The Lighthouses and the Pit (Fantasy Mage Quest)

You squeeze your hands together, thinking carefully. You look down at the shards. While certainly valuable in their own way, and something that you could use, you can't help but give into the pure anger running through you. Fuck Jagged Edge! You'd help people, whether he wanted you to or not. If that meant giving up the rewards you barely just received, well that was no great sacrifice.

You look up at Grand Axe, and speak. "Can you get money for me? I think I prefer helping those I can, even if I have to harm them."
He nods.

"It will take some time, but I doubt he'll want to do this for a week at least. I can get you gold, silver, or copper. Silver spends easier, but gold is easy to carry."
You shrug, and reply. "It doesn't really matter. Silver is probably easier, if I'm to buy a reasonable number of supplies. To be honest, I've only spent a little time outside the city with you. I don't really know what people will need to survive. Do you have any suggestions?"

Grand Axe nods, and speaks. "Food, of course. Bows and arrows if you can get them. Realistically, no group of cripples going to be able to wield them that effectively, but they'll die otherwise. A few spears, the longer the better. Pikes, really. On top of that, camping supplies, fire making supplies, and probably a few seeds for them to grow. With weapons they might survive a few weeks."

"Is there any possibility to borrow some coin for now? I could then give you the shards, and have you take a payment out of what you gain from them."

"Fine."

He yanks open a purse that was hanging by his waist, spilling it out onto the table. Gold and silver coins bounce off the table and onto the floor.

"Take what's in there. That'll get you started, and I'll spend a little time getting the rest converted for you. If you have any troubles, let me know."

While you train very hard for the remainder of the week, you also spend some time in the markets. Largely you haggle for bows, arrows and other things of that nature. In the end you are able to get six bows, seven spears, and enough supplies to keep twenty people for a month. It is not what you had hoped, but you don't really understand what things are generally worth, and this makes it difficult to haggle properly.

Then it is time for the second part of your plan. You take the weapons with you, and pay guards and the Outer Ring to hold them for you. A little bit of silver, along with the implied wrath of a mage is all it takes for them to agree to do so. For the rest the week you train incredibly hard, and Jagged Edge compliments you on your progress.

It is the day before you are due to expel the cripples from the city that you finally master your new spell. You swing your sword, and just as you have practised thousand times this week, you feel the magic sharpen the edge, and you quicken your swing. Finally though, this time the blade simply does as you wish. The blade swings true, slicing through the metal pole that had been set up for you to spar with.

"Good. Your level of dedication and skill is impressive. If your decision-making skills matched them, I would have few worries for you. You have two spells, Swallow. The combat style for you is obvious. I know you have trained to intercept, to protect others. I can make you better at this. I do not object to doing so. I think it is a waste of your talents. The mage who does not kill, does not grow stronger all that rapidly. It is wise to grow stronger. Conversely, I can train you in a style that is entirely different. Use your mobility to get close to an enemy, and strike them down with the sharpness of your blade."

Jagged Edge looks down at you, all hostility forgotten. While you still seethe when he speaks to you, he holds no animosity towards you at all. You raise your voice for the first time in a week.

"Why? What makes me well suited to this?"

You speak cordially, restraining your anger, but are unable to do any more than speak about your training.

"To speak plainly, movement and sharpness are a spectacular set of skills against the more powerful Darklings. The normal Bladebound prefers range, and the average mage concurs. Range however comes with its own set of disadvantages. Someone with your spells is much more likely to die, but has considerably greater offensive power. Assassinating your enemies is a viable strategy, and one that would yield great benefits in the long-term. Consider it."

The next morning you rise, and prepare to head into the city. The guards have already begun, going through buildings, catching those crippled on the streets and driving them towards the gates. You have little time to enact your plan, and you decide the best way to do it is to firstly drive them out of the gates, and then quickly come back with the goods. You can move much more quickly than those who have been crippled by the Lighthouse, after all.

You look around. Jagged Edge is looking at you from afar, back near the gate. His eyes are intent upon you. You have to begin, though not quite sure where. Your eyes pick out three groups of people, and you make a choice.

---

[ ] A Group of Older Men and Women, Missing Arms

They are missing similar limbs, and look more experienced. If nothing else, they are more likely to survive. Pragmatism still has a place in who you give the weapons to, and though most here are missing arms (though a few have peg legs), a more mobile and experienced group might make it far enough to set up camp elsewhere. They are also less likely to attack you, know what is to come. Most are not crippled solely by the Lighthouse, but have lost limbs on the outer wall, fighting Darklings.

[ ] A Group of Distrustful Teens

You don't know them, but you feel a kinship with what you've seen on their faces. Despair, and hatred of that despair. No weapons training, and little in the way of survival skills. Still, they're about your age, and almost certainly going to die unless you intervene. Maybe not the most likely to survive, but you have hope that they might. And that's fundamentally the reason you're doing this, right? Still, they're angry-looking and young - you're much more likely to be attacked and have to kill one of them yourself.

[ ] A Group of Weeping Widows

The reality is that men are called to fight on the wall before women are, for the obvious reasons. The widows of those fallen often find themselves in the Shield Ring, without prospects, without family. Having lost almost everything, the City proposes to take what little remains from them. You will need to be strong to do this, you know. The others will accept things or fight angrily, but these women will only beg. You want to help them, but you'll need to steel your will to do so.

---

Secondly, what do you think of Jagged Edge's proposed fighting style?

[ ] Switch to Assassination Style

An obvious choice. You protect through offense - Darklings dead cannot harm your charges. Just as importantly, you will gain power. This is no small thing - what you see now would take incredible power to overcome, to change the world so that it could not, would not happen again. You want to change it, and that means accepting the reality that you will at some point need to be powerful - the sooner the better.

[ ] Keep Interception Style

To hell with him! You'll keep protecting people. You won't give an inch in your beliefs, no matter the cost. Jagged Edge wants you to change, but you're determined not to. No, the world needs to change. You'll help these people, and you'll protect the rest.