Lena

Vi turned out to be the smaller of the two green-shine arassi, Nilis larger.

"We have our mana manipulation up to at least 20, and we have a couple of skill levels in the basic survival spells: [Purify], [Shield], and the like. So we get ranked as Rangers and wear the green over our uniform black," Vi had said when Lena asked about arassi coloring.

The one with the red shine turned out to be their medic, named Stylard. He, Jason, Candy, and Aaron were over with Rob.

Mr. Silver Scales, Kargerran, had gathered with the rest of his troops, getting briefed on their observations of her dungeon. Lena felt painfully bare. Three platforms and a space set aside for when she got plants, surrounded by a pond and a stone ceiling curved like the inside of an egg shell. The art she had begun engraving on her walkways had dissolved with the stone when she had initially quarantined the arassi patrol. The crystals, with lights glowing out of them, at least added some sparkle.

Focus, she thought to herself.

Dissolving the portal that brought Rob and Aaron to her while keeping the orange tree archway sculpture took a bit of concentration. She did not plan to re-use the archway for this, mainly because she did not want Rob disturbed.

She and the arassi patrollers both thought it prudent to leave the portal to their campsite alone. Two of the copper-shiny Infantry had gone back and collected the rest of their gear, which had added [Wood] as an environmental research option.

Thus, Vi, Nilis, and she now stood on the third platform, a new walkway of lighted crystal connecting it to the first platform. The two Ranger ranked arassi worked together to create an illusion of a small hillock outside the city walls of Lotrot. Feeling the portal of the orange trees give up its last tenuous link, Lena began working on establishing the new portal.

*** *** ***

Synergy of intent detected.

Location information from synergy sufficient.

Establishing portal.

Portal location within a well patterned zone. Creation cost cubed. Maintenance cost halved.

Portal established.

Zone mana pool tripled.

Zone MPR increased by 40.

*** *** ***

"Well, that's useful," Lena said. "[Zone Management]."

*** *** ***

Zone Designation: Zone [γ]*

Zone Arbiter Title: Arbiter

Zone Nature: Simple

Mana Pool: 52/3300 (1.57/min.)

Mana Consumption: 3906/hour.

*** *** ***

What is the MPR at? Lena wondered, and the zone screen rearranged.

*** *** ***

Zone Designation: Zone [γ]*

Zone Arbiter Title: Arbiter

Zone Nature: Simple

MPP 52/3300

MPR 4000

MPC: 3906

*** *** ***

"You know, I think I need to get rid of that Zone [γ] name," Lena muttered to herself.

"Oh?" Vi asked. Both he and Nilis were watching the portal activate.

*** *** ***

Provide zone designation.

*** *** ***

«The Studio of Capricious Dreams.»

*** *** ***

Do you want to alter Zone Arbiter Title?

*** *** ***

«Yes.»

*** *** ***

Provide Zone Arbiter Title.

*** *** ***

«Design Lead.»

*** *** ***

Updating zone profile …

Zone profile updated.

*** *** ***

Vi and Nilis jerked upright, followed quickly by everyone else in Lena's dungeon.

"What?" Lena asked.

"Why did you name this dungeon the Studio of Capricious Dreams?" Vi asked.

"Oh, you got a system announcement? Cool. The name is kind of personal. Mamaw Ruthy is pretty … ruthless when it comes to ruling our family. My mom's still taking flak for joining Papa in his house flipping business. When I decided to pursue a career as an artist, Mamaw threw a fit. She thinks artists are all capricious dreamers. Mom just about disowned her over the whole thing."

"Is your society matriarchal?" Nilis asked.

Lena chuckled. "Nope. Mamaw is just that kind of person."

"Is her leadership of your family won by some kind of contest?" Vi asked.

"I've given you the wrong impression. My apologies. Mamaw Ruthy is the type of person who believes that she is in charge because she always knows best. She does not care whether her authority has legal or social standing. She can be so obnoxious to deal with that it's easier by far to just let her have her way. I think part of the reason my parents helped me become a homeowner in my own right was as much about proving Papa's business is a good one as it was in helping me start off strong."

"Ah," Nilis said.

Vi smirked. "No one we know is like that, right, Nilis?"

"Choke on sand, egg-licker." Nilis smiled despite himself as he insulted his fellow Ranger.

The camaraderie lightened Lena's mood a touch.

Shadows began to resolve into shapes inside the portal, the shapes refining into the inside of the cave, roughly 2 m in height, 3 m wide, and 2 m deep. On the far side of the cave, an opening about 1 and 1/2 m, square, let in the daylight. Between the new portal and that cave entrance stood an irate feline, its fur puffed out and its tail lashing.

"That's the biggest dang cougar I have ever seen," Lena said, shocked still at the sight.

Vi and Nilis on the other hand, simultaneously shouted, "[Shield]!" and scrambled back.

The cougar leapt through the portal, bounced off of Vi's force shield - through Lena's toon - before it landed while still twisting to get its feet underneath it.

"[Offer Contract]!" That was the first thought Lena had to stop the cougar. It moved faster than she could put up a wall, and, anyhow, she did not want to chance locking the Rangers in close confines with an angry predator.

The cougar regained its feet, but paused, eyeing Lena's toon with laid-back ears.

*** *** ***

Offering standard contract to dire cat …

Dire cat accepts standard contract.

*** *** ***

"No one attack nobody!" Lena said. "Dire cat, try to relax. Vi, Nilis, are you guys all right?"

The five other arassi were charging to their comrade's aid, weapons drawn.

The dire cat found a corner. Without knowing how she knew it, Lena realized the feline wanted a hole to hide in. Reflexively, she made a kitty cubby, dire cat sized, around her new Zone Guardian.

Vi cast a [Shield] over the opening.

*~*~*

Jason

Jason volunteered to go to Lotrot with Kargerran and his squad.

Stylard had identified the signs of mana starvation in Rob. After reaching a compromise of sorts with Lena over her new pet, Stylard tapped Vi and Nilis to assist in field treatment, and Rob was still sleeping hard.

Jason had pointed out that Rob would need to see Aaron safe and sound when he woke, nixing the boy's offer to go. Neither Jason nor Lena trusted Candy, in her current state of denial, to represent their interests too well.

The patrol squad made good time. Jason (unlike Rob) kept up on his PT, and he could maintain a 5-minute mile over 3 miles (a 3 minute km over 5 km) if he pushed himself. He felt pressed to keep up with the arassi as they headed toward a 10 m tall wall.

They moved through a grassy plain, dotted with short trees and bramble patches. When they got close enough, Jason saw the bark of the trees was a mottled white and smooth, peeling off in stripes that exposed a faintly green wood underneath. The leaves, a yellow-green color, reminded Jason of miniature fern blades growing out of woody vines. The brambles had deep green leaves with serrated edges and pale green, cherry-like berries growing out of teeny flowers, ranging in color from baby blue to pastel lavender.

"What are those called?" he asked, pointing to the berries.

"Pucker berries. They are edible now, but very bitter. When they turn red, they start getting sweet, but there's always a sour aftertaste. Also, eating more than a handful a day leads to constipation." Stylard grimaced. "You do not want the field cure for that!"

"I will take your word on that," Jason assured him.

There was a slight pause in the conversation before Stylard asked, "Are all human women like Candice Sterling and Lena West Ton?"

Jason chuckled. "Thank God, no. Candy is pretty immature and from the sound of things, she's been pampered by most of her family. She's a good kid, don't get me wrong. She just hasn't been pushed to take responsibility for herself. Lena is younger by a few years, but she's got her head on straight. Today, well, it has not been the best day for any of us."

"If they are so young, why are their mammaries so swollen?" Stylard asked.

Jason blinked. "You mean their breasts?"

"Their mammary glands, their teats," Stylard clarified.

"Yeah. Their breasts, where babies suckle. The girls are probably about averagely endowed. I'm taking it that arassi ladies don't have …?" Jason held his hands cupped over his chest.

"Oh, arassi babies are milk fed. It's just weird to see a female with engorged milk glands without an infant."

It was Jason's turn to say, "Oh." Feeling awkward, he changed the subject. "You guys know about humans. Are there other sapient races around?"

The question earned him curious looks from the Infantry ranked patrollers. Kargerran, however, seemed to take it in stride. "Lotrot is home to several types of beast kin: lupines, bears, and fox kin primarily. The elves have an embassy, and gnomes are mostly represented in the merchant sector. Other of the Aware races are rare, but we've gotten taurgonaut adventurers. The majority of inter-city couriers are centaurs, and minotaurs are popular choices for caravan guards. Gidataurs are everywhere, but no one really trusts them. They get into everything, almost as bad as fauns. Oh, and there's a clan of parandrians that roam between the cities. They're easy to offend, but no one else in the area can get their hands on a consistent supply of Drakkon's Breath so we put up with their attitudes."

"I have a picture in my head of beast kin, elves, and gnomes. No idea if it's at all close to accurate. But what are taurgonauts, gidataurs, and parandrians?"

Kargerran said, "Teach a bear to stand upright and hold a sword. Then replace his feet with cloven hooves and give him antlers. Make him the most pissed off herbivore you've ever met. That's a parandrian stag. Never call them bucks. The does can pass for heavily muscled deer kin, except for the claws on their fingertip. They are even more … aggressive than the stags."

Jason paused to look Kargerran over, wondering if he was being toyed with. If so, Kargerran had an amazing poker face, because he seemed genuine.

*** *** ***

You have unlocked the Sense Intent skill. +1 ACU, +1 CHA

*** *** ***

The patrol kept moving, and Jason had to jog to catch up.

"Taurgonaut is a broad word. It's a general way to talk about the beings like centaurs that have four legs and two arms. They're almost all Third Era chimeras. Minotaurs are still technically taurgonauts even though they're almost all bipedal. Gidataurs are a type of taurgonaut with the base of a goat and the torso of a gnome."

By this point, the patrol came in sight of a well maintained brick road. Following the road toward the wall, and the city beyond that, got them in range of the gate guards' hail within a couple of minutes.

"Sergeant Kargerran, what's this you're bringing back? He why you're returned early?" The arassi guard who gave that greeting had dull gray scales marked by black stripes along his shoulders and down his arms. He and the bear anthropomorph beside him both wore sleeveless leather chest plates, leather bracers and greaves, and heavy cloth pants. The bear beast kin wore a bronze, open faced helm with a nose guard.

"Guardsman Tomst, nosy as ever. I'm sure you'll find out over a pint tonight. Please log the human Jason Kline as my guest."

"Human? Not an gnelf?" Tomst straightened up.

The bear kin guardsman leaned forward and sniffed at Jason. "Not a gnelf. So that's what human smells like."

Tomst smacked the bear kin on the shoulder. "Hey, how many times do you need to hear the captain's lecture about personal space, Wayne?"

Wayne ignored Tomst, but he did straighten back up.

Jason asked, "What's a gnelf?"

"Half gnome, half elf," Kargerran told him, then looked back to Tomst. "I'm giving you the time it takes me to scratch my tail to get back out here with the gate log. If you aren't, well, I'm not the one Captain Prospin will be discussing procedure with."

Tomst frowned, but stepped into a doorway on the inside of the gateway, returning shortly with an odd device that looked like two tubes stacked on top of each other, with knobs protruding from each tube on the right-hand side. He also carried a stick that looked like a homemade version of the graphite pencils Lena sketched with.

Jason was asked to make his mark next to his name, and then Kargerran made his mark - a glyph that reminded Jason of Chinese characters - beside Jason's signature.

They arrived by way of the eastern gate and spent the next half hour following twisting roads until they arrived at a walled compound somewhere near the south-western wall. Despite being populated by all sorts of anthropomorphic people, Lotrot could have been modeled on a city from the nineteenth century. The buildings were mostly sheathed in uniformly sized brick, the streets cobbled, and posts topped with orangey-yellow stone sculptures were spaced evenly along the side of the roads. Grated curbs defined a pedestrians-only stroll-zone in front of the stores, separate from the main traffic of the street, and provided evidence of some sort of sewer system.

Jason felt reassured that he occasioned only passing curiosity from most of the residents of Lotrot.

Inside the compound, Jason saw training grounds to either side of a three-level edifice (judging by the position of the windows along the front of the building). Behind each training field stood a long structure that reminded Jason of barracks.

"Nilis, stick with me. The rest of you yahoos, resupply. Jason Kline, this way please." Kargerran led the way into the central building.

A few arassi, their scales all dyed black like Kargerran and his troops, paused as they moved through the corridors. The ones with an over-sheen of silver or gold called out greetings to Kargerran and Nilis. Kargerran nodded to the ones with silver shines and tapped his shoulder with the automatic precision of a salute to the arassi with gold over-sheens, but he did not stop. Nilis usually responded with the shoulder salute and a chin tip toward his sergeant.

They went up two sets of stairs before arriving at Kargerran's destination. He knocked twice on the door, then opened it and ushered Jason and Nilis inside. The room revealed behind the door had the familiar look of a higher-up's waiting room. Another door graced the far wall, a desk with all sorts of built in cubby holes set to the side of the path between doorways. Three stool-like chairs facing the desk provided seating for any guests waiting to speak with the person behind that far door. Jason guessed the individual sitting behind the fancy desk was one of the lupines by their generally wolfish appearance, but he couldn't guess at gender.

Addressing the lupine, Kargerran said, "Sergeant Kargerran and Ranger Nilis escorting a Traveler to meet with Commander Faulkin. No appointment."

The lupine cocked its head to the side, tufted triangular ears pricked forward, and gave Jason a thorough once over. "A Traveler? One moment while I check in with the commander." The voice sounded feminine. The lupine rose, tapped shiny claws lightly on the door behind her(?) before slipping inside. The door closed with a barely audible click.

Seconds later, the door opened wide, held by an arassas with silver scales. This specimen had narrower shoulders, its neck was slimmer, facial features more curved, and its claws were significantly longer than the other arassi Jason had so far seen. It spoke with a deeper voice, but Jason still wanted to think of this arassas as female. "Come in, sit down, and report, sergeant." Though addressing only Kargerran, the person Jason assumed to be Commander Faulkin included Nilis and Jason in the order with her(?) gaze.

The lupine waited for them to enter before slipping out and closing the door just as softly as before.

Commander Faulkin waited for the three of them to be seated before waving at Kargerran to begin. Throughout the sergeant's recitation of events, the commander never once took her gaze off Jason. At the end of the report, Commander Faulkin let the silence draw out for a few minutes.

Jason's habits of military service had taken over. The last officer he and Rob had served under (the one who convinced them that two tours of duty would be one too many) had frequently left them standing at attention while he tried to intimidate them with his silence.

"Do you speak?" the commander asked. There was genuine curiosity behind the question.

"Yes, ma'am," Jason said.

The commander blinked a couple times. "Why do you call me 'ma'am'?"

"I've been taught it's a respectful form of address to a female commissioned officer, ma'am," Jason said.

"Why do you think I'm female?" Again, the question felt driven by curiosity alone.

Jason blushed. "My apologies. Your build is more graceful than Sergeant Kargerran and his troops'."

"Oh, you're correct that I am female. Most of the other Aware find it difficult to distinguish genders among the arassi. May I inspect your Status?"

Jason said, "Before we get to that, may I ask your intentions for my friends and myself?"

"I haven't exactly had time to form intentions, nor is Lotrot's stance toward your party a purely military matter," Commander Faulkin said. A slight narrowing of her eyes and downturn to her lips seemed to indicate displeasure with the second part of that thought.

Jason nodded. "I understand. I'm sure I speak for all of my party when I say that, while we maintain amicable relations, we will be happy to accommodate any reasonable requests you may have of us."

*** *** ***

You have unlocked the Diplomacy skill. +2 CHA

*** *** ***

Commander Faulkin smiled. "You're much easier to work with than either of Rhofhir's ancestral races. How about this: you return to your party at this new dungeon with Sergeant Kargerran's troops and one of our dungeon delver teams while I apprise the political branch of your situation? I'll ensure that we send along some goodwill supplies. However, I will need to inspect your Status to confirm that you are, indeed, a Traveler."

Jason took a moment before saying, "That sounds generous. How do I show you my Status screen?"

"Focus on me and the projection is [Share Status]. That should allow me to inspect your Status," Commander Faulkin said.

"[Share Status]," Jason said, maintaining eye contact with the commander.

Her eyes widened. "You have several second and third tier skills already. How have you managed that?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't understand what you mean by skill tiers."

"[Sense Intent] is an advancement of [Share Social Cues], which is itself an advancement of [Group Behavior], and [Diplomacy] is the advancement of [Negotiation], which is an advancement of [Bargaining]. That makes those both third tier skills."

"Okay," Jason said.

"You're not understanding this, are you?" Commander Faulkin asked.

Jason shrugged. "I get the general gist of what you're saying, but I have no real experience with it so I'm not going to pretend to know why I have skills that you find questionable."

"Fair enough. Sergeant, how soon can you head out?"

"I sent my team to resupply while we reported to you, Commander. My team won't hold up the delvers."

Jason caught the undercurrent of some kind of rivalry there.

The commander grinned, showing a lot of teeth. "I'll be sure to let Corporal Baline know that."

Kargerran returned the smile with his own display of pointy mouthware and saluted.

"Dismissed," the commander said. She watched them file out and caught the door. "Urga, please send for Corporal Baline and send out a meeting summons for the City Council, as soon as reasonable and I am happy to authorize expenses for hosting here."

"Yes, Commander!" the lupine secretary said. She pulled an opaque stone from one of the cubby holes in her desk. Jason didn't see what else she did with it as Nilis and Kargerran hurried him out the door, down the corridors and stairs, and out to one of the training fields.