Book 3, Chapter 18

18. The Beggar’s Court

Eight men and women stood waiting for us in the parlor in a mix of extremely dated clothing.  The clothes had been very well cared for, but were patched and moth-bitten in places.  Still they wore them with pride, and each of them greeted me properly when Port introduced me, deliberately and properly, as “Earl Hail Jeoran of North Shire and Thorn March.”

Once he’d fulfilled this purpose, he vanished from the parlor, leaving me with just my Traveler friends as backup.  And Zimmer, who was waiting in a corner.  A corner from which, I realized, he had carefully selected for the purpose of recording the encounter.

Deciding to treat them with the respect they would have deserved had they truly inherited the titles which history had denied them, I swept my [Nagaskin Cloak] back and performed a courtly bow towards the strangers.

“Thank you for inviting you into your ancestral home, Lady Mooncrest,” I said.  “I have long heard the tales of this court, and it is both an honor and a privilege to actually meet some members of it in person.”

“But you have already met some members of it,” a woman said.  “My grandmother, Bell, you personally released from unjust imprisonment at the hands of the corrupt Constable, Montague, and the corrupt steward, Arkan.  While I would be Lady Mooncrest, she would have been a lady through marriage and motherhood.  As things are, she has claimed a position of alderman for the town of Ebbyvale under your new rule.”

I brightened at the news.  If she owed me some gratitude, then this was unlikely to turn into the confrontation I had feared it would be.

“Don’t think that earning favor with one member of the Beggar’s Court translates into earning Reputation with us all,” a young man next to her said quickly.  “The family Mooncrest may owe you a debt.  This court owes you nothing.”

I nodded, keeping my expression schooled as well as I was able.  “Understood.  In full honesty, I did come to beg a favor, but I am willing to barter for it, like for like.”

“Is it more or less important to your goals than the alliance you established with house Peori?” an old woman challenged.

“Less,” I admitted.  “But it is the second highest priority goal which requires my direct attention.  All others have been designated to my Traveler friends and followers.”

The court exchanged looks, as though having a silent conversation, then turned back to me.  “Speak your request.  If it is a favor we are willing to grant, we will grant it.  If it is a service we are willing to sell, we will set a price.”

“My favor is twofold,” I admitted.  “I wish to inform the common Natives that, very soon, there will be a possible rush of Battlegrounds.  I wish for them not to fear, as those battlegrounds will be restricted in location to North Shire, though I understand the world itself will sense them.”

“We will perform this service for free,” The oldest man of the group determined.  “It falls within our own purposes to keep the masses from panicking.  What is the second aspect of your request?”

I nodded, and I spent a moment phrasing it.  “Many Travelers will shy away from the battlegrounds.  I wish for the natives under your influence to provide information to the Travelers who decline the invite to participate.  There are various methods which will be available to them to return to The Recent Past, and I wish for that information to be communicated to anyone who wishes to make the journey.”

The old man who had previously agreed to my request scratched his chin.  “This is a more complex task.  There are two options open to the future; one is that the Recent Past and the Near Future will diverge completely.  The other is that one of these realities will swallow the other entirely.  You are asking The Beggar’s Court to try to influence the outcome.”

“Is that a problem?” I inquired.

“Not exactly.  But we will not do it for free, this time,” he declared.  “We want a favor.”

I sighed.  Another task to fulfill.  “Will you accept a promise to provide you with a favor after the battles have settled?”

“You misunderstand.  You have established several Favors with Eclipse.  We wish for one of them.  If you give us one, then we will do as you say, and once the battlegrounds begin all Natives associated with the Beggar’s Court will begin directing Travelers to Recursion methods once the battlegrounds begin, assuming that they do not take the direct route of accepting the battle invite,” he explained.

I paused to consider my answer.  I looked at my right hand, where the symbol of Eclipse still marked my skin.  A white circle enveloping a black one.  When my attention passed over it, I felt a faint attention touching back.

“It’s actually a very good offer,” Eclipse’s teasing voice informed me.  “You can check with the old foggy if you want.  But yes, you can trade one of my favors to them to get what you want.”

“How many favors do I have with you now, Eclipse?”

“Oh?  Weren’t you counting?  Well, I owed you like five for putting you in a position where you and Valerio Wildeheart might die in the first place.  That was rather mean of me, but I knew nothing bad would happen so I don’t feel too bad.  Then you spent one to make sure that your stepfather survived the poison he drank, so that’s four.  Then you spent five dungeon cores to bring goblins into the world, and I’m double counting that so you get two favors for each core,” the voice explained, and I had the sense that the little girl was counting out the math on her fingers.

“So you have fourteen.  And we promised that I would protect your little brother and your mother from harm.  That hasn’t cost you any favors yet, but it might.  Oh right, and you spent three cores making a very nice dungeon for my goblins.  I’ll give you a favor for each core you spent on that.  So we’ll say I owe you seventeen favors, but that might change if anyone tries to hurt your family.  And if I have to vote to remove your curse, that’s a favor too, but I’ll be abstaining unless my vote will tip the scales.”

I contemplated the situation for just a moment before consenting.  “Very well.  If she consents to the arrangement, then I will trade one favor from Eclipse for the services we discussed.”

The elder of the Beggar’s Court nodded.  “It’s a good deal.  You may not know this, being raised on Yuikonese stories and propaganda, but almost every nation has its own version of our establishment.  I am authorized to make deals of this nature for almost all of them.  The Traveler fence sitters throughout all of the heartlands will hear of the methods of recursion once the wave of battles ends due to this deal.”

I nodded, and bowed to the man with respect.  “Thank you.  That concludes my primary purpose for seeking you out.  Do you have any business with me?”

“Nothing that can’t wait,” their leader said, “Except that Lady Mooncrest has a warning for you.”

Port’s mother nodded and stepped forward.  “I don’t know what Arkan told you, but he lied.  You owe nothing to the banks.  That debt is the hereditary debt of House Mooncrest.  As that house is dead, until I or one of my descendants decide to pick up the mantle, they are leveraged against nothing.  At least, they were once the courts established that the land belongs to the crown, and made it illegal to use tax revenue to service the debt.”

I grinned in satisfaction.  “I suspected as much, my lady,” I admitted.  “I was gathering evidence towards this nature, but I am stretched in so many directions it is hard to get anything accomplished.  I left the task of untangling the finances of North Shire to those who are better suited toward it than I, but having confirmation that the debt is not mine will make things … well, it will either make things much easier or more complicated.  Arkan has been servicing the debt by borrowing heavily from Silvercrest bank.  I understand he has also been using those funds for operating expenses, while inflating the legitimate costs of running the shire.  It will be difficult, I fear, to untangle the mess that he has left for me.”

Lady Mooncrest nodded.  “I see you wear my Great-Grandfather’s sword, which was reclaimed by the system.  I would replace that, or at least hide it, before confronting the banks directly.  Their most logical move is to try to establish that, when you were granted the former lands of the Mooncrest family, you were picking up the mantle of Lord Mooncrest.  Bearing our ancestral sword would give credence to that claim.”

I looked at the rapier on my hip and cursed.  “It was a system reward.”

“A very clearly labeled one,” she agreed.  “Although, perhaps a high level blacksmith could modify it enough to justify calling it something new.  Such symbolic gestures are more important to the courts than the layman think they are, Earl Hail.  Were you to continue to rule North Shire from my ancestral manor, wear my family’s ancestral blade, and rule our ancestral land, the court might find that you bear the responsibility of our ancestral debts.”

I bowed respectfully towards the Lady Mooncrest.  “I thank you for your advice.  It will weigh heavily on my mind as I make my plans for the future.”

Then, from my inventory, I pulled forth an item that Arkan had given me, just after I’d fired him.  I tossed it to her.  “I believe that this item never belonged to me.  I have been keeping it in trust until I was able to return it to its true owner.”

She gasped in surprise as she caught the stamp which had belonged to her family, back when both the stamp and the family held power.  Then she grinned devilishly.  “Oh, I think there’s a lot of fun that I can have with this old thing.  Thank you, Earl Jeoran, for returning to my family that which we had thought forever lost.”

You have performed an action of note in The Recent Past

This action will resonate into The Near Future and The Divergence.

The Divergence will occur in 240 game hours, sooner if further actions of note occur.

You have gained +1000 reputation with The Beggar’s Court.

I grinned at the popup, feeling confident that I had met my objectives for this visit.  “If there are no other issues of importance, I fear I must make my exit.  I have a great many other things which I must accomplish before Travelers begin returning to The Recent Past.”

I did notice that the countdown had begun to the divergence.  I figured that was the point where ‘The Near Future’ would have been changed too much by my actions and would be cut off from The Recent Past.  Thanks to my actions just now, the Travelers who were otherwise cut off should find it easier to join up with my version of this world, rather than being trapped in ‘the legacy server.’

“You were our guest, and a guest is free to come and go as they please,” the older man who had spoken for the group announced.  “We wish you success in your coming battles, Earl Jeoran.”

I paused.  “I am uncertain what words to give you in parting,” I admitted.

“Honor to our honorable ancestors,” Lady Mooncrest provided.  “Emphasis on the ‘honorable ancestors.’  There’s reasons many of our families fell from grace.  We choose to venerate the reasons we rose in the first place.”

“You have given much honor to your honorable ancestors,” I said.  “Farewell.”

And with that, my party, plus Zimmer, retreated from the townhouse which had once been the city manor of Lord Mooncrest, whose lands I now governed.