Tutorial's End

So You Got a Ship, Now What, Captain?

By Desiven Whishel

This guide is intended for beings who managed to acquire a space faring vessel without any prerequisite knowledge of operating or commanding one.

Don't worry, idiot, I'll help you out. Not for your sake, of course, but for your crew and other captains who don't want to have to deal with ignorant morons.

So lesson one, when you don't know what to do, order someone else to give you their advice. Don't ask, order. Nothing breaks down a chain of command faster than knowing the top brass doesn't have a damn clue what's going on. Be firm. Be certain.

Demand of your your first mate, "Johnson, assessment." Or something else, anything to hide your horrible ignorance.

Just keep in mind, the only thing worse than being and looking ignorant is acting in that ignorance. If you have to either admit you don't know something, or act without knowing anything, just admit you're stupid and get someone who does know their shit to give you a lesson. Just don't expect your crew to keep respecting you.

Sound hard? Sound like it'll be a nightmare to run a ship without knowing jack? Good. That'll give you the motivation required to read the rest of this and get your shit up to snuff.

Jonah

Bridge, Phoenix's Nest

Staring out from the large window-like monitor mounted on the bridge's far end, beyond the small sea of computer stations manned by various crew members, Jonah watched as the ship slowly turned away from Motrendi. He found himself leaning on the long captain's station desk, subconsciously wanting to take in every detail of the incredible sight.

The view was absolutely stunning, as the massive bright ball seemed to slowly slide away as they rotated: replaced by a canvas of stars painted into infinity. As he took in the enthralling view, he kept his overhead view centered on Naomi, who stood directly to his right.

She had been off all day. Jonah had enjoyed their visit with Mav and Ki'ai'en and hoped they'd have an opportunity to visit again soon. It had been oddly re-invigorating in a way spending time with people had never been to him. Noami, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling since they left. They'd both left with bright smiles on their lips, but while Jonah had felt the remnants of the visit linger in a subtle way, Noami's face had fallen back into its neutral state within an hour of leaving.

Had that been all, Jonah wouldn't have worried. After all, he'd been there when she slowly 'lost' her expression and emotion so this shouldn't be anything new. However, she'd been distracted. Her previously iron will to continue on with their mission seemed to be wavering, if the way she'd been looking over her shoulder toward Ki'ai'en's home their entire walk back to the orbital transporter was anything to go by.

Now, her eyes were locked on the planet as it slowly began to slide to the left edge of the window. Even after the planet fully left the view, Naomi's gaze was fixed on the edge where it'd last been. Unsure what he should do to help, or if he even needed to, Jonah fiddled with the edge of the command station's deck for several silent minutes.

Eventually he couldn't take the weird atmosphere anymore and turned to his co-owner of the entire ship, "Want to give the order, captain?"

"Huh?" Naomi blinked rapidly before her head turned, seemingly breaking free from the spell holding her mind captive. "Oh. Sure."

With that, she tapped the button which opened the captain's ship-wide telecom, "Crew, prepare to enter subspace in…" She hesitated for a bare moment as her eyes flicked toward one of the hundreds of charts, numbers, and graphics dominating the captain station's panel, "…twelve minutes. The journey will take an estimated sixteen days. Please secure any fragile equipment before the lurch."

Releasing the button, she nodded to Jonah, "I'm going to go find Skooth and discuss what she purchased to trade on Shee."

Without waiting for an answer, she spun and strode off. The midnight black dress he hadn't seen her without ever since she found it swirled around her feet, the hem hissed softly against the metal floor.

Watching until the automatic door between the bridge and its concourse slid shut, Jonah sighed. Something was clearly wrong, and he had no idea what to do about it.

"Should I add a 'relationship and emotions' system so I can see how much people like me and how they're feeling?"

"What's that, captain System?"

"Eh, nothing. Just talking to myself. You know, like all sane humans do."

"Okay." The short, for an orc, woman nodded down at him and continued on her way.

Rubbing his temples, Jonah pulled one of the two chairs in front of his and Noami's station and plopped himself into it. From the very brief crash-course they'd gone through, it was best practice to have a captain or vice-captain on the bridge at all times to make immediate decisions in the case of an emergency. They'd broken from that best practice regularly on their way to Motrendi as they scrambled to reorganize the ship's crew. Many of them hadn't been in on the coup and had to be given the offer to either be let off the ship to find new work on Motrendi, or sign on with them.

In hindsight, Jonah realized they probably could have delegated the entire task and just focused on learning to properly captain a ship. That was the past, though, and he and Naomi had agreed to try and start acting like proper captains from here on out.

Pulling up his UICI, Jonah winced at the large loan displayed under the ship's trading account. Hopefully Skooth had been wise with her purchases, otherwise things were going to be rough financially. Knowing Naomi was heading to talk with the head trader, he closed the financial dashboard and opened the folder of books he'd purchased.

Going through the list, he decided to start with the one that seemed most immediately relevant, 'So You Got a Ship, Now What, Captain?'

Willow

Silver Sheen Plaza, Vesheen City, Shee

Pacing in front of the small table occupied by Ravavka, Luzzi, and Slyth, Willow chewed her bottom lip. After a few dozen passes, she stopped and looked at her small audience.

Ravakva looked bored, Luzzi's nose had a pensive tightness to it, and Slyth seemed confused. After thanking Ackle and paying him significantly more than he'd asked for this morning, they had set off to find somewhere to discuss their plans.

Eventually, they had found their way to the cute little cafe that reminded Willow of any of the little spots she and James enjoyed tucking themselves into a table at while exploring new cities during one of her competitions. There'd been a small table available on the patio outside which Willow had eagerly asked for. Now, she found herself unable to stand still long enough to enjoy overlooking the darling little plaza full of thousands of beings calmly going about their business.

Mirroring her nervous energy, Piper the little pink blob wobbled around and seemed to examine every speck of dirt or stain it could find on the tabletop. Often, it raised its little hand-ish appendage in apparent victory before rushing back to a previous one to re-examine something. No matter where she put the glob, it seemed to find something to 'investigate.' Thankfully, she hadn't thought much about it talking or interviewing people or anything, so it apparently didn't feel the need to share its apparent discoveries with anyone.

"Are you sure I should accept her invitation?"

"Yep." Ravaka answered simply.

Luzzi was gently trailing a finger down the side of her forehead to her lips, it was strained kind of smile Willow was pretty sure, "Yes."

"Why'd you want me here, again?" Slyth asked.

Tapping her foot, Willow considered. They both think I shouldn't ignore that fae woman's invite. What was her name? Skee… Skee-er? Something like that. Urgh, why can't everyone just have easy to remember names! I miss Kent. Anyway, they think she's probably related to the planet's new owners and think staying away would be suspicious. They might think I have something to hide, or something like that… Should I have listened to them discussing all the politics stuff last night? The thought was immediately dismissed as she remembered not only the progress made on figuring out how only the guide rewarded by the rift she'd cleared worked, but also the hints doing so gave her about her new mana aspect.

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"Why are you so fidgety?" Ravkava broke through her swirling thoughts, "You're usually far more controlled."

Foot freezing mid-tap, Willow carefully placed it back on the ground and forced herself to be still. He's not wrong. Weird. I'm not used to being so nervous…

Flashing a bright smile to the table, she shrugged, "The idea of maybe meeting whoever owns this planet is just kind of a lot, you know?"

"Well, she likely doesn't own it." Luzzi pointed out, "More likely, she is just a planetary manager. The summer court owns it, assuming the tip we got on the way here was accurate."

"Close enough! Plus… When I met her I felt like…" Willow tried to put the weird feeling she'd had into words, "…I don't know, like I was walking into a trap? Just talking to her seemed like a bad idea. My heart was pounding like crazy when I got away and I just kept thinking, 'She's dangerous' over and over. Like one of those invasive thoughts that just keeps coming back no matter what you do."

Ravavka snorted, "Little Willow is scared of the big bad fae world governor? Aww boo-hoo." He lifted his fists to make a wiping motion under his leftmost and rightmost eyes.

"Uhm…" Slyth piped up, "Sorry, but really, why am I here?"

"I just thought we could have a four-man party for a while instead of three, y'know? Three is so over done." Seeing his confusion only increased, she tried again, "Okay, if you think a three-person crew is better we can get rid of Ravavka and bring you on instead!"

"What?!" Ravavka hopped up, glaring with apparent fury.

Nodding at him, Willow explained, "He's nicer than you, of course we'd prefer him. Right, Luzzi?"

The hand lazily rubbing the side of her face sped up a bit, showing a more genuine amusement or joy, Luzzi agreed, "It's true. Kind beings are much more enjoyable to socialize with."

"But I was a ranker! He's not even rank one!" Ravavka pointed at the silver-skinned man, who scowled at the statement.

"Oh yeah, why is that?" Willow asked, curious.

Ravaka's voice broke a bit as he insisted, "Hey! Don't change the subject!"

Willow ignored him and kept her eyes locked on Slyth. He shrugged, "I've never had the opportunity to get my hands on an insight seed or any texts to help me form one. They're extremely expensive, you know?"

"But…" Willow passed the still standing and fuming Ravavka and pulled her seat out to take her place at the table, "You know a ton about mana and stuff? And alchemy, too!"

He looked confused, "Sure, but everyone knows you have to have an insight seed or some kind of enlightenment to form an insight."

"What's an insight seed?" Willow asked, equally baffled.

The two stared at each other, each apparently competing to find the more stupefied expression.

"See! THIS is why you can't replace me with some Ozkri brat!" Ravavka broke the silence. Hopping into his chair, he tapped a finger on the cheap plastic table-top, "You're both equally stupid. You need someone who knows things!"

Snapping her mouth closed and un-wrinkling her features, Willow glanced at Ravavka, then shrugged and waved at Luzzi, "We have Luzzi, she's smart."

Both hands running down the front her face to her lip, Luzzi agreed, "True, I can explain. First, Willow has never seen an insight seed. Or rather, she has but didn't know that's what it is. I have an one here."

Luzzi pulled a unremarkable little orb, from one of the many pouches strapped to her body and handed to Willow. She examined the seed that was perhaps half as wide as her pinky.

Luzzi continued, "I also mentioned them when we went shopping for your gear before the rift, but you were distracted. I believe you ignored most of my explanation."

Wincing as she examined and rolled the little seed between her fingers, Willow shuffled a bit in her seat and muttered, "Sorry."

Piper, apparently noticing something new to investigate, wobbled over on unsteady legs to check the seed out itself. She gently laid the seed on the table top for it.

Not commenting on the blob's shenanigans, Luzzi continued her explanation, "If this seed is consumed, your soul will absorb it and it will plant the beginnings of its insight. This particular one is for the insight, 'Every shadow hides behind an object.' Of course, I can tell you the name of the insight and I could even explain the mana aspect it's supposed to unlock and what abilities and spells those with this insight tend to develop. That won't allow you to suddenly understand the it without consuming the seed, though.

"Insights are deeply personal. This seed provides context which will allow the consumer to build toward its insight and almost always results in gaining said insight, but it isn't a guarantee. If the being's world-view is opposed to the insight itself, for example, there is no way they'll ever achieve it even if they consumed dozens of the same seed."

"Huh… So it's like downloading the knowledge into your brain?" Willow wondered.

"…Close enough."

"Not at all."

Luzzi and Ravavka glanced at each other as they both answered at the same time, and Ravavka shrugged as Luzzi slapped and slid one paw along the back of the other.

Before she could push for more, Slyth quickly interjected, "Right, and that's how everyone gets their insights. Seeds can be found in rifts, from some treasures found on unexplored planets, harvested from monsters who had the insight themselves, and plenty of other ways. The way most beings actually get them, though, is as a reward from their faction, order, guild, or whatever organization they're bound to. It's one of the main ways they maintain their power, by very tightly controlling seeds."

Seeing Piper try to pick up the seed, Willow quickly retrieved it and passed it back to Luzzi so she could store it back away. Piper stamped one of her goopy little feet in outrage. Everyone ignored the little tantrum.

"If I can just find a seed in a rift, how can they control that, though? I could just hide it when I come out, or if that's impossible I could just consume it while I'm in the rift." Willow pointed out, resting her elbows on the table and leaning her face into her palms while watching Slyth.

He leaned back, lips twisting in distaste, "If you could find an unclaimed rift, sure. The coordination officers at a rift scan you before and after entering. The scan gives them a list of your inventory. They compare before and after, if you had a seed that you didn't enter with, they confiscate it as part of the terms of the contract you sign as a rift delver. Besides, if you're rich enough to enter a rift without the backing of your organization then you could probably just buy whatever insight seeds you want. There'd be no point in going through a rift for it, unless you were hoping for something very specific which was known to be dropped in that particular rift and not available on the open market."

"Huh… That all sounds really complicated. Why not just form your own? It's not that hard. Naomi, Jonah, and I all did it easily enough."

Ravavka coughed on the iced drink he'd taken a tip of. Pounding his chest and staring with wide eyes at Willow, he asked, "What?!"

"What, what?" Willow returned, confused by the extreme reaction. She'd expected him to get worked up when she suggested leaving him behind, after all then he couldn't come along for whatever new ridiculous adventure Madrick decided to throw her into and he was a chronically bored being. She definitely hadn't expected him to react so strongly about something as simple as forming their insights, though.

He looked at Luzzi with a dark expression, "You told me she'd arrived less than a year ago."

Luzzi's tail flicked around in a manner which told Willow she was planning some kind of mischief. "If my count is correct, she's just three months from her arrival. Yes."

Head snapping back toward Willow, he pointed a bony finger at her, "And you formed your own insight?"

"Yep. It's not so weird, though. So did Jonah and Naomi, they both arrived at the same time I did. They're the reason I have any level of affiliation with the Frazzlen faction still, actually. Well, and you two now, I guess." She frowned a bit as she realized almost everyone she knew was technically part of that same faction. I need to figure out how to expand my bubble…

Ravavka slumped in his chair as if he was a puppet with every one of his strings cut, "Insanity." She barely heard him mutter.

Noticing the Hazzabi's eyes were close to the table's edge, Piper rushed over with unsteady steps to examine him more closely.

Luzzi was just looking at Willow speculatively, but didn't say anything else. Slyth, on the other hand, sputtered, "Three… Three months?! You formed an insight after three months?!"

Ehhh, better not tell him I had my insights when I arrived, right? Eyes flicking between the depressed Hazzabi, curious Paavaras, and apparently angry Ozkri, she decided that was best. She'd just use the other's progress timescale, "Well, I guess it took like… Uh…"

She frowned, thinking back to her time on that odd planet they'd been trapped on. Was it a couple weeks before they got their insights? Or just a few days? Why's it so hard to judge the timescale…. Flashes from her years in Sheerna answered that question definitively and she decided to just go with the more conservative estimate.

"Maybe like three weeks from arrival?"

The same depression that Ravavka had fallen prey to seemed to suddenly take hold of Slyth as his shoulders slumped and he dropped his face into open palms on the table's surface with an audible 'thump.'

Oops… Wrong answer? But why? It's not like the information wasn't available! Jonah was the one to find that information packet, it didn't even cost much if I remember right. Like… A hundred rank 0 EBs or something?

"We uh… We bought a guide for some rank 0 EBs, if that helps?"

"What was the guide?" Slyth asked without raising his head, his voice muffled by his hands and the table.

"Uhhhh…. Hmm… I don't know, I'll have to send a message asking Jonah…" She shifted her vision to the UICI and quickly composed a message asking him what the packet was named.

"While we wait for him to answer that… Why's it so weird? I know the orientation mentioned something about ten years being the normal time when beings started to 'advance'… But that doesn't really make any sense to me, why would it take that long?"

Piper had lost interest in Ravavka's eyes and was looking around curiously, slowly meandering back toward Willow. Half way across the table, it froze for a moment before beginning to bounce up and down, pointing at Willow. She smiled at the little girl-shaped slime and reached out to let her walk onto her palm.

Luzzi's voice was as calm as ever, though her tail was resting in a weird position across her shoulders that Willow hadn't seen before. She wasn't sure what that might indicate. "It's less about when advancement can begin and more that ten years is the standard length of time organizations make their new acquisitions wait before giving them resources they can use to advance. In the Frazzlen faction, for example, a being gains their first insight seed at their ten year anniversary gathering. Everyone who joined on the same day gets an invitation to come 'reminisce' with their peers and at the end one of the administrators gives a grand speech encouraging them to continue doing their best, then gives them the opportunity to come up and pick from a handful of common seeds. High performers, or beings they mark as having 'potential' will be taken aside and given rarer and more valuable options."

She slowly slide-clapped her left hand with her right in a Paavaras shrug. "After that ten year mark, beings are granted access to the faction's beginner advancement library. At the fifteen year mark, beings can possibly gain low-ranked rift runs as a reward for exceptional service."

Willow felt Piper slapping at her palm for some reason and glanced down to see it pointing past her at something. "I'm talking with my friends right now, I'll look in a second." She whispered to under her breath. Either Piper didn't understand, or didn't care. She kept slapping and pointing frantically.

"The record for fastest advancement within the Frazzlen faction is six years to the first insight. That record was set by someone who consistently impressed their supervisors on a daily basis and made friends with them. She'd one of the faction's goddesses now." Ravavka said in the most monotone voice she'd ever heard from him.

Just as she was about to ask another question, Willow felt goose-flesh rise across the back of her neck and whipped around. Someone was watching her. Unfortunately, she found no one staring at her ominously. Instead, she saw the procession of a small train of fae snaking around the building across the street. She could see Piper standing with little melty arms crossed in an oddly smug manner, apparently thinking she'd finally gotten Willow's attention.

"Shoot…" Willow grumbled as she recognized the fae woman in the center of the group. "It looks like I don't have the option to pretend I was too busy to accept her invite."

She pulled out Piper's container and shooed it into the tiny jewelry box. The girl-ish shaped blob made a show of raising her arms as if yawning before curling up into a sleeping position and waving for Willow to close the lid. She complied, snapping it shut and placing it back in her pack with a sigh before turning her attention back down to the street.

The others followed her gaze just in time to see a wide-mouthed woman with rolls of jowl blue fat resting on slim shoulders raise her arm and wave daintily in greeting.

Steeling herself, Willow smiled and waved back before standing, "Let's get this over with, maybe it'll be easier in public…"