Dive Back In

It befell in the days of King Arthur, when he was the king of all England and so reigned, that there was a wise warrior in his service. He was a man who, though he spoke not of the nature of the mysteries unveiled to him, had known of King Arthur and his knights firstly as a collection of poems held dear and beloved by a clerk serving a great merchant of Venice.

On one day, he was beset by cruel and unexplained visions. The illuminated manuscript he found always close to hand shifted and swayed, the worlds within twisting into a grim prophecy. Doom would come to his house, and the force of arms may prove insufficient to the task of repelling the foe.

He sought council with his wife, the fair dame Ragnell, and said to her, “a great foe comes to our lands, one with power great enough to find us and destroy us no matter how mighty a castle we seek to hide within. Though I have 25 blades at my command I see that this foe shall have 50 or more blades and great powers besides.”

And Dame Ragnell said to him, “My husband are you not also a man possessed of diverse and magnificent powers? Is there no tool that you may bring to bear against this foe?”

And he answered, “Yea, God has bestowed upon me such a blade, but it is a blade with cost. I may call upon a champion of the same nature as myself and of our foe. I must lure him with gifts and tribute of my choosing. Be they weapons or jewels or the hands of fair maiden pledged to me, I must choose for him a gift to entice.”

And Dame Ragnell said, “then offer unto him Dame Hellawes, for she has beauty and power enough to entice any man but the one she so desires, and her uncanny nature and cruel designs vex the ladies of Camelot so, even as the oath which binds her to you forces her hand from the darkest path.”

“Nay,” said Lucan. “For though she is bound to me, ‘Twas by an oath of honor, and I shall not offer her like a horse for trade to a man yet unknown to me. Nor, indeed, would I inflict her upon a man who may prove undeserving of such woe. Instead, let us offer up the bounty of our foe, and allow any man to plunder his castle. That happy right would entice many a mercenary, I think, and would bind him ever closer to our cause for the prize he seeks shall be one he must gather for himself.”

This rejection of Dame Ragnell’s council caused her to withdraw from Sir Lucan’s company for the evening, but nonetheless she directed the servants to prepare. For though Sir Lucan was the Butler of King Arthur himself, he had discovered over long years that the fair Dame Ragnell was more than his equal in the management of the household.

Sir Lucan stood upon the ramparts, the blade Caliburn heavy upon his hip. Upon the horizon he saw words, written streaks of burning ember, which moved with unearthly speed to the north. He knew not what mischief the bearers of those names carried within their hearts, but was unwilling to send forth his men to do battle blindly.

Lucan’s heart leapt, swelling with a sense that he was not alone against this foe. He knew not the nature of the man who would stand beside him. So when a man from afar appeared upon the ramparts, his name dancing above his head in letters of deepest blue, Lucan embraced him as a brother and bowed deeply to his wife.

The man was of strange dress and yet stranger manners, with a cloak of russet cloth, a smiling mask formed of white clay, a golden belt, and a lightly colored undergarment made of a material far finer and more luminous than silk. He bore a blade at his belt, and a heavy satchel slung upon his shoulder. His bride, whose floating name declared her Rosevalda of House Durst, was still more strange, for she wore naught but leather which clung to her form.

And the stranger said to him. “Arrest thy passions, sir knight. This day, you face a foe who has inspired in me great ire. Let us speak together of how we may vanquish this dishonorable knave.”

••••••••••

Gil wasn’t expecting to be hugged by a medieval knight before he even had the opportunity to look around, but Sir Lucan did exactly that before Gil could even orient himself. The man had arms like steel bars, the kind you get from someone who either had an extremely demanding fitness routine or Body Tune Up. Hell, Gil had Body Tune Up from his new belt and still felt small, so it was entirely possible Lucan had both.

He politely extracted himself from the barrel chested Englishman, setting his clothes in order while the man placed a hand over his heart and bowed deeply to Rose. Whoever this guy was, he was happy to see them. That was justifiable, as Gil could see numbers in the distance, written in a glowing reddish color. They told him just how dire the situation was.

Several tier threes, a tier four, a few tier fives, and a tier six. This wouldn’t be an easy fight, no matter what happened. They were far away, but Gil was pretty sure Vista, one of his own two tier sixes, could close that same distance in a few minutes at most. That was the thing about tiers. He didn’t know if he was looking at combat monsters or logistical nightmares just at a glance.

Even worse, not all of the enemies were accounted for yet. He didn’t know what tier Kusai was, but the total point cost present was three shy of 143. That meant that at minimum two or three tier 1s and 2s were hidden somewhere or disguised. If Kusai was the tier 6, that meant that a full 53 more credits worth of enemy troops were concealed somewhere. Given how a lot of paying customers tended to play, stacking maximum power upon themselves, that was completely on the table.

Rose smirked at Gil’s flabbergasted face when Lucan enthusiastically waved them into the castle, where they were soon joined by a few servants carrying food and drink led by a remarkably beautiful woman with the Name “Ragnell, T2” floating above her head. She settled in a chair just close enough to her husband to be visibly in his corner.

“Thank you for your quick response.” Lucan said, "I've been trying to get ready, but I don’t know what to expect. I know what I can do is miraculous, so I assume the same might be true of another… like me. What can you do?”

Gil shrugged. He knew better than to expect to hear anything too period accurate, especially out of another tester. Whatever Lucan said was being translated in real time to match Gil’s words and lexicon. He probably heard Gil speaking in old English or Latin or whatever, despite the both of them just speaking Company Standard.

“A lot of stuff. Mostly things I can only do once or twice.” He explained. “I’m probably going to be more valuable as a consultant than a combat asset. My wife can certainly fight better than most, but neither of us are really equipped to fight armies.”

“I beg your pardon?” Ragnell said, “My husband labors in ignorance of the threats arrayed against us, and you would leave him without knowledge of what stands beside him as well?”

Gil examined the woman again. She hadn’t raised her voice, or indeed looked directly at Gil, but there was a note of accusation in her tone. She wasn’t a warrior woman, but apparently she was confident enough in her position to back-talk guests. Gil also noted that Lucan didn’t correct her. He had a slightly pained expression, but if Gil had to guess that was more for the mild breach in decorum than any actual disagreement. It was even distinctly possible that the apologetic glance was purely for Gil’s benefit.

Gil sighed.

“Very well. I shall share my abilities and that of my companion if you do the same.” Gil said. “By the standards of your people I am probably a terrible warrior, and my primary contribution to any battle would be the ability to call forth lightning and heal people’s wounds quickly. I have too many small tools in this bag to catalogue in a reasonable time frame, and my clothes are actually very high end armor stronger than metal plates. This mask can allow me to walk among enemies unremarked upon so long as I don’t make a nuisance of myself. I promise to inform you should any of my tools seem relevant.”

He gestured at Rose for her to continue, and swept his eyes around, picking out the names and numbers in white that represented Lucan’s retinue. He wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about what he saw.

It appeared that the overwhelming majority of Lucan’s retinue consisted of T2 men, with a few T5s for seasoning. There was only one T4 in the bunch, someone named Helawes. Generally speaking, the tiers grew in power geometrically; it was possible that the tier 5s on the enemy team could carve through Lucan’s entire retinue of T2 mooks if they went in blind. That didn’t strictly speaking mean they were doomed, but it did mean they’d need to get creative, and fast.

“I am extremely skilled with my crossbow and more athletic than most men.” Rose said, “I can send my spirit away from my body, maybe… half a mile? My spirit can strongly influence people who aren’t in control of themselves. Finally, I can alter my physical appearance, or that of others, as long as the result is an attractive woman. I’m also… very, very attractive. So, what can you do?”

Lucan nodded along, as if he were half expecting all of this.

“I have the right and duty of bearing the blade Caliburn, sister sword to Excalibur.” He said, “In my hands, it may galvanize any oath sworn to me, so long as it is spoken in good faith and understanding. I have used this property to rally many a menace to my banner on pain of death, though my efforts to rehabilitate rather than merely contain them have proven… lacking.”

The large, barrel chested man let out a heavy sigh, then rallied himself. As much as his wife maintained decorum, Gil was starting to get the impression that this man wore his heart on his sleeve.

“It is also a fine blade in its own right.” Lucan said, “I am one of the better swordsmen among the Knights of the Round table, though I am of course eclipsed entirely by the mightiest of knights like Sir Gawain and young Lancelot. Finally, while many of the attendant duties are carried out by my wife in my stead, I am known as the butler to King Arthur with all the accompanying duties and privileges.”

“And your retinue?” Gil asked. “Bunch up anyone whose primary skillset is armed combat. I’m guessing that the person I see named Hellawes is an exception of some sort?”

“Yes, Hellawes of the Chapel Perilous is most exceptional among my cohort.” Lucan explained, “She is an enchantress of significant skill, though of course she is but a candle next to the likes of Merlin or the Ladies of the Lake.”

“Ok, but what does that mean?” Rose cut in, “Enchantress might be a well established term here, but Magic can do all sorts of different things in different worlds! Please, be more specific!”

Lucan winced, and leaned in, lowering his voice.

“She is… a necromancer and worker of glamour.” He said, “She may consort with the dead, listening to their whispers to learn secrets beyond the ken of mortal men, and conjure insubstantial creatures born of shadows and dreams. She can also, through alchemical processes of her own design, kill a man with but a single kiss.”

Gil was turning over what Lucan had said in his mind. They weren’t in a good position, but they were perhaps less fucked than they appeared based on the numbers alone. Lucan had very casually mentioned other people in the setting that blew himself and his pet evil sorceress out of the water. His rather conservative use of his medieval flavored variant of the Signed and Sealed perk might yet save this man’s ass.

“So… How much leverage does a king’s butler have here?” Gil asked, “Any chance we can get those other knights involved? How about that Merlin fellow you mentioned?”