After meeting everybody and spending a few moments in thought, you begin to delegate tasks. Ivar is tasked with getting the other two ships fixed, and Mimir is assigned to aid him in that quest. Likewise the job of rounding up more support for Midguard is to be shared between Serpentina and Vladimir.
You then plop down on The Admiral's Chair (which would have been a throne had you been ruling from
The Breslau), and make your first decree, delegating all justice against members of the Witch King's regime to The Knights of the Void. Lil'Giaus and Serpentina are clearly happy with the decision, and you can tell by the look on his face that Odinson isn't thrilled, but aside from that the room is tough to read.
---
You spend most of the first few weeks of your reign training in Melee combat. You wake up early (or rather just before the Lindbergh's main shift wakes up, time of day is rather fluid in space) and spar with Serpentina... Spar may not be the best word here. Get beat up by Serpentina. She has been your better in Soul Sword combat since the three of you ignited blades for the first time, and that was before she grew huge and got a prosthetic eye that allowed her to anticipate your moves. Nowadays you count a spar as a win if you can make Serpentina take a single step back at any point during the match, and even that is a rare occurrence.
More often than not, you have to follow-up your sessions with Serpentina with a trip to the medical bay; Your friend's combat style involves throwing alot of knees and elbows, and knees and elbows cannot be set to stun. You usually have some nasty cuts and bruises, and sometimes even sprains and fractures, for the bio-engineers to patch up.
If they patch you up quick enough, you can enjoy a quick meal with Serpentina before she hops in her Hammership and flies down to the surface of Muspelheim to beg the local nobility for men and supplies. During these meals, your friend often complains about the difficulty of her task. The Nobles of Muspelheim do not like her. She figures some want her dead. This she can deal with, but the real problem is the competition. Apparently a group of rich young Muspelheim noblemen have somehow managed to gather up a large fleet of Hammerships and Longboats, during wartime no less, and are planning a massive raid of some secret off-system location. Many people who would otherwise help with Midguard have already committed their forces to the raid in exchange for a share of the profit. Serpentina informs you that Vladimir has had a bit more luck courting the lords of Nidavellir, but even his success has been limited. He hasn't been sharing details with her, but the Queen Sister wonders if King Alexander is hindering the Lord Admiral's efforts on his planet.
After your first meal, you spend a long shift drilling alongside the security forces of
the Lindbergh in hopes of better learning to use the Gravity Axe. Gravity Axes are the main weapon used by the soldiers of most human wars, and present a nightmare matchup for Soul Sword users; The head of a gravity axe will break if parried by ignited soul metal, but not before sending its deadly shockwave through the blade and into the poor void knight's body, shattering their arms and ribs, and likely collapsing their lungs. The only safe way to parry a Gravity Axe is with either an energy shield or another Gravity Axe. Since you figure you could well end up facing Axe users in combat, and there is no energy shield tutor present, you will learn to use the Gravity Axe yourself. You find that there is a good deal of crossover in technique between the two weapons, and after only a few days drilling with the enlisted men you are nearly their equal.
After drills, you typically enjoy another small meal with the soldiers you have drilled with, often sharing in their somewhat disgusting ration packs as a sign of solidarity.
"I grew up on rice gruel at the Void Temple of Undine," you tell them,
"I'm not yet used to the fancy stuff they feed Kings." The soldiers come to love you for spending time with them, and affectionately begin calling you "The Rice King".
By the time you are done with the soldiers, Lil'Giaus is awake. Your master has already taken on a half dozen students, children of the noble houses of
the Lindbergh with hopes of one day joining your order. Before Lil'Giaus offers you any instruction, he has you spend about two hours each day helping him with the children, one of whom turns out to be the bastard of Lord Admiral Odinson's youngest son. It is through this child, named Loki-Peter, that you get the in you are looking for with Odinson and his family. You offer the child some private lessons, and your father's old friend invites you into his home to administer them.
It is after one of these lessons that you finally work up the courage to confront your uncle.
"You know, I don't blame the Seljuk twins for what their father did to my mother.""Your mother AND you, child." The Lord Admiral corrects.
"I was two days old when the illness set in, and I made a full recovery. I don't remember any of it. He didn't do anything of significance to me. You can't even prove that he cursed the pregnancy." You protest.
"He said the pregnancy was cursed. Queens do not die in childbirth under the care of the King's best bio-engineer. Infants do not randomly develop diseases from before the days of Odin in the nursery. It was his fault. It was all his fault. Your queen mother was my sister-in-law, and one of my best friends. I cannot forgive what was done to her.""And Fenrir and Serpentina are my best friends. Hell, they are basically my family! ...I didn't get to know my family growing up. I don't think I could forgive anything done to them. They face no danger from you, right?"Odinson laughs.
"Ha! Do I look dumb enough to assassinate my King's friends? No. If I were younger, and the mutilated cunt wasn't so terrifying, I might slaughter them in honorable duels, but nah. Its your aunt Asla you have to worry about. I would have dropped the matter of killing the twins years ago if she hadn't been so insistent about it, gods know I'd drive a deeper wedge between your father and myself each time she made me bring it up.""How worried about her should I be?""Pretty worried." He admits,
"She told me in bed the other night that she doesn't fear you in the slightest. She knows you cannot act against her without alienating the deep houses.""Do you think me talking to her would help?"Your uncle pauses to consider your question.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt... We are taking a family trip out to civilized space in about a week to catch Spike's latest film premier. You can tag along for that if you wish, or if you'd rather something more intimate, I can just host you for dinner sometime. Hell, I could suck it up and invite the ugly bitch too if you want, just cannot promise your aunt wont poison her food."---
The mood on the bridge is grim today. The engineers have finished their assessment of the
Breslau, and found the damage to be worse than anticipated. To restore your flagship to its former glory, they will have to land it on the planet.
The Breslau is 84 miles long, and 14 across at its widest point. Landing it will be no trivial matter. People, both commoner and noble, will be displaced from their homes. When you express concern, Ivar tells you that he and Mimir have the situation under control, and that you need not worry about it.
First Officer Kay is expecially glum. She had managed to work herself into the position of running the day to day affairs of Muspelheim, as you had not specifically delegated anybody to that task, and now she is powerless to stop the Landing of the Breslau from turning planet politics on their head.
---
After wrapping up your training one evening, Lil'Giaus puts his hand on your shoulder and offers you an opportunity.
"I'm taking Serpentina down to the Fire Temple tomorrow. I have a bet with Paladin Ragnar that my best student can beat his best student. You are welcome to tag along if you wish, I'm sure we can find somebody eager for the chance to spar with the System King. Otherwise you can run lessons for the children in my absence."You sigh. You had actually had plans for tomorrow. The division of soldiers you drill with is getting a day of leave, and are heading out for a day at the Hammerfair. There is going to be a big multi-man melee, with a brand new hammership offered as first prize. You don't need the prize, you already have one of the best hammerships in the system, and don't think you could even win the whole thing anyway, but the brawl would be good experience, and you enjoy spending time with the soldiers. Furthermore, you figure your troops will adore you even more if you can use your status as System King to get them into one of the Hammerfair balls after the fight.
Now you will have to decide if it is more important to please your men or to please your master.
Suggestions are now open. You are not limited to picking from a list. Your focuses merely direct the events and opportunities you are presented with.List of Focuses and Court Members. You may not change Focuses at this time, but you may re-assign and re-delegate Primary and Optional focuses.Court:
Lord Admiral Ivar of the Lindbergh - Unknown Strengths, Unknown Loyalty
Lindbergh Wing Lead Karen of Treeport - Hammership Pilot and Commander of Unknown Skill Level, Unknown Loyalty
Lindbergh Chief Engineer Mimir - Engineer of Unknown Skill Level, Unknown Loyalty
Lindbergh First Officer Kay of New Oslo - Unknown Strengths, Unknown Loyalty
Lord Admiral Vladimir of The Hindenburg - Naval Commander of at least competent Skill Level, Unknown Loyalty
Breslau First Officer Odinson of Odinson - Unknown Strengths, Unknown Loyalty, !!Known to want Serpentina Dead!!
Queen Sister Serpentina of Midguard - Great fighter and intimidating presence. Deeply Loyal.
Lil'Giaus - Great fighter, solid teacher, solid political presence. Deeply Loyal.
Primary Focuses: The Unavoidable Affairs of State. Somebody from your court will step up to fill these roles one way or another.
Capital Ship Repair - (Lord Admiral Ivar + Chief Engineer Mimir) It will take a good deal effort to gather all the parts needed to fully repair the Hindenburg and Breslau.
Support Midguard - (Queen Sister Serpentina + Lord Admiral Vladimir) King Fenrir will likely need a good deal of outside manpower and resources to gain full control of his planet.
Run Muspelheim - (First Officer Kay) Somebody needs to make the final decisions regarding the day to day affairs of your home planet.
Optional Focuses: You can tackle these matters yourself, delegate them to a member of your court, or ignore them completely. The choice is yours.
Secure Alliance with the Wraith Rings - Plan a wedding to Av'ivqix, and negotiate exact terms of an alliance with her father.
Woo Nidavellir - King Alexander is your vassal, but it may be prudent to take some steps to ensure he will not turn on you as soon as his ships are ready.
Reform Feudal System of Muspelheim - Before the war, your father tinkered with the high houses of his world in hopes of improving the economy, earning enemies in the process. Pick up where he left off if you dare.
Personal Focuses: These things will not get done unless you do them yourself.
Train Hammership Combat - You are great, you could become legendary.
Train Melee Combat - You are good, you could become great.
Train Naval Command - You are good, you could become great.
Train Ground Command - You are good, you could become great.
Study Knightly Mysteries - Attempt to learn various magics.
Partake in Knightly Quests - You could earn some renown conducting business for your order around your system.
Carrousing - Attend feasts and parties in attempt to make new friends across the galaxy. Best way to find new marriage prospects.
Befriend (Odinson) - Pick an NPC who is in your court or otherwise avaible to you. Spend some time earning their trust and learning their strengths and weaknesses.
Research - Ask one or several questions about the universe you inhabit, and seek out the answer.
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Topic: (SG) System King of Yggdrasil (Read 3299 times)