1??????????????Soul Bound
1.1????????????Finding her Feet
1.1.7??????????An Extreme Response
1.1.7.8????????Follow my leader
On the 2nd Night
4 bells of the first watch, Zerday Wain, the 21st day in the month of KrevinBelember.
Harlequin started running backwards, picking up pieces of jewellery and returning hats to heads. It looked for all the world as though someone had hit rewind on a recording. Flavio and Columbina both went over to Vessel-Kafana and started talking to her.
Wellington: “It was a good thing they asked us to stay clear. Someone dropping into the middle of that at the wrong moment could have had bad consequences.”
Alderney: “Bad? As in Flavio-type-bad?”
Wellington: “Well, he did mention that the cavern is under Alpinus not Torello, and used to be much smaller. The reason it has grown to this size is, quote, ‘Experimental Errors’ unquote.”
Alderney eyed the picture of the 2 kilometer wide cavern, shuddering at the memory of the feel of all that rock above her.
The people were packing up now, and heading back down the path to CoThEx. Yusupov in particular looked relieved.
Wellington: “I think that’s why they had Yusupov there. A bit like the precautions built into high grade biohazard containment labs.”
Kafana asked, in a puzzled voice: “He’s a pressure door, to keep the spectators safe with his air magic?”
Wellington shook his head.
Bungo explained: “No, when magic goes wrong, it can go really really wrong. He’s like a failsafe nuclear device, because some things are so dangerous that it is better to detonate and kill everyone, than let them escape.”
The people on the screen started moving very fast along the path as night-time mode kicked in. Wellington set up a second screen to its right and coded something.
Wellington: “Now they’re not busy, this would be a good opportunity to practice hopping in and out without disrupting a group performance. I’ve set up a synchronisation signal. Tell your tiaras to accept my package. This screen will show timings and display the point of view of the womble who is swapped in. I’ll go first.”
With that, he disappeared from The Burrow, and Wellington on the screen stumbled.
[Nadine, I’ve received a software package from Wellington. Shall I install it?]
{Minion, I ought to ask you to sanity check it first, so I will just as a good habit. But I’m aware that Wellington helped create you, and if he’d left a dozen backdoors in you he could also have set you to never tell me about them. Realistically, I don’t have any option beyond trusting him. Luckily I do. I suppose I could ask Wellington to occasionally try to sneak headache-giving-routines past you, and leave it up to you to decide what priority to give to proactively looking for security holes in your own defences.}
[My queen, you are wise. There is always the chance of Wellington being coerced or his system being subverted. I shall give some thought to how a compromised system might detect and repair security holes. In the meantime, though, package checked and installed.]
The group had emerged into CoThEx and was now running smoothly across the grass of Libri. Vessel-Kafana had cast a speed buff on them, Vessel-Alderney had produced two footballs, and the group of them were passing the balls between them as they ran.
The timer on the screen in the viewing room counted down towards zero, and the name of the next Womble to swap in (Bulgaria) appeared below it. Vessel-Tomsk moved behind Vessel-Bulgaria and started carrying him, while Vessel-Bungo lifted up Wellington.
*blip*
Bulgaria disappeared from the couch, and a few moments later Wellington reappeared next to them in the room. On the screen, the group carried on running without having to even break stride, the balls still being passed in unbroken motion. Bulgaria started running on his own feet, and gave them a cheery wave, before joining in the game of pass-the-ball. Vessel-Wellington, now back in control of the adventurer, did the same. The group ran over a bridge and into Basso.
A little later and it was Alderney’s turn. *blip* The group opened a sewer grating and ran down the tunnel, bouncing the balls off the walls.
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Then it was Tomsk. *blip* He showed them the art of wall running, and their movement down the tunnel transformed from something energetic into something more eerie in the gloom, like a swarm of approaching monsters from the film Aliens.
Finally it was Bungo’s turn. *blip* He led towards the dwelling of the monks, slowed them down before the last turn, and led them into the chamber in a stately procession, acting now in his Guru persona.
Tomsk: “Good. We’ve acquired a new party skill ‘stealth flipping’. Could be useful.”
Bungo added the monks to the Vessel’s ongoing group performance, granting them the benefits of all the buffs that Vessel-Kafana had cast, then introduced the monks to her as their saviour and asked her to use her holy gems to grant them powers beyond other mortals, if she deemed them worthy and determined to use those powers for good.
Vessel-Kafana played it well, singing more prayers and putting her diadem back on while the monks swore their intent, before initiating the party skill “Share Senses”, and using her purple gem to help the other Vessels teach the monks about mana, runes, learning buffs, spear forms, zen archery and all the other things Bungo had put on his MONK_TRAINING_PLAN document. Bungo returned to them, and the screen went blank.
Bungo: “Wow, those Vessels are driven. They’ve grown a lot over the past few days.”
Bulgaria: “They have spent more time with Vessel-Kafana than we have. They really don’t want to lose being with her. From their perspective, they’ve got just a day and a half left before Spirit-Kafana dies permanently, unless they can prevent it.”
Bungo: “That mind-healing gem is amazingly useful for teaching. I wonder why we don’t see more impact from mind magic upon their society. In schools, for example.”
Kafana: “It is a bit like baring your throat. Used in this way, to help not dominate, you have to expose yourself utterly to what they might do to you. It feels very vulnerable. Would the average teacher trust the average school pupil with that power?”
Bungo: “Ah, yes, that would explain it. Anyway, they should be done in two hours, then they’re due to go to Sanctum, so we can take up the hunt. Which means we’ve got 20 minutes free.” he leaned back on the couch, and snaffled another one of the cookies from Kafana’s kitchen.
Tomsk: “Wellington, can you do the same sort of time compression in The Burrow as they do at night time in the game? It would help fit in more reading of threads during breaks at work.”
Wellington: “I’d like to hold off on that, at least in the public areas. It’s more dangerous than adding working memory. I don’t want to use our wombles as test subjects to find out at what point increasing the blood flow and neural activity can cause damage.”
Alderney: “You mentioned you’d found out more about how the Charisma stat works?”
Wellington: “Yes. There’s a common theme between running businesses and commanding military forces. It may be the same with taming and some bits of necromancy and golemancy, but I’ve insufficient data to test that hypothesis. You can only lead people with a lower tier in the relevant skill than your own:”
“Stage 1 Apprentices such as someone running a small shop or leading a squad of soldiers, can have up to 6 direct subordinates with long-term loyalty to them, in a single tier of organisation. 6 total.”
“Stage 2 Journeyman such as the Captain of a ship, or a Captain leading a company of soldiers, can have up to 7 direct subordinates, and a further layer under them, giving a two tier organisation. 7 + 7*6 = 49 total.”
“Stage 3 Masters such as the head of a House Tertius, the owner of a shipping line or a Colonel leading a cohort, can have up to 8 direct subordinates, and 3 tiers of organisation. 8 + 8*49 = 400 total.”
“Stage 4 High Masters such as the head of a House Secundus, the CEO of a top-50 listed company or a General leading an army, can have up to 9 direct subordinates, and 4 tiers of organisation. 3,609 total.”
“Stage 5 Grand Masters such as the head of a House Primus or a Lord Marshal, get 10 direct subordinates, 5 tiers of organisation and 36,100 permanent followers maximum.”
Alderney: “Where does CHA come in?”
Wellington: “There’s a second constraint. Your charisma times your stage has to be higher than the number of direct subordinates squared, plus the total of your direct subordinates’ charisma. That has all sorts of consequences. It really is a pretty problem when you try to optimise your organisation tree, and take into account successful subordinates going up in level and gaining more charisma than their superior can match.”
Tomsk: “In practical terms, what does that mean for me, as a Captain?”
Wellington spoke to his system then threw a document onto a screen in the room.
<blockquote>
6 tier 0 soldiers with 1 CHA each need a tier 1 leader with 42 CHA, min level 10.
7 tier 1 leaders with 42 CHA each need a tier 2 leader with 172 CHA, min level 25.
8 tier 2 leaders with 172 CHA each need a tier 3 leader with 480 CHA, min level 40.
</blockquote>
Wellington: “But that’s only if you see yourself leading large numbers of troops and want to be able to do it at the lowest level possible. I’m told that some House scions go that route, all charisma no combat skills.”
Bulgaria: “All hat, no cattle.”
Wellington: “Just so. In Tomsk’s case, I’d suggest getting just enough charisma to lead the troops you are planning on leading during your next 5 levels, with maybe a few stat points held in reserve just in case.”
Tomsk: “So if Dino leads the other 6 monks, he’d need 42 charisma (assuming the others have no more than 1 CHA) and if I wanted to lead Dino, I’d need about 22 CHA?”
Wellington: “I believe so. Try it and see. There may be modifiers according to their morale and your reputation with them. I don’t know.”
Tomsk: “I’ve got 28 CHA currently. I’ll give it a go. Kafana, look after yourself.”
Tomsk disappeared.