Tutorial's End

So You Got a Ship, Now What, Captain?

By Desiven Whishel

Somethin' most new captains fail to realize is that the responsibility for their crew mates' falls almost entirely on their shoulders.

You're the one that's gotta make sure everyone's gettin' paid enough. You're the one who needs to keep morale up. You're the one that's gotta make the right decisions. You've got folks on the crew who manage payroll, who are 'in charge' of making sure people are happy, and advising you – yea.

But at the end of the day you're responsible. Don't try and shift it. You've gotta take that responsibility by the horns and be the best damn captain anyone'll ever ask for.

The crew comes first. You come last, that's what it means to be a captain.

Skathareek

Silver Sheen Plaza, Vesheen City, Shee

Gliding along the quaint little cobbled streets of the manufactured tourist-town of Vasheen, Skathareek drew in a deep breath before letting it out in a dainty sigh.

"M'lady, is all well?" Her recently injured and still recovering man-servant inquired.

She favored him with a sad smile, "The air is simply too cold and wet for my taste. Perhaps we shall install climate control to improve the planet's atrocious seasonal imbalances."

While her servant said nothing, a nearby local attendant stumbled and turned to stare at her with open horror. She spoke up before she could think better of it, "Ma'am, the seasons are very important. Most of our agriculture is reliant on the planetary cycle and…"

The local stopped speaking as Skathareek held up an uninterested hand. "The local agriculture is of little concern, we will simply import a number of the summer court's bountiful flora."

"That… But…" The silly orc stammered. Before Skathareek could continue to amuse herself at the simpleton's expense, her servant gently nudged her with two fingers. The signal she had instructed him to use if he noticed the quarry of today's hunt.

Suppressing the smile which threatened to reveal the thrill of excitement rolling up her body, she nodded at the pink-skinned orcish woman, "Though perhaps you're right, it would be uncouth of me not to listen to the advice of a local. If you would be so kind, might you write up a dissertation outlining the importance of this planet's primitive seasonal cycle?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The woman quickly agreed, "I'll have that to you by the end of the week."

Tapping one of her fingers against her thigh was the only sign of her outrage Skathareek allowed herself to display. The local woman dared to tell her when she'd have her assignment complete, rather than asking when she'd need it? Outrageous.

Orcs were truly uncultured beasts. Unfortunately, she would find no satisfaction in correcting the woman, after all she would simply bow and accept whatever punishment Skathareek declared appropriate. She'd tried to find the creature's limits, but they seemed have an unimaginably low desire to resist the order of 'lawful rule.' Even a true local, one of the silly soulless creatures spawned by careless acts of mortal passion, would never dare plot or resist. If she did, it would be so direct that she wouldn't even need to manufacture an excuse to execute her, much less have her quietly assassinated.

" 'Scuze me, miss…" Came the voice of her prey. It had a funny combination of rolling cadence, some words chopped off or combined in baffling ways. Even so, she was perfectly intelligible even without activating an accent localization removal module. In fact, her accent was somewhat endearing.

Turning with a dance-like twirl, Skathareek's face split into a warm smile of welcome, "My dear! What a pleasure to meet you again!"

The woman named after a tree matched Skathareek's beaming countenance and even exceeded it, flashing her teeth in a shockingly radiant grin. "Ay hope yer not too put out by me meetin' you here instead of your garden thang."

"Not at all dear, not at all! I am delighted to see you again no matter the locale! I understand our prior meeting was far from an ideal first impression." She tittered, "After all, I mistook your role in events clearly outside of your knowledge."

"Hmmm…" Willow nodded, distractedly swatting away strands of hair which fell into her face at the motion. She was clearly unaccustomed to its current length, or perhaps she usually kept it bound out of her face. "I'm curious what it was you thought I needed to know?"

Skathareek noted how easily the human slipped into the center of her procession, her servants and supposed guards allowing her through without protest. Of course, had she not instructed them to allow the woman to do as she pleased they would have been less accommodating. It was clear to the seasoned fae schemer that this particular human needed to feel in control of the situation, lest she'd feel driven to regain it. At least, that had been what Skathareek had concluded from their very brief prior meeting a handful of days ago.

"Ya know, there's not much point in having guards if they'let people get within striking distance of ya?" The girl noted as she reached out an tapped Skathareek on the shoulder in a friendly manner. Having carefully watched her face the whole time, the seer amended her previous deductions. Perhaps she didn't need perfect control to feel comfortable, their first meeting may have been during a period of emotional unrest which made her baseline invalid. This version of the woman seemed much more reasonable.

"Ahhh," she answered even as she analyzed her opponent, "But why would my guards need to keep friends away? Maintaining such distance would do nothing but sew discord between us, no?"

"That makes sense." Willow nodded along, "But why'd they let my friends in too?"

She gestured behind Skathareek, prompting her to turn and look. Indeed, her procession had grown significantly without her truly noticing. Her nominal allies, with the exception of her personal man-servant, now surrounded a smaller group roughly encircling herself, her servant, and Willow.

Behind herself, a Hazzabi strode with a bored expression she'd found typical of their people. Though, there was a glint of something in his center eye which was disquieting, he seemed to almost be anticipating something. That was never a good sign where the unhinged race was concerned.

To her left, across from Willow herself, was a silver skinned human-like man. She wasn't sure if humans could have claws, so maybe he was some race she hadn't bothered to learn the name of. And walking in front of her was a strutting Paavaras.

A thrill shot up Skathareek's spine. The girl had somehow read her well enough to know she'd have given her guards an exception for her sake, and further expected Skathareek to entirely focus on her arrival. She'd instantly swapped their positions of unspoken social power, Willow was the leader of the party now acting as the dominant force. She'd even noted that it was Skathareek's own poor leadership which lead to this.

The human was subtly establishing her superiority, a classic play and somewhat amateurishly done, but Skathareek appreciated the effort all the same. A more smoother maneuver would have included isolating her from her guards or perhaps somehow revealing a superior than expected understanding of the situati-

"So what's it like to rule a planet?" Willow asked in a conversational tone laced with mild curiosity. A tone which made it plainly obvious she was only partially interested in her answer. Searching for a specific bit of information, while uninterested in confirming what she already knew.

Skathareek's heart finally beat with excitement for the first time since arriving on this simple planet. Finally, a worthy opponent.

Willow

Silver Sheen Plaza, Vesheen City, Shee

When Willow had moved to approach Skeetha, or whatever the fae-lady's name was, she'd been confused at how the guards and servants surrounding the woman seemed to entirely avoid her. She'd been approaching a large orc man wearing heavy plate-mail with a massive two handed sword strapped to his back, alongside having several other smaller bladed weapons strapped across his person. Her intention had been to ask him if she could chat with his charge, seeing as he and the other warriors were clearly the lady's bodyguards.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Instead, he'd slid away as she approached and nodded toward his boss as if she'd been expected for a meeting. Seeing her friends behind her, he'd waved for them to follow her in. Luzzi had tapped Slyth's hand to get his attention and point to the far side of the fae woman they were here to meet. Then she pointed at Ravavka and the position behind the fae. Luzzi herself had slipped around and stepped in front of the clueless blue-cheeked woman without another word.

Not entirely sure what the point of that had been, but figuring Luzzi had her reasons, Willow went along with it and called out to the woman she was here to meet. She'd tried to be polite and friendly, especially since Skath… Skirt…. Whatever… Was making an attempt with her own wide smile. Kind of like Nuu, Skeeth - Yeah, just gonna stick with Skeeth until I can figure out her real name, feels close - was prone to long silences and vacant expressions.

Willow had assumed Nuu's constant inattention and introspective looks were a product of his weird story-telling insight, but Skeeth acted much the same. She smiled and greeted Willow and apologized for the way they'd first met. She'd accepted the apology, but was distracted by the way Luzzi's tail was swishing around in a way that Willow thought meant she was feeling mocking of someone, it was a swish Willow knew well enough given it was the same motion she saw anytime she teased either herself or Ravavka.

The realization reminded her of how oddly incompetent the fae's guardians had been. Even if they'd been told to expect a human woman to approach and to be friendly, giving way like that and letting stranger surround their employer or queen or whatever seemed incredibly negligent.

The shock on Skeeth's face when she pointed out her friends who had, for some reason, decided to take up positions as if the four of them were also guards had told her that her assessment of negligence was accurate.

Deciding what was done was done, and it wasn't like they were planning to harm the poor woman due to her bodyguard's failure, Willow tried changing the subject. Since there weren't many fae around, Willow figured she was part of the planet's new ruling force. She might even be the new ruler herself, given her large entourage and how she walked around with her nose in the air. It was hard to tell, though. Again, Nuu also kind of acted like he owned everything despite definitely not.

"…It has been quite the transition." Skeeth answered after an excessively long pause which Willow spent idly checking the gear her guards were wearing. "Being away from my home planet and my queen has been quite a change of pace."

Willow nodded along, "I'm sure. It's always hard to be suddenly uprooted and forced into a new and unknown situation." She empathized, feeling 'arrival' was probably the most extreme example of being uprooted and forced into something new one could possibly go through.

"You'll get used to the differences and adapt quickly, I'm sure! You've done it before, after all." She sent the woman, whose eyes were flicking around her own face as if searching for something, another bright smile. She was a new arrival once too, after all.

After the, now expected, pause, Skeeth answered, "You are correct, of course. I have been through many upheavals and changed throughout my life. Though, generally I see them coming. After all, it's my job to see things coming."

Curious about the weird emphases she kept putting on 'see', Willow turned to ask about it. Before she could, she noticed the other fae who had been skulking behind Skeeth this whole time staring at her. His barkey eyes were full of hate and fury. They were also familiar.

Winking at him, she changed the question she was going to ask, "Did you happen to 'see' anyone named Tather doing anything… Rude?" She put the same emphasis on 'see'. It just felt right.

The fae man's gaze immediately shot to the ground. To Skeeth's credit, she didn't turn to look at her servant - hired or employed interrogator?

Stopping, Skeeth turned to look at Willow with a serious expression, "I'm afraid I don't know of any 'Tather', should I be keeping my eye open for one?" This time she over-emphasized, 'eye.'

Willow maintained her smile, barely resisting the urge to look toward the fae she was pretty darned sure was Tather. She figured if Skeeth wanted to pretend, she could go along with it as long as the guy didn't try to trap her in his mind-palace or whatever that was. "No need, I've got my own eye on him."

Stepping back, Skeeth looked as if she'd been slapped. Her eyes widening comically, "You… I… I see… You're human, though. Surely, you couldn't be insinuating…"

Annoyed at the apparent assumption that an humans couldn't see as well, Willow slowly narrowed her eyes, letting her smile vanish. "Insinuating what?" Of course, maybe fae do naturally have better eyes than humans? Huh, maybe I shouldn't be so sensitive.

"N… Nothing, of course." Dropping her eyes slightly, Skeeth took a deep breath, then released it explosively. "I am very sorry, miss Willow, but I'm afraid I have other engagements I should tend to today. Perhaps we could continue this conversation at The High Garden at your convenience?"

Did I give her my name? I guess Tather probably told her… Why'd she offer information about him before? Now she's pretending to not even know he's right behind her.

Feeling like she hadn't really accomplished much, other than maybe over-reacting to an innocent presumption that humans had worse eyes and upsetting the woman she'd come to talk to, Willow stopped herself from sighing in annoyance. Instead, she forced her lips to spread again, showing her teeth in a painfully-failed attempt to smile, "Sure."

Fae are so weird.

Skathareek

Silver Sheen Plaza, Vesheen City, Shee

The devil in human skin bared her teeth, the threat clear as she imitated the manner of a snarling beast, "Sure."

With that, she slipped forward with the same grace Skathareek noted before, though now she realized it wasn't lithe movement of a dancer but the prowling gait of a predator. Not only were her mind and tongue sharpened to a razor's edge, but even her body was a weapon.

It was clear now. From start to end, Skathareek had been outclassed. She'd known she was the planet's administrator, despite having made no public announcement of her new status. There were plenty who knew the planet now belonged to the summer court, but there should not be many who knew a new administrator was already on the planet and active.

Beyond that, Willow had hinted at knowing about Skathareek's sorted past. She had even hinted particularly at knowing of her coup to take the position of the summer queen's prior seer: stressing her ability to overcome sudden upheavals. Worse, Willow casually revealed that she was also a seer, and one with more foresight! She gave a specific name, Tather. This person was important to the near-future somehow, she was certain! She would search out this 'Tather' as soon as she was able.

Finally, Willow hadn't even seemed to notice the touch of her directing touch. Her ability hadn't been rebuffed or blocked, yet Willow's bearing and demeanor hadn't changed in the least. She hadn't seemed to become more nervous about being in the presence of the planet's administrator, as was the direction intended. She'd might resisted entirely based on the strength of her will, except surely she would have noticed and given some form of rebuke for attempting to manipulate her. No, she had to have some way of blocking her ability while fooling it into thinking it worked: which suggested a specialized spell or enchantment. Having such a direct counter indicated the woman knew her so thoroughly that she was aware of her most secret ability, one which even her queen was unaware of.

Thoughts swirling, she watched Willow's party smoothly disconnect themselves from her procession and follow their leader. Skathareek saw the deference her own guards gave and wondered whether they'd all been paid off or otherwise compromised already. Surely, they wouldn't be so foolish as to allow three unknowns so near their planet's administrator otherwise.

"Captain…" She spoke, hearing the twinge of uncertainty in her voice.

The large orc to her right answered with a sharp, "Ma'am."

"Please guide us back to The High Garden. Do not let anyone approach."

"Yes, Ma'am." With a few quick words, masked by some spell or ability, he had the group of guards turning around and made ready to depart.

Taking a deep breath as they walked, Skathareek cast her all seeing eyes. Her vision split into two and she sent her new set of eyes into the sky, then forward to follow Willow and her party. Just as the party came into view, Willow stopped and turned, facing directly into her gaze. As if she could see the invisible, intangible, supposedly undetectable magical construct.

Horrified at the realization that even in this, she'd been caught out, she ended the spell. Her second sight snapping off. She stumbled slightly but caught herself before falling.

Somehow, Skathareek had managed to find the sole person on this entire planet who was far beyond her ability to manipulate. If manipulation wasn't possible, perhaps she should have this dangerous woman removed. Yet… Those eyes staring into her all seeing eyes, their cold blue, seemed to challenge her to do just that.

Would she be playing even further into her hand?

Brogel

Silver Sheen Plaza, Vesheen City, Shee

Captain Brogel rallied his men and gave them orders to sharpen up and maintain their perimeter. Finally, his charge was giving sensible orders. When they'd left the palace, which the new administrator had renamed 'The High Garden' for some reason, she'd ordered him to "show respect and allow my human friend in when she arrives."

She'd described a brown haired woman with blue eyes. When she approached him directly, he'd followed his orders. He'd been surprised with the inclusion of three others, but miss Skathareek had said to 'show respect', so it would certainly be unacceptable to accost the administrator's guest's party.

Unfortunately, the entire encounter had been very cordial and both parties had parted amicably. He and his men hadn't had a proper scuffle since the fae woman had taken over. She was far too diplomatic for Brogel's taste, he missed Warlord Shamven's habit of picking fights with random adventurers to test himself and his guard's ability.