Jebidiah's Change B. 01

Hello again and welcome back.

I originally intended to set this series in a terraformed Mars named Barsoom but there may be issues with using that name. Therefore I am reverting back to my original name of Tresolmar, a long running D&D campaign world.

The characters within are all based on that campaign and I've always wanted to bring them to life. As I get the hang of writing through these initial chapters I hope to do justice to their individual personalities. I also hope to get to longer chapters; there is a lot of world building to do but I fear balancing immersion with moving the story along. I should probably find an editor as well.

Once again, multiply ages by roughly two to get earth ages. Everyone is a consenting adult.

Update: If you are returning to brush up on book one before starting on the latest book, there's been a massive restructuring of these early chapters. As a first attempt at writing I left them in horrid shape and it kept bugging me, so I rewrote some before starting on book two. It was mostly fixing continuity and grammar, but there's some added content and context as well.

If you are a new reader, I hope the reworking helps you stay involved.

-- Chapter 2: Tonstar Changing Station --

-- Second Tenday of Antaen 813 AGR --

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

- Clarke

"What is going on Jeb?" Stern repeated with an added tone of concern.

Jebidiah was still having trouble reconciling the presence of the man in front of him and continued to stare, dumbfounded. Stern was a huge man by any human standard. Jeb was on the south end of the six feet and was used to looking over the heads of everyone except the elves like Dana. In Stern's case he found himself looking up as the top of Jebidiah's head barely reached Stern's shoulders.

Stern looked like a brute. Regardless of the amount of showering he did, his greenish brown hair was constantly matted and slightly greasy. His nose looked like someone had removed it, deflated it, and then slapped it back on his face slightly offset. His brows were pronounced and his forehead held a distinct slope to it. His eyes were so brown they bordered on black and even when he was calm it made him look intimidating as fuck. When angered those eyes had been known to make his opponents flee without a punch. But when he smiled his whole face would light up and his goofy grin reminded one of a small child's glee.

"Stern, you are our second male. Two human males." Jebidiah finally said, raising his arms and waving them as if that should have explained everything.

By this time the girls had risen and surrounded the two, gabbering wildly. The commotion soon spread as people put two and two together that there were two males in the pod.

"How is this possible?" Dana asked, this time getting through Jebidiah's cognitive dissonance.

"It's not." he sighed. "Let's all go back to our table so we can talk and Stern can eat."

Moving back to the table, Jebidiah scanned the room again. He spotted nine males among the tables, which was the right number, but there shouldn't be two at the same table. Fifty-nine females, nine males. Natural law stated how many people would be classed Human from twelve pods. Twelve tables, one for each pod. Five females should be at eleven tables, four at the other. Nine males scattered around them all, but only one male could be at each. There were still people missing in the mess hall as some of the tables only had three or four women, waiting for the remaining few to leave their Changing room.

The Changing Station administrator's voice suddenly filled the rooms and hallways, making Jebidiah start. Instead of calling for Jebidiah's pod as he feared, it was just a general announcement. "This cycle's Change is complete. Please join your pods in the Mess Hall for the final tally. Judgment will commence in two hours. That is all."

While the absent people were filtering into the Mess Hall, Joy let out a gasp. "Holy Bora's clit."

Everyone's head turned to the entrance as a tenth male entered, heading to his own pod. Silence descended and when the final male sat, he was looking around in confusion. He started quickly whispering with his pod members who shot furtive glances at Stern and Jebidiah.

"What the actual fuck?" Tenner asked the table.

"Will we get in trouble?" Joy responded with her own nervous question.

Charlene scoffed, "We didn't do anything. I mean how could anyone think this is our doing?"

"Why would the Divine do this to us? Or rather, which one of you did the Divine do it to?" Polly's question startled everyone. It was a damned good question and Polly was normally the quiet, wallflower type who did not often contribute to the conversations.

"I don't understand any of this," Stern said, "what are they going to do to us, Jeb?"

"It's like Char said, we didn't 'do' anything. I have a feeling we're not going to just breeze through this one. I will admit that the possibility of losing Crystal has me concerned but seeing you come back as Awakened is a bright spot on the tenday, regardless of how the artificers react to it." Stern beamed one of his goofy grins at Jebidiah's response.

Dana snorted, "Concerned? I think you need to admit a little more than that, especially to yourself. Even without being a math genius like you I can guess the odds against her. I hate it just as much as you do, but we've had years to resign ourselves to not all of us would make it through. I know you didn't get along with Selene all that much, not like Polly and Stern, but we still have her and Henna sitting in their Changing room waiting for Judgement."

Jebidiah tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling and sighed. "Selene and I never clicked like the rest of you but I still care about her. How could I not with how long we have all been together? Besides, I think it's more that Polly and Henna are not that fond of me."

It was Charlene's turn to scoff. "You are so closed off at times you leave people with little choice. You also have piss-poor empathy."

With the stress of the situation and the perceived attacks against him, Jebidiah's anger started coming to the surface. "I shouldn't need empathy. Nobody ever bothers trying to see things from my perspective, and you know what? They can't. It's my fucking perspective. I can't see things from theirs because I am not them. All I can manage is myself and that's enough work as it is."

Charlene wasn't ready to give it up. "There's that anger again. Would be nice if you had an emotion other than anger."

"Charlene, enough!" Dana's sharp voice stopped Charlene from continuing whatever she was going to say next. As if on queue, the administrator and twelve Artificers chose that moment to enter the room. Each artificer moved to stand at the head of their assigned pod's table. The administrator approached a podium at the far end of the room.

Projecting his voice, the administrator started the ceremony. "On this day, the Tenth Day, Second Tenday of the Antaen in the Year of the Divine Eight Hundred and Thirteen, this cycle's Tally has officially begun. Table One tally."

The artificer at table one began calling out each seated pod member's name, Talent, sex, and date of awakening, finishing with "Five female. Final tally."

The administrator scribbled the results in the ledger before him.

"Table Two tally."

The ceremony continued, finally reaching Jebidiah's table, tenth in line.

"Table Ten tally."

"Dana Stark Tonstar, Warrior Druid, Female, First Day, Second Tenday of the Antaen in the Year of the Divine Eight Hundred and Thirteen". Gasps filled the other tables with some muted conversations.

The humans of Tresolmar had many shared cultural norms established. One being children only become legal adults at the end of their awakening when their Change is established and Judgment is passed. It makes the legality of everything like property rights and inheritance easier if the child does not survive the Change. It was not something most people talked about because of the unpleasantness of the entire childhood experience, but some of the Changed would never be allowed to leave the Changing Station.

A second cultural norm was that nobody refers to a child's surnames, either mother's or father's, outside of their respective pods, only adults do. Dana's mother's surname of Tonstar was central to the shared history of mankind. Thadius Tonstar survived the Great Rendering and established the first lasting human settlement which became the capital they lived in, Tonstar City, kickstarting the rebirth of human civilization. His son, Thadius Jr established the Kingdom of Tonstar becoming King Thadius I. The Tonstar dynasty has survived and ruled ever since, making Dana royalty of the ruling family.

Jebidiah knew she was the Queen's niece but she had never revealed if or where she was in line for the throne. Jebidiah just always assumed she was. Since she was tallied as a dual Talent, most would assume she was adopted, but he knew she was of the Tonstar bloodline. The children at the other tables were most likely reviewing any interactions with Dana or her friends they could remember to see if they already had political blackmarks against them. Nobody wanted a royal grudge.

"Tenner Crag Stockmar, Mage, Female, Third Day, Second Tenday of the Antaen in the Year of the Divine Eight Hundred and Thirteen". Even more muted conversations started at the other tables.

House Stockmar, while not as prestigious as House Tonstar, was still one of the ruling houses and considered by most to be the third most powerful behind Starn. That virtue also made Tenner nobility, one of the strongest of the nobility since her family controlled one of the few cities in the kingdom. Having two nobles in a pod was very rare. Jebidiah idly wondered how much hubbub would have happened next if Crystal's surname was tallied. Even though thoughts of her pained him, he chuckled to himself when he recalled he would soon find out how everyone reacted to a third house name.

"Jebidiah Ryan Overton, Artificer, Male, Fifth Day, Second Tenday of the Antaen in the Year of the Divine Eight Hundred and Thirteen".

Talentless were all classified as Artificer.

"Polly Turner Everstine, Artificer, Female, Sixth Day, Second Tenday of the Antaen in the Year of the Divine Eight Hundred and Thirteen".

"Joy Weller Fortlin, Artificer, Female, Seventh Day, Second Tenday of the Antaen in the Year of the Divine Eight Hundred and Thirteen".

"Charlene Mylar Crag, Mage Rogue, Female, Eighth Day, Second Tenday of the Antaen in the Year of the Divine Eight Hundred and Thirteen". And there it was. This time the excitement and chatter from the other tables rose to the point of distraction. The Administrator was forced to call for order, banging his hand on the side of his podium. House Crag was another one of the ruling houses, also in control of one of the cities. When the excitement died, the Artificer at Jebidiah's table continued the tally.

"Stern Stark Blackrock, Warrior, Male, Tenth Day, Second Tenday of the Antaen in the Year of the Divine Eight Hundred and Thirteen".

"Five females. Two males. Final Tally."

This time silence filled the room as everyone waited for the administrator's response. The Artificer even stumbled at the start of the word 'Male', drawing more attention to his words. The administrator, not looking up from his scribbling, started to call out the next table but stopped mid-sentence. "Repeat tally Table Ten". He raised his head from his ledger to visually verify the count. Their artificer repeated his listing of their pod's names then looked back at the Administrator, voice faltering as he intoned "Final Tally."

There was a long pause then, "Table Eleven Tally." The Administrator continued the ceremony, distaste tainting his voice.

The final two tables' tally were more subdued, all the newly Awoken were now waiting to see what would happen at the end of the ceremony. When the time came the Administrator finished as if nothing was different. "Tenth Day, Second Tenday of Antaen, First Counting Station, City of Tonstar, in the year of the Divine Eight Hundred and Thirteen. Fifty-Nine Female. Ten Male. Final Tally. This concludes this cycle's Tally. You are dismissed until Judgment."

Dana spoke first in a tense voice, since nothing had been answered by the artificers, all the same questions remained. "I don't even know where to begin with this, although I am sure this pod will never be forgotten. A Tonstar, Stark, Stockmar, and Crag in the same pod with two males. Has any of your reading encountered any pod with more than two of the great Houses Jeb? I think we managed to break all the laws of Nature if not a few laws of the Divine."

Jebidiah had been shaking his head. "I looked up the histories when we figured out we had four Houses. Never in the histories I have had access to in the Keep and the Keep has the largest and oldest known library on Tresolmar. There were only two recorded tallies with three houses. Never a pod with two males. How is this going to affect our Guilding, Adventuring Contract, or your Bonding? Will we even be allowed to train or will they just stick us in a lab somewhere? Poke us with a stick every so often. You know the university and temples will never let this go."

By now the other pods had left their tables, talking in groups or leaving the Mess. The people remaining avoided their pod like they had suddenly become diseased Truly Lost. Dana stood and grabbed Jebidiah by the hand. "We need to put our heads together and make a plan. You all should do the same. We will reconvene at the Judgment." Dana set a quick pace, leading him into the hallway and back to the dormitories. When she reached her room she opened the door and pushed him inside, slammed the door closed, and barred it with a chair under the knob.

"I want to hide out here until Judgment in case they want to start separating us. I need to speak to my parents. I think. I am a bit freaked out and this sort of stress makes it hard to make decisions. I have a task for you Overton."

She maneuvered Jebidiah towards her bed and shoved so he lost his balance and fell backwards onto her bed. In a flash she had her panties off and climbed up beside Jeb. Flinging a leg over him she reversed direction then lowered herself over his face, hovering. "Your task, Artificer, should you choose to accept, is to alleviate my stress."

Jebidiah welcomed the distractions of their usual game. With Dana's slightly moist pussy only a couple inches from his face he lifted up slightly, loudly breathing in through his nose. "What a wonderful treat you have delivered me. If it tastes as good as it smells I will gladly accept your task." He reached out with his tongue and slowly ran it through her curly red hair to lightly lick the length of her slit stopping short of her clit. Dana moaned loudly and dropped her pussy closer as she started stroking his stiffening cock through the fabric of his pants. "I think I need one more sample here."

This time he scrunched up his tongue and speared her lower lips then widened his tongue with a solid lick, getting a full taste. The stimulus proved too much for Dana. She fully sat on his face. "I accept" he mumbled, causing her to moan and laugh at the same time. Jeb decided to take his time, slowly lapping her entire slit, slightly brushing her clit before sucking on her lips. He got his hands involved, thumbing her folds to either side allowing him to stick his tongue deep into her hole.

Dana, initially lost in the pleasure, recalled what she was supposed to be doing and started sliding Jebidiah's pants down. He helpfully lifted his hips to lower them enough for his cock to spring free. And what a glorious cock it was. Big enough to pass as a baby's limb it was almost too much for her to get her lips around. She often wondered just what it would feel like to swap his tongue for it and there were times she almost gave in. If Jeb would have agreed that is. She knew his moral compass was much more black and white than hers and a Talentless coupling against the rules with a noble required a lot of gray. Probably as much gray as filled the sky in a winter storm.

Instead she did her best to inhale the cock in front of her. She knew what Jeb liked, they had traded favors many times before. She began by sucking on his head, flicking her tongue back and forth, slowly bobbing, taking more of his length with every dip. She kept her lips sealed tight only pulling back enough for her lips to stay in constant contact with the tip of the head. His body began to shudder on each downstroke when she pushed him fully through her lips. She knew he wouldn't last much longer. She wasn't in much better shape.

Jeb's tongue work wasn't quite on par with either Crys or Ten but he was a lot better than the other girls. He knew just the way she liked for someone to lick or blow on her clit, spending more time simply circling her nub. It was too sensitive to handle much direct manipulation. His finger work however was the absolute best within the pod. When he finally pushed one hooked finger in and applied pressure under her clit she almost came. She fought off her orgasm instead and began riding his face, hovering on the edge of bliss.

Jeb knew what her movements meant. He had her now. He inserted a second finger and began to match his finger strokes to her hip movements causing her to increase her thrusting. Then for the coup de grâce he quickly suckled a finger on his other hand and used it to circle her puckered asshole all the while lapping fully on her clit, giving firm pressure with his tongue.

She came then in sensations overload, temporarily stopping her own ministrations to clench and shake above him. He stopped licking, letting her ride it out until she started bobbing her head up and down again. He attacked again, starting a slightly different licking pattern. Her hips immediately resumed bucking. The urgency to cum again transferred to her own efforts as she sucked him harder, increasing speed.

"Finally!", Jeb thought. Let the real fun begin. He wasn't sure if Dana knew what actions she took at this point in their game. Not only lost in the sensation of her next string of orgasms, she lost track of her own actions. As she increased the speed and suction she also went much deeper than normal. To the point he sometimes encountered the resistance of her throat. It was amazing. Dana fully tensed again, pushed her head down as far as she could and screamed against his cock, her next orgasm hitting harder than the first. Jeb thrust his hips up into her just a little bit more pushing into the sleeve of her throat and erupted. Dana coughed him out, choking on the cum in her throat and mouth. She rested, fully laying on him and started to chuckle again.

"That one was a bit much. Fine, you win once again. I better clean up this mess." and proceeded to lick up all the spilled cum, nursing the rest out of him until he went soft.

They lay together, lost in thought. Jeb played with Dana's hair as she rested her head on his chest. Jeb's thoughts were a mess. For once he didn't even know where to start, nor could he come up with an action plan because he wasn't sure of anything he could do. Looking for a viable starting point, he began brainstorming what could realistically improve their situation.

"Maybe they will chalk it up as an anomaly and let us get on with our lives" Dana quietly said.

"Something has happened that has not happened since they put this whole system together, right after they founded the kingdom in 55. We just celebrated the 758th Founding Day. Sixty-six tendays a year, that's at least... fifty thousand and twenty-eight tendays. Half a million name days plus change. How many millions of Humans went through the process and we just now had an outlier of this magnitude? At least twenty million? Sorry love, but this one is bigger than even your aunt."