Hank and the wanderers arrived just as Sabine started to interrogate a small group of women she had found advancing through the camp with Fritz. “People without heads don’t make loud noises.” Sabine remarked in answer to a question from one of the women indicating her axe had had a bit of a workout.

Marko arrived and the complaining immediately started. Jamie whispered a translation to Hank as Marko addressed Sabine. “Someone arrived ahead of us and sacked through that hut to the west of the compound. Bet whoever it was, clean took everything there.” It was a strange translation. At once more refined and yet still reflective of the grammar and phraseology Hank was coming to recognise in the speech of the wee people.

Hank was about to comment when Esther spoke. “Where are Azar, Roxanne, and Yasmin?”

“‘N’ ‘oo are ye?” Echoed from the three short people.

Before Esther could reply her father spoke in a vaguely belligerent tone. “I’m Jamie. I saved Hank and that short loudmouth,” He pointed at Marko as he continued. “…at the southern sentry outpost. And this is my daughter, Esther. Where are her friends?”

“Why does the group log come up nine short on the death or disabled count?” Marko prevented a response with a loud interruption. Though waiting for Sabine to translate took a lot of the aggression out of the question.

“Jamie’s not part of the group so his actions don’t appear in the group list.” Hank replied quietly, endeavouring to calm things down, but he was starting to get an unpleasant feeling about the dark haired short man. “So where are the women?” He continued.

“What’s it to you. I answer to Sabine for this mission not you.” Marko wasn’t endearing himself to Jamie who translated through gritted teeth.

“It’s my quest. You all have the privilege of participating in it. So I want to know, where are the women. Otherwise I’m taking Fritz and Sabine out of here and I’ll leave Jamie to question you as he likes. I told you no innocent blood shed.” Hank put his foot down.

Marko sneered at Hank, “So it was you and the tall thief who stole all the chests out of that hut to the south.” Sabine sounded like she was agreeing as she translated.

“As you well know we took nothing from that hut. But rest assured if any of the chests are missing we know that it’s the dark haired man of diminutive stature to blame. Now tell us where the women are.” Jamie wasn’t taking a back step as he pointedly addressed Hank.

“Listen to the stranger with the short insults. You want to trust him?” Sabine was getting side tracked.

“Actually yes. For the moment.” Hank wasn’t liking the turn of this conversation.

Marko sneered at him. “This from someone without the stomach to kill anyone.” Jamie raised his eyebrow as he translated this pointed statement.

“No. This from someone who judges people based on their own actions.” Right then Hank decided he was never going to trust Marko. “Instead I’m to trust someone who convinced his leader to follow the wrong tracks getting here. One who lied about the contents of a hut. Won’t give straight answers to questions and continues to blame everyone else.”

Hank stared down at Marko. “Even after I tended your wounds.” He was getting angry. “In contrast, Jamie hasn’t been out of my sight and he is a Wanderer. Do you want to accuse a Wanderer of being dishonest? Kings and priests trust them, with the destiny of nations.” Hank paused and stared for a silent moment before continuing. “Well do you?”.

There was a suspicious grumble though untranslated by anyone it sounded strangely like, “you’d take his side anyway”, but Hank chose not to react.

Instead he pursued the more salient topic. “No. Well it looks like we know who has been taking liberties. I also have a feeling that we will need to question you aggressively to find the entire contents of that hut to the south.”

“Whoa, calm down.” Sabine was looking a bit nervous at the turn of events.

“No, Sabine.” Hank turned to her. “Either he answers the question or I’ll help Jamie here bind him and hand him over to the kings guards for questioning about this.”

“Now, now. There’s no need for that. I’m sure this is all a big misunderstanding.” Sabine translated the first words that Hank had heard Fritz say since they had left the river the day before. What Fritz really said Hank gave up trying to understand.

Marko sneered again as Jamie translated his comments. “Fine, I took a couple of chests out of that southern hut. Hid them in the bush nearby.”

“Fritz and you can get them in a minute.” Sabine was giving orders that Hank wasn’t comfortable with and was about to challenge that decision when Jamie interrupted.

“What happened to the women?”

“One of the bitches attacked me and so I killed her and two others. Two others fled to the caravan. That’s all I know.” Marko didn’t show any remorse.

Hank grabbed Jamie before he could get to Marko. Then taking the knife from him said. “Go and get the women from the caravans and then meet me back here. I’m the only one who gets to decide what happens to Marko. Sabine and I will have a brief chat whilst you’re all away. Marko and Fritz get those chests. Esther here will watch you do it because, quite frankly, I don’t trust the motivations of your people since we left the river.”

Everyone departed except for Hank and Sabine. Hank turned to Sabine and without giving her a chance to comment started. “I agreed to your division of responsibility because of your experience, in the belief that you would control your people. Yes, my actions at the bridge cost you a chest which needs recovery. But I will burn my agreement with Gruffly if you don’t keep your people under control. I said no innocent blood lost, and I meant it. Are we clear?”

“And I don’t expect strangers that you pick up along the way to insult my people.” Sabine snapped back.

Hank sighed. “Sabine, let me be blunt. If you start to behave like Marko and dodge the issue by focusing on minor offences, then we are going to have a big problem.”

“These are not minor offences. You don’t know what it’s like to…” Sabine started to reply heatedly. Hank turned to leave. “Where are you going?” She asked, surprise creeping into her voice.

Hank turned back to address her. “I told you not to avoid the point. Obviously, you all think that because I am not the best warrior, that the strongest of you are somehow in control of what happens next. I’ve been nice to you and your brother but I’m taking all the books and maps I find here and my portion of the loot. Then, when we get back to the ford, you can explain to Gruffly how you, through your own action, ended our agreement. I will tear it up in his face. I gave you an order. You still haven’t explained why you thought it was optional or why you’ve done nothing to enforce it. For killing three innocent women I expect you to execute Marko.”

“What! No way!” Sabine replied in shock. Anger took over as she continued. “That tall man insulted us?”

“So what.” Hank started walking to the door. “You have demonstrated why you are unfit to command anything. If you can’t deal with insults, no matter how unjustified, you have no business leading yourself, let alone others. People will always manipulate you because you cannot control your reactions. We are done, you and your entire family.”

An icon suddenly started blinking. To distance himself from his anger Hank opened the box and was surprised to see his argument had resulted in a wisdom point.

Wisdom Point

Name :

Emotional Distance

Description :

Those in leadership need to temper their emotions.

Understand your emotions, even welcome them.

But do not let them dictate your course of action

Alternative Description :

Good leadership requires a calm hand

Reward :

Wisdom is its own reward, so you shouldn’t expect any but…

150 XP

Some other stuff you may never understand.

Hank didn’t react as he walked out into the night. What are these points for he wondered.

“Wait, Hank. You don’t even know if they are innocent.” Sabine changed tack.

“Did or did we not say that given the evidence of abuse all women were to be assumed innocent until proven otherwise.” Without remorse Hank spoke over his shoulder as he continued towards the door

“Well yes, but…” Sabine started to reply before stopping in confusion.

“So there it is.” Hank paused at the door.

“But you don’t understand I can’t summarily execute any member of our tribe. That’s not how we work.” Sabine pleaded as she caught up to him.

“Not my problem. You took command, therefor the responsibility is yours. We discussed this. You were emphatic that everyone follow your commands. You agreed to this principle but now don’t want to enforce it. Your authority is non existent and your resolve week. You are unfit for command.” Hank looked at her as his resolve hardened

“But my people do not allow any other action to be taken.” Sabine argued.

“Once again not my problem. But let me be clear. Firstly Gruffly agreed to abide my law not some cockamamy scheme your people act under. That’s the agreement as written. If you are in my town, it’s my rules. Secondly, if your people can’t discipline each other you will never rise above barbarity.” Hank spoke.

“My people cannot live under another’s law. Our own laws are righteous and come from a proud tradition. This is against our laws.” Sabine pointed out.

“Then it’s just as well our agreement has ended. I will not tolerate one set of laws for one and another set of laws for another. There will be no apartheid in my lands. We will be one city with one rule of law for all. You don’t like the law, leave, or help change it, just doing your own thing will never be tolerated.” Hank replied.

“But I can’t without the council’s agreement. I am given authority for war not for civil law.” Sabine disagreed with his position completely.

“Once again you seem to be missing a fundamental point.” Hank was relentless in his argument. “You assumed command. Therefore you’re responsible for the actions of everyone serving under you. For better or worse. Marko’s actions were during combat, which is your jurisdiction. Either act in line with your responsibility or acknowledge that you cannot take charge again.”

“But that is not the law of my people and there are more of us in this group. Surely our law presides.” Sabine countered.

“No. You display a lack of understanding as to how the chain of command works. This is not a democracy.” Hank paused briefly for breath. “Gruffly has signed your people up as part of my village. In doing so he acknowledged my authority as above his and your people. When I came with you to recover your chest, I could do no other. I am responsible, under the agreement, so I was duty bound to recover it.”

Hank continued “Gruffly made it clear that getting your people across the ford was my responsibility. Which is why I was obligated to help when we were attacked. There is no use whining about fate or how I had nothing to do with the events that transpired. I couldn’t remain out of the fight at the ford because of my obligation to your people through the agreement. As it turns out, if I had stayed with the cart I would have satisfied that requirement but I can’t complain about fate or circumstance. That isn’t a defence. If one has the authority, they are responsible. No exceptions.”

“The only reason I asked to join your group in chasing after the chest was because we were all going anyway and it’s better to work as a team. But make no mistake. I was always coming. You were always subject to me so I allowed you to take both responsibility and authority. Now you assumed the responsibility for actions taken whilst you were in charge. No exceptions. Obviously, your training is deficient but you have a chance and a choice. Act, exercise your authority. Or don’t. The choice is yours.” Hank turned for the door again regarding the discussion closed.

Sabine didn’t believe it was and so tried for some middle ground. “Ok. What I can do is try him before my people. Your Jamie can give evidence.”

“That’s your choice, but I give you fair warning if your people do not deliver justice there will be big problems. Fair warning, justice is not the implementation of the law. Law is about itself, justice and fairness have nothing to do with the law. Besides, as we have just discussed, who’s law should apply. According to the agreement, it will be mine. Now when Marko comes back with the chests you take his weapons and search him for anything other property on his person. Then bind him. That is a command not an optional request.” Hank ground his teeth.

“As for the division of spoils here. What’s yours is yours. Namely the chest. What belongs to Jamie and his people belongs to them. No questions asked. Maps and books are mine, again no questions asked. You are responsible for the fair division of the rest. Just remember that all of Jamie’s people will be watching you. And I need not remind you they are wanderers, their word counts in the halls of the affluent, I council you, be fair.” Hank took a breath at the end of his second lecture in as many minutes.

“Now there are some prisoners to bring in.” Hank’s anger flared again as he remembered the blood thirsty nature of the evening. “Innocent deaths, what were they thinking.” He needed to go to a happier place, mentally, or at least a place without conflict. Reviewing his logs would need to satisfy, even if it was only a minor distraction.

Level Increase

Congratulations: Your efforts have earned you enough XP to advance to level 6

Reward :

None that you can tell, apart from a small feeling of accomplishment

“Woo hoo. Always nice to go up a level. Bet it was because of some quests I completed.” Hank mumbled to himself as Sabine stormed off. There was an additional notification but Hank didn’t notice it in his impatience to view the quest logs.

Quest : Save the Wanderers

Part :

1 - Save Jamie’s Caravan

Description :

Rescue the Wanderers seen in the rogue camp. Jamie will accompany you for this part of the quest

Status :

Completed successfully

Reward :

64 xp (80% participation for 8 people)

Reputation with Wanderers increased

Update :

24 xp (bonus xp for rescuing more than 67% of those captured)

Finally a quest with a nice amount of XP. Hank thought to himself.

Quest : Save the Wanderers

Part :

2 - Save the four girls

Description :

Four of the girls with Jamie’s caravan where separated from the main group. Rescue these four.

Status :

Completed with significant failures

Jamie’s daughter (Esther) was not saved

Azar is dead due to your team

Reward :

4 xp (20% participation for 2 people)

12 xp (20% participation for 2 people, 80% participation for 1 person)

Quest chain altered to include part 3

Reputation with Jamie changed to gratitude

Penalties :

Reputation with Jamie reduced to poor

Reputation with Wanderers reduced

Update 1 :

The abuse of Yasmin and Roxanne is too high. Your team does not have the skills to address this. You receive no bonus rewards or quests there are no penalties it is sufficient that you have rescued them.

Update 2 :

You have rescued Esther

Penalties and rewards updated

Bonus Rewards :

50 xp (Personally rescuing Esther)

Look at all those quest updates Hank thought to himself. He hadn’t seen them in a number of years. All that extra experience was fantastic. To bad he didn’t have any counselling skills, if he had there would have been plenty more.

Quest : Save the Wanderers

Part :

3 - Justice for Azar

Description :

Marco is accused of killing Azar. If justice is not done and seen to be done there will be many unforeseen consequences. Your reputation with both the wanderers and the Wee people is at stake.

Status :

Open

Reward :

Unknown

Update :

Loss of quest xp, depending on outcome up to 30%

Loss of reputation with Wanderers

Loss of reputation with Wee people

Ok, Hank thought to himself. The quest is telling him one thing really clearly. Don’t stuff up Marko’s trial. He moved onto the next log.

Log (Skills and Techniques)

Confined Space Combat has reached level 1, no bonuses at this time, 10 xp awarded

Laying down the law has reached level 1, no bonuses at this time, 10 xp awarded

Combat Survival has advanced, +0.02% battle calm, +0.01% battle tactics

Combat Awareness has advanced, -0.14% chance of being surprised in combat

Wound Inspection has advanced, +0.1% battlefield treatment efficiency

Quarterstaffing has reached level 20, +0.1% damage, 0.2% chance to strike, +2% staff speed

Sneak Attack has advanced, +0.16% chance of success, +0.5% speed

Tracking has reached level 9, +0.1% perception, +0.1% path finding, +1% tracking speed

Wound Inspection has advanced, +0.06% diagnosis accuracy

“So glad that the competencies are displayed in summary fashion only. Why couldn’t I find the ‘summary’ option sooner?”

“What’s that?” Jamie was back.

“Nothing. What are we going to tell others about today’s events?” Hank changed the subject.

“That’s easy. I’m an emissary to the King. All of this…” he gestured about the camp, “… good advertising. Never waylay a Wanderer. Leave it with me.” He paused “Did I hear correctly your portion is all books and maps? Everything the wee people are supposed to divide equitably.”

“Not quite. Your people’s property is all yours too. You also get equal division. Not your caravan mind you. You, individually, assisted in the raid on this camp, so just you. Therefor five portions only.”

“You realise my people normally complete allocation of spoils after major battles.” Hank wasn’t sure if Jamie was asking or stating so he just inclined his head in response.

Hank’s noncommittal response prompted Jamie to actually ask a question. “So why are you asking the wee people to do this, rather than us?”

A slight smile appeared on Hank’s face. “So many reasons.” The smile grew. “Firstly, I have asked a hard thing of them in trying Marko so this is an easy panacea. They also have strange idea’s about law, justice and ownership which I have just addressed with Sabine and this is an immediate way to see how they handle it. Just to name two.”

“So you trust them.” Jamie asked.

Hank snorted struggling not to laugh. “First we try, then we trust.”

Glancing briefly at Jamie, he continued. “Foolish is he who trusts in words and paper, actions are the fruit of a person. My father was a farmer, I trust fruit, not the beauty, smell or convenience of things planted.” Hank’s mind strayed to his real world father repeating the words of a memory. “Be a fruit inspector, Dave. Trust the actions not the assurances of people.”

“Who’s Dave?” Jamie asked.

“Never mind.” With a smile Hank returned to things before him. “If we were playing chess I would say my pawn has forked a knight and a bishop. Either they are honourable and I have found valued partners or they pay me whilst demonstrating they are unworthy.”

“So you will kick them to curb if the later?” Jamie asked.

“No. I have a quest to complete after all. I need them. It just changes the nature of the game.” Hank remarked as he left the building. He continued to himself. “Chess isn’t won with the first move of rook or pawn. It’s the king’s surrender that decides all.”