Demesne

The board game competitions had proceeded at their own pace while people had been eating in the morning. The players had gotten together, played their games, and crushed each other in pursuit of supremacy and victory, and Rian had given them their prize for winning. Simple, straightforward, and only those who wanted to watch or had any interest had spectated.

For some reason, Rian chose not to follow this simple and easy to understand format.

"Welcome to the first Lorian holiday games!" Rian called out from where he was standing on top of the pile of excavated stone to one side of the Dungeon's entrance. People, of course, cheered, the way they always did when Rian allowed a long enough pause. Lori had to admit, he projected his voice very well. His throat was going to be sore by dinner, but that was his problem. "This afternoon, we are going to be witness to some of the finest action this demesne has ever seen! Quarter staffs! Swords! Well, wooden swords, but close enough! Wrestling! And racing!"

Rian paused to let people make their noises as Lori tore off some beast meat into a bite-sized piece and popped it into her mouth, savoring the taste. After her quick, refreshing bath, and a brief debate with herself over whether she should put on new clothes or continue with the ones she'd already been wearing for the day—Lori had picked the latter, in case she had to sweat some more—she had grabbed her new stone plate and her hat, and went downstairs for lunch. The prize bowl with assorted fruits and things for the winners of the chatrang and lima competitions had been gone, awarded while she and Umu had been outside handling infrastructure work. She had been happy to find there was still some seel meat left over, Not that she didn't like beast meat, but it was more likely to get a cut that was a little dry. People had seemed to be eating lightly, and many seemed to be too sated to eat. In fact, most of the meat was being marinated in the fruit sauce for cooking later tonight, while people were only eating small portions right then, apparently still full from breakfast.

Lori had just been about to sit down to eat her meat when Rian had shown up and asked her, with dramatic obsequiousness, if she would please sit on the table had had been set up in front of the marked off square in front of the Dungeon.

"Why?" she had asked, fully prepared to stay exactly where she was.

"We need your glorious person to provide prestige to the proceedings by being at the forefront watching what was happening," Rian had said. "You don't even need to say anything, just sit there and eat and occasionally give what's happening a bored look. Yes, like that one right there!"

"I have a perfectly good seat right here," Lori had said, a bit annoyed at being asked to move.

"It's really close to someone who's cooking both beast and seel," Rian had wheedled. "You're almost out of food anyway, why not get more there, and then just sit at the table? Please? You literally won't have to do anything you wouldn't have to do already anyway."

Lori had considered the table he had indicated, then sighed. "Fine," she had sighed. "But the beast better not be dry."

"Don't worry, I made sure they had thigh and tail," Rian had assured her. "The juiciest parts!"

So far, the juiciness was as promised, and her new table was actually shaded by the cliff wall behind her, so she was willing to admit it was an improvement over her previous position. Really, the only annoyance was Rian's loud announcing.

"The first event is the quarterstaff competition!" Rian announced from behind her on the rock. "Participants will duel, aiming for body strikes, or for their opponent to let go of their quarterstaff with at least one hand! Either of these is worth a point, as is pushing your opponent out of bounds or causing them to fall. Also, I'd like to apologize for the lack of proper staffs. Next time, we'll have some staffs of the same length and material ready so it's all even. But for now, consider your choice and ability in making your own staff to be part of your skill. Is everyone ready?"

There was a roar from the crowd, especially from a group holding what had just that morning been freshly cut branches and saplings. Few of the crude quarterstaffs were completely straight and some still had more weight or were too narrow at one end, but those wielding them seemed to find them sufficient… or just didn't know what a proper quarterstaff was like. Her own staff had been expensive to have made, since she'd picked a nice hardwood for the material, but it had lasted her for years, and would hopefully last years more.

Lori suspected that the latter group of people, barring extreme luck, would be the first to be eliminated.

"Let the preliminary bouts begin!" Rian then started announcing pairs of names, most likely people who would be facing each other. From the way people were stepping into the marked off area, the preliminaries would be conducted with two pairs of people at a time, facing their opponent at opposite ends of the square, with a buffer space between the two pairs so they couldn't interfere with each other. The first to score three points would move on to the next stage, and because of the rules, many had wrapped cloths around their fingers as padding, though they were checked to make sure the staff was being held by their grip and not because it had been tied to their hand.

It also appeared like some sort of guidelines had been established beforehand—likely what Rian had been doing while she'd been cleaning the latrines—as to what was permissible, because while people swung in the general direction of their opponents head, their swings when they did so were obviously slower and easier to block, and no one aimed for the groin. Which she supposed was sensible, else the first thing she'd be doing tomorrow was bringing people to River's Fork to be healed…

Oh, right.

Rian had scrambled down from her rock pile and was drinking to soothe his throat from all the announcing as the participants of the preliminary rounds got down to trying to earn their three points. They weren't completely unsupervised. Two people stood in the space in the middle of the square, between each pair, acting as referee for one of the bouts and calling out points. One she vaguely recognized as the one in charge of the building crews—retired captain something?—the other unknown to her.

Lori poked Rian in the side just under his ribs to get his attention. "Tah," she said, "remember to announce that we need volunteers to go to River's Fork and work at the mine there."

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten," he said over the sound of quarterstaffs being wielded enthusiastically and with some skill. "I was just wondering when you wanted to make the announcement. Would around dinner suffice? Give them the night to think about whether they'll volunteer or not?"

"That would be adequate," she said. "Also, you need to make the ship for going to Covehold a priority."

"I thought you didn't really care for that one?" he said.

"Whether I do or not is irrelevant," Lori said. "It's part of our obligations to River's Fork and I won't have it be said I do not live up to my agreements."

"Don't make you look bad, got it," Rian said with a nod. "To be honest, the bottleneck in that plan is making the boat fast enough that we can reach Covehold and back without needing too many supplies. Too bad you won't come along, a water jet to propel it would be useful…"

"No," Lori said flatly.

"I know, I know," Rian sighed. They both briefly turned to look as one of the referees declared the match he was watching over. The two competitors shook hands—Lori wasn't sure which of them had won or lost—and stepped out of the demarcated space, to be replaced by another pair. "It's really too bad. And if we did have a waterjet, it would only last so long, especially since we couldn't shut it down to conserve energy."

"If I could make a bound tool, I would," Lori said. "But I don't even have enough raw materials to experiment with making one, much less actually making one."

Rian frowned. "Could you actually make one?"

"I know the basics," Lori said. "What follows will merely be experimentation and optimization. But I need raw materials."

"Which would be in Covehold," Rian sighed.

"Which would be in Covehold," Lori confirmed.

"It's a pity there's no way for you to power something at a distance," Rian said. "Then you'd be able to power a water jet and stay right here."

Lori opened her mouth… and froze.

Rian blinked, and tilted his head. He stilled and began staring at her.

The other referee called the match, to great cheers, and the two competitors stepped out of the demarcated area, one cradling his hand and walking towards the river, to be replaced by two more competitors.

Eventually, Lori shut her mouth. "Why are you staring at me?" she said distractedly, since his staring had grown persistent enough to be commented on.

"You thought of something," Rian said. His face was hopeful. "I didn't want to interrupt you… but you thought of something, right? Right?"

Lori gave him an annoyed look. Still, despite herself, a smile began to curve her lips triumphantly. "I thought of something," she admitted.

"Something that… maybe… involves waterjets?" Rian said, voice almost plaintive in its naked hope.

"Maaaybe…" Lori said slowly, savoring the word, the idea. "It needs to be tested."

Rian looked towards the competition in front of them. "Now?" he asked. For once, she couldn't tell if he was asking because he wanted her to stay or go.

Lori shook her head, even as she kept her excitement in check. This was still just an idea. Just a thought, really. Sure, it was supported by basic principles, but still… No, it was untested. She needed to be sure, otherwise… well, it might still have uses, but…

Lori forced herself to sit still, to very carefully consider. Surely this was too simple, right? Surely if it worked, it would be something people did regularly? It would be mentioned in books and histories about things famous Whisperers had done, right?

Only… it had been mentioned, obliquely, in some of her texts… And hadn't they been told they weren't allowed to do this very thing in one of her old proficiency examinations…?

"You're getting more excited," Rian said. "Should I get excited too?"

His voice steadied her, reminded her where she was.

"It's too early to say one way or another," Lori said, trying to be realistic. It might not work. They might not have the materials they need. It might work, but might not last long enough for what they needed. It might break down on entering someone else's demesne. So many factors… so many tests she needed to do…!

Rian was still staring at her face, head tilted almost horizontal, face set thoughtfully. Then he nodded. "I'm going to get excited," he said, turning to watch for grown men hit each other with oversize sticks with a smile on his face.

She blinked. "Feeding yourself false hope, Rian?" she said. Really, his optimism…

"Nothing of the sort," he said with a smile. That smile seemed almost… serene. "This idea… is it a Whispering thing? Not engineering, not carpentry, not sailing or any other kind of magic. Just Whispering, pure and simple?"

Lori nodded.

Rian did as well. "Then I'll trust that the idea is probably right," he said. "After all, you're the Whisperer. This is what you learned, what you studied. If even a little part of you thinks it'll work, if you have to actively tell yourself not to get excited, to do tests first… the idea probably has merit. So I'm going to be excited, because you might not know how to talk to people or know how to remember people's names, or… well, a lot of things, but you do know what you're talking about when it comes to magic."

Lori stared at him, and it took her a moment to remind herself not to be taken in by his heroic-sounding dramatic speeches.

"You're doing things in the wrong order," she declared, turning to watch the competition herself. The taller one in the pair on the right wasn't setting his feet properly, she noted, and sure enough his opponent pressed him in front, causing the tall one to stumble backwards out of the demarcated area. "You're supposed to get excited after we have a successful test, not before."

"I'm getting the excitement out early," Rian said. "What's the difference?"

"After a successful test, we can be excited about what we can do with the results as a foundation to build on," Lori said. "That's properly exciting. There's nothing solid to be excited about now."

"Tell you what," Rian said. "I'll be sure to be even more excited when you finally get a successful test about what ever this idea you still haven't told me about is. What is it, anyway?"

Lori looked at him. "Blood," she said.

"Blood?"

"Blood."

Rian nodded. "I have no idea what it means but it definitely sounds exciting," he said. "Can I do the test with you? Always helpful to have a more than one observer in case you have to blink and miss something."

"Can you take notes?"

"I was already planning to," Rian said as the referee called the results of a third quarterstaff match.

"You don't even know how I'm going to test this yet," Lori said.

"Doesn't matter, you should always make notes during a test."

Huh. She hadn't known he followed the Mysteries of Alknowledge. But then, she didn't really care.

Filled with excitement, Lori sat back and allowed herself to really watch the quarterstaff competition in front of her. She almost felt like she could tell who had been part of a militia simply from how they moved. There was a certain… pragmatic aggression to the way they fought that she approved of. They parried and deflected better as well, and occasionally shifted their grip to hold their makeshift staff with one point forward ready to jab, like a spear. Riz was in the competition, she was surprised to see. The woman was one of the more aggressive ones, winning by two body blows—pulled, Lori saw—and pushing her opponent out of the demarcated zone with an aggressive charge after a quick exchange that had disoriented her opponent.

Lori had to admit… it was enjoyable to watch people engaging in violence. Almost, she wanted to grab a staff and try her luck…

No, she'd be eliminated at the second round, at best. Possibly even the first, if she was fighting Riz or someone equally skilled or aggressive.

But it was fun to watch anyway.