A Simple Transaction I

Somewhat less impressive was the lack of any gateway I could access from solid ground. There were plenty of gates, of course, to let farmers move their wares into the city, but those weren't inlets for strangers such as myself, and there were both human guards and magical wards protecting them, and I wasn't sure I could fight my way through, let alone wanted to. So, instead, I backtracked up the river a bit and thought about it for a few subjective minutes. I tried just swimming into the city, but that seemed to trigger an alarm pretty much immediately, and I stitched back before I could get into real trouble. Next, I flew further out and hacked down and tree, fashioned it into a sort-of canoe, and tried paddling down the river instead, but that caught the alarms as well. I'd guess there's some sort of magical identification necessary to get in, even through the river inlet. Hopping onto a proper riverboat and bribing the captain to keep me aboard seemed to be my only option. I backtracked even further up the river until I found a riverboat headed towards the city, then landed, making sure to make no sudden moves as I submitted to the two guards waiting for me on the deck. The two of them radiated intense auras, heavy enough I could practically feel them settling on my shoulders and forcing me to my knees. Something in the back of my mind told, this was Astral Rank, pressure that would suppress me as long as they saw me as a threat, and even then it would weigh on me, pulling me into their metaphorical orbit, to a degree.

The guards were armored in what I'd guess was shadow-leather. I'm not sure how they got it to keep that weird half-real look after killing the beast they took it from, but it looked tough. The two of them wore masks, like animal caricatures too warped for me to tell what they were supposed to be. They were both stoically silent as they took me inside the ship, dragging me down a short staircase and across a hallway towards what seemed to be the captain's quarters.

"Ah, Crocodile, Strix, I see you've apprehended the bogey you spotted earlier tonight." A matronly voice stated as my captors opened the door. I supposed that answers what the masks are supposed to be, though I don't exactly know what a 'strix' is. "Well, aren't you a pathetic little creature..." the presumed captain says as she comes into my view. I'm not entirely sure what I expected, perhaps something closer to the attire of a sailor, but no, the captain looked more like an overfed victorian socialite, with a massive hairdo including sparkling-sharp hairpin-sword and that big sort of dress with a straining corset and bell-shaped skirt with lots of layers and frills. As I adjusted to the even greater weight of her pressure settling on me, I also noticed that she must have been huge, maybe twenty feet tall when she stood upright going from how high the ceiling was, and even sitting down I still had to look up at quite an angle to look her in the eyes. "Who are you, puny thing? And why shouldn't I skewer you here and now?"

Her pressure shifted from my shoulders to my gut, and I couldn't stop her from squeezing the truth out of me. "I'm an outlander! No one knows me but I go by the name Fib! I made a deal with someone powerful, I can be useful to you! My body is strong for its size, and tireless, needing neither food nor sleep! I can teach spells of a relatively versatile magic system! With preparation, I can transform into a powerful fighter for a few minutes! I can aid with clerical or intellectual tasks, and will become more able to do so over time, through a function of the magic system that I can share! I can fly with significant speed, and can carry cargo discreetly! I can create temporary fortifications that can resist meaningful magical assault! I can summon wind, rain, and storms with sufficient time! I will likely develop a large number of other abilities over the coming years, assuming I survive! I can use a verbal memetic weapon to make people more impressionable, though it isn't especially strong and is counterbalanced by a supernatural aura of disgust that targets me!" A small part of me was thankful that a mouthful like that still wasn't much compared to the continuous Verse practice I'd been doing on the flight here.

The captain considered my qualifications for a moment, turning away and scratching her chin. I could feel the pressure on me lighten by a fraction before she said anything. "Alright, I'll take you on. You're not leaving my sight until we have your contract written in stone, and in the meantime, we can discuss the specifics of what work you'll be doing for me. Crocodile, Strix, return to your posts."

The two guards left your flanks, and the captain allowed you to stand, though it barely changed the angle which she towers over me at. She explained her status as the mistress of Bellevue, an independent territory amidst the headwaters of the Sweetwater, near the southern edge of the Risen Lands, in the Shadowback mountains. Stonebridge and Coalshore were Bellevue's primary trade partners, though her wares would go on to percolate throughout the rest of the Risen Lands from Stonebridge and to much of the Reaches along the Flaying Sea's rim from Coalshore.

Madam Bellevue was here in Stonebridge returning from a meeting with clients, and would have only been staying long enough to resupply, but with my addition, they would have to wait however long it took for them to work through the queue for the Stones of Law to have my contract inscribed. While we waited for that, I would be demonstrating my powers that I could demonstrate safely, training the Madam and myself in the Verses, and sitting in on any meetings or deals that she makes.

We also discussed the particulars of the long-term contract, which would include housing at the Bellevue Manor as well as a modest stipend, and involved doing...basically whatever the Madam wanted. I couldn't be compelled to do anything that would be a crime by the law of the Stones, or to take my own life, or that put my life too much at risk, and after a term of fifty years the contract would have to be renewed, but aside from that I would essentially be her slave. If I were to break the contract, the law-keepers in the house of the Stones would be notified magically, and the Madam would be free to call upon their considerable resources to set things right. Technically I could also call upon the law-keepers if the Madam broke her end of the contract, but given I had no way of contacting them, that didn't seem especially useful.

Ultimately, though, I felt it was tolerable. I didn't have enough pride to take issue with the idea of it in abstract, and while I didn't trust her per se, I trusted that she possessed the baseline competence to see the sort of value I could bring her if she used me well. I had to hope I wouldn't run into depression problems, but with most of my physical issues fixed by my transmogrification, I didn't think that hope would be unfounded. It'd be rough, but it seems like it would provide me with plenty of opportunities to develop and master new Verses, to advance my Step Up, and to develop connections with powerful people. The Madam herself seemed to be someone of significance, at least in the domain of the Sweetwater, and having my name associated with hers would likely do me more good than bad. Plus, in fifty years' time, I'd likely be plenty powerful enough to barter as an equal with her. All told, as the Madam's boat pulled up to the river dock, I felt pretty happy with this arrangement.