Homestead Survival

<27 July 2024, Philadelphia PA>
[Renno Marrowglint]
"I understand she doesn't want to listen to you, but she will listen to me!" Renno was doing his best not to shout.

"Mister Marrowglint, your grandmother is ninety-three. She smoked for almost sixty years," The nurse was exasperated, "it is a miracle that she has lasted this long. Even if she will take the meds, the odds of her getting a lung transplant are slim to none."

Renno was getting upset and knew it would not help the situation, "I understand that, but you can't just give up on getting her the meds! I can convince her... I..."

The nurse, who had dealt with Renno for the past couple of years that his grandmother had been living in the assisted living center, waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever, Renno, you go talk to her. She won't listen, and she doesn't want to spend the money. You know where she is."

Renno nodded and then made his way down the hall.

[Renno & Velna Marrowglint]
Renno walked into the small room that was his grandmothers. "Hey, Grammie, how are you?"

"Renno!" Velna Marrowglint smiled, "It is so good to see you! Are you doing well at your new job? And what about that pretty young woman you had at the house for your birthday."

Renno flinched a little, "Vallorie and I are not really a thing anymore. And yeah, I am doing good at my job."

"Good, good. You tell me if you want her to disappear, yeah?" Velna said cackling.

Renno chuckled along with her and shook his head. "And what about you, Grammie? I heard that you don't want to take the medicine the doctors are prescribing."

"Ohh, Bah!" Velna made a rude gesture, "I have lived more life than any of these doctors could dream of if I die. Then I die."

Renno's heart dropped into his stomach. "Grammie, I... No, you should listen to the doctors."

Velna stood up, her shoulders and back arched under the weight of age; she reached up and took Renno's cheeks in her hands. "Renno, my beautiful Grandson, I am old. I will die. You should not be sad about this. It is a shock that I have lived as long as I have."

Renno hugged the fragile old woman, tears running down his cheeks. He was about to protest when the nurse came in just as writing began to appear in his vision.

> System Node Installation Complete.
> Planet: Y-7F63C-3
> Local Designation: Earth
> Beginning Planetary Analysis

The nurse spoke first. "What the fuck. What is this shit."

> Planetary Analysis Complete Results to Follow
> The Planet Y-7F63C-3 has met the requirements to be inducted into the System. It fails to meet several physical requirements, but the System has approved remedial reformation to solve this issue. All other issues will be resolved over the next 17 Delshak...
> WARNING! - Conversion Error Detected
> Engaging Localized Unit/Name Conversions...
> Earth has met the requirements to be inducted into The System. It fails to meet several physical requirements, but The System has approved remedial reformation to solve this issue. All other issues will be resolved over the next 60 days as the ambient Mana is elevated to a galactic minimum. At this time all sentients over the age of galactic majority (16 Earth Years) are requested to describe what type of class they would like. This process will be automated for all others going forward.
> Users, please accept the System when prompted.

After all of this was read, they could move again; Renno hugged his grandmother close. The old woman hugged him with surprising strength as well. Then they heard a voice, along with every other sentient on the planet.

"User, do you accept the System?"

Renno was about to respond when he felt his grandmother point towards the nurse laughing uncontrollably.

"Haha! Oh gods, I have to quit drinking when I do shrooms." The nurse said, "Do I accept the System? No, No, I do fucking not."

As soon as she finished speaking, a gout of Cherenkov blue flame erupted around her, and in a moment, she was gone as if she had never existed.

Velna beat Renno to the punch. "I do accept the System. Fuck being burned."

Renno followed suit. "I accept as well."

[Renno]
"What do you desire to be? You may respond silently in your mind to all future System queries." The System voice said in his mind.

Renno looked at his grandmother.

"I want to make my class dependent upon my grandmother. I want to be able to support her." Renno thought.

"Understood. Processing. Class offerings will be determined based on Class choice of User Velna Saelwyn Marrowglint. Please wait."

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So Renno waited.

[Velna]
*"What do you desire to be? You may respond silently in your mind to all future System queries." The System voice said in his mind.

Velna thought for a moment; she wondered if she should pick something to support Renno, but then another message appeared.

"Unique class offering initiated. You have been recognized as the oldest human who accepted The System. Special class offered: Fatebound Crone. Initiate Class offerings based on all 7623 available criteria."

Rather than having to make a choice as to what to ask for, she suddenly had to do nothing.

Fatebound Crone (Special) - A rare oracle entwined with The System, a keeper of Human Lore.
Memory Warden - A keeper of echoes and forgotten truths who channels visions from the past to guide the present.
Hearthwarden - A class deeply attuned to maintaining and defending a homestead.
Bloodbound Caretaker - A selfless guardian who channels her strength through bonds of love and sacrifice, shielding others by taking their burdens as her own.

Velna smiled sadly to herself and selected the only class she could, Fatebound Crone. "Renno is a big boy who can care for himself."

[Renno]
"Processing Class Offerings of User Velna Saelwyn Marrowglint. Please wait. Special class assigned to User Velna Saelwyn Marrowglint. Please select one of the following classes."

Kinbound Devastator - A relentless protector who unleashes devastating power in service to his kin, driven by loyalty, duty, and inherited strength.
Vigil-Kin Sentinel - A calm and unshakable defender whose bond allows him to shield his kin from harm before it ever reaches them.

Renno read the descriptions of each for what felt like a thousand times. Then, he finally selected the Kinbound Devastator.

[Renno & Velna]
Renno and his grandmother waited then, watching the strange messages roll across their sight.

Finally, a completion message showed up.

> Activating User Systems and Interface Abilities...
> System Initialization Complete. Once Again, Welcome to The System.

A bright string of text floated in the air for a moment before Renno and Velna; it seemed to be a location indicator.

<THE DELPHIAN PLANES OF GOR'AH A'DAN, D+>

At the same moment, Velna threw her head back, strange words floating through her head. Renno was worried. "Grammie?"

After a moment, she relaxed. "I am fine, Renno. Apparently, I have been given a quest to find a man named Joshua Armstrong."

Renno gave her a look. "Joshua Armstrong, as in the President of the United States? Then let's get on the move; it's only like a hundred and forty miles to D.C."

"Everything is a hundred times bigger now, remember?" Velna said, patting him on the shoulder. "But I agree, we need to cover fourteen thousand miles as quickly as possible."

Renno just nodded and walked out with Velna to start their travel.

<08 August 2024, The White House - South Lawn, D->
[President Armstrong]
"Mr.Pre..." Fred started to say the forbidden word, then stopped at a glance from Joshua Armstrong, former president of the United States. "I mean, Mr. Armstrong."

"Yes, Fred?" Joshua asked.

"We have some information that you might be interested in." Fred gestured to a young man who was supporting a woman who exuded an aura of confidence that only age could show. "This is Renno and Velna Marrowglint. They have traveled all the way from what used to be Philadelphia to see you."

"Philly, that's almost fourteen thousand miles. How on earth did they travel that in only thirteen days. That's more than a thousand miles a day." Joshua said to himself.

Velna, an ancient-looking woman, walked forward with her Grandson's help. She must have heard what he said as she responded. "A young man and his friend encountered us; they helped us on our way in the most expeditious manner."

Renno crossed his arms. "Starfall says hello. She and another being like her named Oreburn are the ones who helped us here with some kind of teleportation skill."

"Ah, that explains a lot," Joshua said and was about to ask questions of both Renno and Velna when Velna tossed her head back. She seemed to shiver for a moment, then she calmed down.

She looked at Joshua, "Mr. President, I hear you are building a tower on a whim from the one named Starfall."

Joshua's hackles came up, and Fred's hand touched a sword on his belt. In response, Renno began to radiate a violent red light. Joshua took a breath. "I am."

Velna smiled a nearly toothless grin, "How can we help?"

Everyone relaxed, and the dangerous light stopped radiating from Renno.

"We can talk about that later. I would rather hear how you knew about it." Joshua said diplomatically.

"My class was forced on me by the System. It is directly tied to the System. If you have the Identification skill, please use it and see what I am saying." Velna said and then offered her hand. Joshua did just that.

"I have never seen someone who was assigned a class before." Joshua said, "So, how did this tell you of the tower?"

"The System told me." Velna said, "I do not know why, but The System is very interested in ensuring I get to wherever that tower can take me. Because of this, it has been helping my grandson and me. You noticed that I am level three; Renno is as well. From what we have seen, and what the System has hinted at, it takes significantly longer to level up in areas with lower density mana, as compared to someone who is in a higher density mana zone."

"That tracks with what we have seen as well," Joshua said, glancing at Fred, who was level two, and up until the arrival of these two, the highest level person in the area.

"So I ask you once again, how can we help," Velna asked once more, smiling in a way that only grandmothers can.