Jebidiahs Change Bk 02 Ch 04

Welcome back gentle reader

I've noticed a pattern when my chapters are published. I'll receive a bunch of good ratings, feel good about the reception, then, toward the end of the first day, I'll get 1 star-bombed and my rating will tank. This last chapter went from a 4.97 down to a 4.8 in just a couple votes. It's now a common pattern with every release. I use the ratings to judge how well the story is written, so I have no idea why I get such a disparity in ratings. I commented this on my last chapter, and I'll include it here:

I love feedback, supportive is always my favorite of course, but for those of you that like to 1 star bomb, if something just doesn't click, constructive feedback is helpful even if it is negative.

My goal is to grow as a writer and that is hard without feedback. With that out of the way, Jebidiah finds things ramping up for a while. Enjoy the ride.

Standard disclaimer, multiply ages by roughly two to get equivalent Earth ages. Everyone is a consenting adult.

-- Chapter 4: Valor Keep Construction Site --

-- Fifth Tenday of Juntaen 813 AGR --

The longer everything goes according to plan, the bigger the impending disaster.

- Tayler

A few hours later, their newest expedition team began assembling in an open area towards the north of the keep grounds. Jebidiah was surrounded by his wives, all mounted and already changed into travel clothes and armor, most of which was molded heavy leather. It would not be kind to them with the heat, but they had all tasted combat.

Their six First were with them, while Stern and Olga stood slightly off to the side in quiet conversation. Sift had no First of her own--an idea Jebidiah was still toying with. He had convinced Kelek she needed one, that her First was there to make sure she did not escape, since she styled herself a captive. Mila had originally been assigned two Firsts, since his introduction to her was when she tried to assassinate him, leaving him a 'spare' for Kelek. He figured Kelek would just treat her First as a challenge to see how often she could evade her 'guards'. He also figured he would have to make it up to Corporal Kline-Harrold, otherwise known as Lana.

The armswomen assembled behind them in neat columns, with a baggage train positioned to follow. A young, mounted human woman rode toward Jebidiah's group, followed closely by two more women of indeterminate race. Based on the rank insignias Jebidiah glimpsed, he prepared himself to meet the company leader.

"Your Grace, I am Captain Michelle Minter-Montague, Bravo Company, at your service."

"Well met, Captain Montague. I assume one of these others is your XO?"

"My apologies, First Lieutenant Gertrude Myter-Junten here is my XO, and Gunnery Sergeant Helen Mire-Portland is my Chief of Staff."

Jebidiah struggled to make out their features beneath their armor and enclosed helms. He realized he would never be able to recognize them by features alone, which he found amusing but decided there would be time to sort it out later. He could tell the Captain had either white or silver hair, but the other two wore similar short hair styles with matching color.

"Well met, First Lieutenant, Gunnery Sergeant. Hopefully this won't be as exciting as our last run-in with a goblin tribe."

"We were told the tales, Your Grace. I was hoping for more training before we stumbled into any large-scale engagements like you experienced. The troops are still a little green in their formations. Did you know that outside of the Starns, our Alpha company has more full engagements than the rest of the levied companies?"

Jebidiah had never considered that, and it caught him off guard. "Truly?"

"Truly, Your Grace. Most companies might see one or two engagements at most, except the Starns, as I mentioned. A majority of our volunteers came because of how much action you get into."

Greta snorted at the phrase, but everyone pretended to ignore it.

The Captain continued, "But that has also steered away some of the men we would normally expect to have. I only have five within Bravo."

"Why Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie?" Greta asked, curiosity plain in her voice.

"I'm not quite sure?"

"We use words instead of just the letters, my Lady, to avoid confusion. Some letters sound too similar--especially with different accents involved."

"Sure, I do understand that part, but I mean Alpha is obvious, we use it to mean first or most important, but why Bravo, or Charlie? Why was 'Charlie' the name chosen instead of something like Connor or Chris?"

Jebidiah had never considered it before but Greta's questions made him struggle for some sort of explanation. He opted to deflect instead.

"Why the curiosity?"

"If I'm going to be composing ballads about our escapades, I need to understand what I'm singing about."

Jebidiah had no answer for that. The group lapsed into silence until a soft voice answered the question.

"When the system was first created, they used the names of different nations on Dirt to represent the letters, but with the number of languages involved, that system proved cumbersome."

Sift's unexpected response caught everyone off guard.

Greta, though, was quick with a reply. "Okay, so instead of saying..." She glanced at the Captain, "What's the word for the letter T?"

"Tango, my Lady."

"So instead of saying Tango for T, they would have said Tonstar?"

Sift nodded. "That is correct. Over time, they moved to the names of major cities, but that also lacked consensus. Then they tried using common given names, but George in one place was Jorge in another, or Giorgio, or even Juro."

Stern's deep voice cut in. "So all these words and stuff I hear the armswomen say came from Dirt? The Ancients? Where did we learn them from?"

Captain Montague hesitated before answering. "I... there is a book... training materials for new recruits. It is part of the course curriculum in the Academy. I had assumed you all went through schooling?"

Jebidiah chuckled. "We sort of skipped past all of that and went straight to starting a civil war. On the job training."

Stern and his wives joined in his chuckling but whatever reaction the Captain had was hidden by her helm. Instead she turned her attention back to Sift.

"Who were 'they' and what does Dirt have to do with it?" asked Captain Montague. She caught herself a moment before looking at Jebidiah. "Forgive me, Your Grace, I am unsure of your... companion's position and we're unsure if there is an honorific for addressing it, or her?"

"I require no title or manner of address, Captain. Sift will suffice. To answer your question, initially the phonetic system was an effort by various wireless communication groups to understand each other but then was usurped by a major military coalition. Dirt is where humans originated."

Captain Montague's posture stiffened, her hands tightening on her reins. "You're saying..." she hesitated, "We're not from here at all?"

Sift nodded, "that is correct."

Jebidiah and his retinue did not react to the revelation--Sift had informed them months ago--so the Captain let the matter rest.

First Lieutenant Junten, however, scoffed. "Surely this thing is mistaken."

The Captain's head whipped to glare at her XO. Junten hesitated, then spoke with a more deferential tone. "Forgive me, Your Grace."

"Wireless communication be what?" Mila asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"It is synonymous with the communication towers you now use to signal messages, just using a different type of technology that did not require line of sight. The semaphore system put in place in the signal tower network was a derivative of the phonetic system."

"I'll be damned." Dana said in response.

The conversation was interrupted when the front formations began to move out.

"May we ride with you, Your Grace?"

Jebidiah glanced at the speaker, one of the guard with her helmet now removed. She had a rugged, angular beauty, her crooked nose hinting at a history of fighting. Full lips, bright blue eyes and thick, white eyebrows distracted any attention her nose would normally warrant. Her short, spikey white hair defied gravity, somehow held in place. The hair color gave away her identity.

"Of course Captain, you and your staff are welcome."

Once the column was moving along and everyone settled in for the ride, Greta began asking questions again. "Sift, you have mentioned several times that humans come from Dirt. I had thought you meant we somehow magically sprung from the dirt. Like literally. But you just said we were not from here?"

"That is correct, Dirt is the third planet from the star Sol, the birthplace of humanity. Your ancestors travelled here, changed the environment to support humans, and then--through war--became stranded here, cut off from their home."

Jebidiah frowned. "Stranded?" That meant they once traveled freely. Were there more of these planets? It couldn't have been magical, the histories said the Ancients did not possess magic. Did the Rendering strand humans here? He was about to ask Sift for clarification, but Greta kept going.

"I have so many questions! What's a planet? Are we also a planet? How did humans move here? How did we change the environment? What war? What about the other races?"

The questions kept up, rapid fire, not giving Sift a chance to answer.

More questions started coming from the others, and Jebidiah raised his hand. "Hold, please. We'll bombard her with so many questions we'll never get the full story--and I, for one, want to know why we were 'stranded' here. What makes Dirt so special that the ancients would have called being here 'stranded'?"

"Thank you, Jebidiah. For your answers Greta, I will reorder your question since some answers require context from others. A planet is a large celestial object that usually has an elliptical orbit around a star, capable of clearing its orbit of any other objects. We are currently standing on a planet, once named Mars."

"Not Tresolmar?" Greta was enraptured by the information dump, her excitement lighting up her face.

"Not initially, no. By the time humanity was capable of reaching it, Mars had a very thin atmosphere and was extremely cold, making it inhospitable to humans. A project was begun to change the planet so that it could support humans and other organisms from Dirt."

Dana whistled. "The Ancients changed the whole planet--without magic? We all have heard how powerful they were, but how is that possible?"

Junten snorted again, but kept her thoughts to herself.

"It took much effort and resources over several generations to accomplish. Once it was prepared and seeded with life, humans migrated here over many years, on ships capable of making the journey."

Tenner gasped in shock. "What kind of ships could do that? Like the Atwonian airships?"

Sift tilted her head. "I am unaware of these airships."

"Atwonian Trade Federation," Mila supplied. "Trade far they do, come to the Klomtig. Gnomes the lot."

Dana looked to Sift. "The gnomes have large wooden ships that float through the air, Sift. However they manage it, magic or not, the secret is closely guarded. I've never seen one but met some of their traders at the Keep."

"The gnomes are not to be trusted." The conviction in the new voice startled Jebidiah. He turned to regard the speaker, Gunnery Sergeant Portland. "Sorry, Your Grace. I've had dealings with them. The trading post in Forest's Edge."

Sift spoke again. "I see. The ships used then were constructed from metal, ceramic, and several composite materials, powered by non-magical means. Your language does not have adequate words to describe the technology."

Jebidiah tried to refocus the discussion. Metal ships were out of the question. "What of this war that stranded them?"

"Dirt had many nations that clashed for thousands of years--sometimes devastating large portions of the planet."

Greta interrupted again, "Like the Rendering?"

Sift's voice softened, showing an uncharacteristic hint of emotion. "Sadly, in many ways the devastation was worse than your Great Rendering."

Her answer sombered the mood, but she continued, her voice returning to normal.

"A war broke out between three of the most powerful nations, eventually drawing in the rest of the world before reaching here."

Dana cut in, "What were they fighting over?"

"Mostly resources, the cause of most wars. Some of it was ideological. The government on this planet aligned with one of the three factions. The event you call the Great Rendering was caused by an experimental weapon strike intended to sterilize the planet."

"Sterilize?" Stern's voice was troubled. "They tried to kill everyone?"

"Not just everyone, every living creature. Instead, an unknown force contained the blast and caused massive changes. Before the aftereffects of the attack, there had been only humans--no other races. The day of the strike, it was estimated that 80% of the human population transformed, while everything else remained stable until later generations matured. I was placed into hibernation shortly after the first wave of transformations began."

Silence followed--no one was prepared for that much information. Jebidiah had always known the past was murky, and even though centuries had past the Ancients were still an enigma. But a force unknown to the Ancients contained the Rendering? Before the Divine ascended? This was a fundamental shift of... everything. He had to discuss this further with Master Standing.

Junten, who had been openly skeptical of Sift's account, now sounded more accepting. "What was it like then, after the Rendering?"

"The term cataclysmic would not do it justice. The chaos was everywhere. The government immediately collapsed along with most of the military and law enforcement. Society followed shortly after. People were killed every day, often thousands at a time. It wasn't always by the new creatures either. Starvation and disease took a heavy toll. Some towns and settlements were razed by their neighbors, either after their food and water supply or because of fear."

The silence was broken by a husky voice Jebidiah did not recognize. "But the ancients spoke of other races in their histories."

The first portion of their journey followed an established road--wide, crushed gravel meant for carts, but not a true highway. It ran alongside the Mylar River on its way to Fort Mylar and Mylar Village, facilitating trade and other traffic. It was wide enough to comfortably accommodate ten riders abreast. Sift walked, of course. She was too heavy for horseback, never tired, and easily kept pace with the horses. But since she was lower than the riders, she had to project her voice for everyone to hear, which allowed a large group of the curious to gather close to them as she delivered her answers.

The question came from within that audience. Jebidiah pivoted his head around to identify the speaker.

"Sorry, Your Grace." Captain Montague said, "Common sense and good manners rarely catch up to Corporal Holland's mouth."

"It is fine, Captain. What Sift has laid out before us is more than enough to capture anyone's attention. Sift? Is the corporal correct?"

"To fully answer I have to establish a context. Many thousands of years ago, humanity was very primitive and did not understand the world around them. Their metaphysical knowledge was almost nonexistent."

Stern's brow furrowed. "What is metaphysics? I've never understood that one."

Dana laughed, "No worries, big guy--nobody understands metaphysics."

Everyone laughed--except Jebidiah. He never understood why people claimed metaphysics was impossible to grasp. He knew from many painful conversations to not rise to the bait.

"Metaphysics is the understanding of reality."

Dana's laughter cut off. "Huh, that almost makes sense."

Sift continued, "They created stories to explain why things happened, forming myths of gods and other beings to fill in the gaps of knowledge. Over time, other storytellers expanded those myths, adding more color or creating new stories for entertainment purposes."

"Wait," Greta sounded concerned. "You mean some of the Ancient's texts are just stories?"

"That is correct."

Jebidiah frowned, wondering if Master Standing had an idea of which of the Ancient texts were fiction.

Sift continued, "When the first transformations happened and humans changed into their different forms, they took on the shapes and mannerisms of the beings from those stories. Doctor Manid speculated that the change reflected some deep-rooted psychological aspect of the individuals involved--that they unknowingly changed into what they had subconsciously decided for themselves."

"Doctor Mand?" Jebidiah asked. "Who is, or was, that?"

"He was the head physician, in charge of researching the changes occurring within the population."

"What did they discover?"

"I was not made aware of any findings. However, I was given a vast library of those fictional works to help in my duties--dealing with incursions from various transformed beings. Their behaviors, strengths, and vulnerabilities often matched what had been written in those stories."

"So there were Bards before the Rendering? Storytellers?" Greta asked excitedly.

"I am not familiar with your current use of the word bard. If you refer to travelling troubadours, poets, lyricists, or simply authors, then yes. There were journalists who reported on newsworthy items, singer-songwriters, mass media playwrights and actors, and authors in different disciplines that distributed work through various media."

"Do you know what Talents are, Sift?" Dana asked.

"A natural aptitude for a specific skill." Sift responded immediately.

"That's a good starting point," Dana replied. "Most women--and a few men--have a natural aptitude for a general... I guess, function? I've never had to explain this before, so I am coming up short." She swiveled in her saddle to those nearest to her for support.

"I think 'role' would be a better word than 'function'." Jebidiah offered.

He turned back to Sift. "Are you familiar with what roles we call Talents? Things like fighter, cleric, mage, artificer?"

"Only in the abstract. I have definitions for those roles. Since my reactivation, I have heard those terms and others used often, so I am working on the assumption that they were career paths assigned to most of the population."

"That's actually an apt description," Jebidiah admitted, somewhat surprised. "We are assigned them by some mechanism. It is often attributed to the Divine, but I have never been fully convinced of that. I was hoping you might have some insight on how the whole Talent system came to be."

He contemplated his answer before continuing, "For some roles, anyone can fill them at a basic level--anyone can be a warrior or rogue, for example. But only those with Talents for those roles can excel at them--gaining additional, often magical, skills. No one can fake being a mage or priest, though--a Talent for manipulating magic is mandatory."

"Unless Duke Valor you be." Mila added with a dramatic flair.

Jebidiah chuckled. "I am not sure what I am, Mila, the Diviners may have been unable to see my Talents or Comlain decided to fuck with everybody else through me. I can't find any records of anyone with my skills."

Sift, however, tilted her head--a decidedly human mannerism Jebidiah noticed she used when deep in thought. "There were no known biological mechanisms in pre-Rendering humans that would indicate a natural system for sorting Talents as you describe. The most plausible explanation is that the Talent system arose as a direct consequence of the transformations that followed the Great Rendering. The same holds true for your Divine."