties could play a role.

Bill cut in next. “Can’t trust governments. Gotta be on the lookout for all their bullshit. If that guy was telling the truth back there then they’ll probably come knocking at some point. I think we should move out of the city. Maybe across the bay, go in and out by canoe or something.”

Frank shook his head. “If we want to do anything helpful for the people here we will have to deal with them. I’d rather have a good relationship. My main worry is they might just claim authority over us, but we will deal with that when it comes.”

Bill frowned, obviously not pleased with the answer, but Rina had nodded when Frank mentioned helping others. Rina didn’t have any immediate questions she voiced, while Felix seemed confused by the situation, so Frank continued.

“There are also more minor things that require immediate attention. We need a place to stay long term, and it needs to be near water. I think if we should look at the West side of Seattle for something.”

“Why does it need to be near water, and why the Westside?” Maria asked.

“So we can leave quickly if need be. On that note, we need to find some canoes, maybe even beach a small sailboat near where we end up.” Frank continued.

“We will need to get a lot of supplies to our end location, and we will need to secure it properly. There’s going to be a ton of things to collect just for ourselves, in addition to anything we do to help the area. That means we will eventually need to split up. While I doubt skinwalkers have made it here yet, given what I know from before, I can’t rule it out. That means we need a system to proactively identify each other. I’m open to input on that since right now I can’t think of anything other than just slicing yourself open and bleeding for a while.” He looked at everyone.

“We also have the dungeons that are in the area. There’s quite a number of them, and we should set up close to one if possible. Eventually, it’ll probably be a good idea to directly teach people the basics of the dungeons. For right now, we can farm them to try and get more equipment and items.”

“That’s all the most important of the immediate concerns. There’s also some open questions I want to try and answer, or encourage others to explore: How do we acquire magic? Why doesn’t technology work?” Frank looked at Felix when he asked the first question.

Felix looked back at him. “The will of God.”

“I also want to improve and continue to spread the document I wrote. I want to train people how to use weapons, and I’m slowly writing a guide to that effect. Once we get to a dungeon, I’ll spend a lot of time in there working on it.”

“There’s one more item, but I’ll discuss that later.” Frank finished. The fate of Seattle was not something he wanted to bring up in front of Felix until the man had told him about magic.

Maria, Rina, and Bill thought about what had been said for a moment. Felix had questions about the whole situation, however.

“Why does everyone believe everything you say?”

“Because I’ve been right so far,” Frank replied.

Felix fell silent, and the others started asking questions. Frank clarified and explained where ever was appropriate, and after half an hour the situation was cleared up satisfactorily for Bill, Maria, and Rina. Late evening turned to early night, and it was quickly getting dark. With the smoke above, it’d be pitch black before long, so Frank started to get ready to sleep. Rina, however, pointed something out.

“There’s a pool in the backyard. The water was still clear. We should all take baths.”

Bill and Maria reacted to this with immediate enthusiasm, and before long, Bill had found where the towels were kept and a pile of them appeared on the ottoman in the living room. Everyone bathed, one at a time, then towelled off. Except for the self-cleaning and repairing pants, everything they wore was filthy, or in Felix’s, case, barely there. For Frank, his equipment cleaned off very easily, a rinse and scrub was all it took to get his gambeson and boots back to normal. For everything else, though, they raided the upstairs bedrooms. The clothing was a little small for Bill, who ended up looking quite silly wearing a shirt two sizes too small, but everyone else was able to find something reasonably close to their size. The most transformed was Felix, who now looked borderline civilized in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.

“Get some sleep. First watch will be me and Felix. Second watch will be Bill and Rina. Maria, you get to sleep through.” Frank told them.

“Before that, what’s the plan for tomorrow?” Maria asked.

“I want to get that mace, then look for a better-situated place to stay. Everything else will depend on how long those two things take.” Frank said.

With that, the group started getting ready for bed. Frank and Felix sat in the dark in the living room, while the other three went upstairs. After an uncomfortably long silence, Frank addressed Felix.

“Do you mind explaining how you got magic?”

“By God’s will,” Felix repeated once more.

“What specifically happened?” Frank asked. “Could you explain the events leading up to it?”

Felix frowned. He seemed conflicted. Eventually, he made a decision. “Because you saved me. I’ll tell you. Even though I shouldn’t.”

Frank was silent for a moment. “Thank you,” he finally said, unable to come up with anything better, and concerned about Felix’s last sentence.

Felix began to narrate what had happened. His voice was still garbled, though just the short time he’d been speaking again had improved it already. He paused often, considering his words. “We were all in the chateau when God’s trial began. The three of us all withstood his test, me, Jorge, and George. But there was no power, and it was colder than it should have been. We tried to go out and start a car, but everything wouldn’t work. By the next morning, it was a complete blizzard, and we couldn’t see anything. We all huddled around the fireplace. When we ran out of firewood, George and Jorge argued about whether to leave or stay put. We stayed because we thought people would come. We broke down the chairs and tables inside to keep warm, until we ran out of those too. Then the dungeon appeared. We all decided to enter it and see what it was because it had been over a day and a half with no one coming by, and the power was still gone. We couldn’t start any vehicles still, so it was either freeze to death inside the chateau, try and hike out, or enter the dungeon. We chose the dungeon.”

He paused for almost a minute, then continued. “It was warmer in the dungeon. Still cold, but warm enough that winter clothing was enough. We decided to take a look down the hall. We saw a yeti. It attacked us. George panicked and fled, and it leapt at Jorge. I didn’t react quickly. I never saw George after that. Jorge got gouged in the arm. We left and used the first aid kit in the chateau to bind it up, then looked for George. This time we brought a hatchet. When we were looking for George, the surroundings changed suddenly, and we got lost. After that, we couldn’t find our way back. Jorge started getting sick because his arm didn’t heal. Then we ran out of food, and Jorge went unconscious. I left him and kept wandering. I didn’t know where to go, because I couldn’t find my way back. I tried to hunt the yetis but their bodies just disappeared.”

“I wandered for a long time, and I kept feeling weaker. I killed a yeti, and for some reason, its body stayed. I was almost fainting when I got it. I cut it open and ate it raw. Then I felt really sick, and I went unconscious. When I woke up, I could make the ice sword. The other yetis nearby didn’t disappear. I knew that I had been delivered. I had only to wait there, where I could continue to live. I was told as much.” Felix finished.

Frank noted immediately that his story didn’t match what he’d briefly told Frank before, but he didn’t call it out. Felix had left threads hanging loose, and it took self-control to stop there and not continue to push him for an explanation, especially of the last bit. He’d just have to keep an eye on him, and hopefully get more information over time. Felix, for his part, wasn’t talkative after that explanation. The rest of the watch passed in silent contemplation until Frank woke up Bill and Rina to relieve them. He got ready to sleep, clean, for the first time in a long time. After setting up the door so that anyone opening it would make a huge racket, he laid down to sleep.