Invent ~ 4!

Joe entered the city at a light jog, with Captain Cleave easily keeping pace. They had made excellent time, knowing that there was a better chance than not that Havoc had sent his golem to chase him for the entire trip. Joe hadn’t seen it anywhere, but all that had done was ramp up his tension until he was using Omnivault as often as he could; never knowing when a creature may pop out of the ground, or a tree might turn into a whirling dervish of metal. Even now that he was in the city proper, he was still hesitant to slow down… but he needed directions.

He went up to the first resident he could find, and found that General Court-Martial was holding his sessions near the Legionnaire’s main fortress in the city center. Joe loped along the road in the ‘walking’ lane, since people were moving today for some reason. Large numbers of Dwarves and humans were clogging the roads, more than he had ever seen at once outside of troop mobilization.

“The Elves have made a public statement that they will be attacking our forests and delving into our territory!” A town crier was yelling from a flipped-over box. “All people are called by the Oligarchy to volunteer to defend our lands as these dastardly foes invent reasons to slaughter our civilians!”

“Don’t get involved, Joe…” He muttered to himself as he rushed along. “Got plenty to do, too much going on in the first place. No more random wars for this guy, no sir.”

Even at his ‘slow’ pace, he was standing in the administration hall in almost no time flat; making him wonder what higher-tier zones would be like. Did people just teleport wherever they wanted to go? The human approached the Dwarf that was stamping papers as though she had a grudge, her mustache fluttering due to her furious muttering. “Beanpole Elves make an abundance of paperwork. Why can’t they just roll over and get flattened like they should? We all know what the outcome is going to be after they lost their most prominent invasion forces.”

“Pardon me…” Joe struggled to find the proper way to address her, so settled on what he knew from Legion culture, “…Dudette? I’m here to see General Court-Martial.”

“Name, rank, reason for attending.” The Dwarf muttered in the same tone as her complaints, not bothering to look up from the flashing paperwork.

“Joe, Candidate, here to get a proper rank… pretty sure.” He smiled grandly as the Dwarf looked up and let her eyes rove him. She winced, making Joe sigh internally as his smile fell away. His lack of facial hair did him no favors with the ladies. Not really an issue, as he had no romantic interest in Dwarves even slightly, but the flinching was starting to get to him.

“Take a seat if you need to, else you can stand there while he’s informed.” She looked down once more, the muttering continuing. “Not sure why you needed to attend a basic rank advancement. This is all calculated before you ever even get here, so it should at least be quick once they’re ready for you.”

“Thanks, that’s good to know.” Joe let out a sigh of relief at hearing that information. “I really had no idea what to expect when coming here, and I’ve had… issues with authority in the past. They tend to get, I don’t know, nervous? Who knows? Seriously, I’d love to just vanish for a while and make neat things.”

“Yeah, no joke he might get vanished.” The muttering was slightly more stress-inducing this time. It appeared as though the Dwarf didn’t realize that Joe could hear her. “Happens every once in a while, when you kill enough people on your own side.”

Unsure of how to respond to that, Joe went over and sat on one of the most uncomfortable chairs he had ever had the misfortune of resting upon. From what he had gleaned from Jaxon, this chair would be a welcome addition in any Wolfman’s den. After the first bruise, he reactivated his Exquisite Shell—as it needed to be off when he entered the city, else he’d be arrested—and floated an eighth of an inch above the chair’s metal surface. A moment later he activated Neutrality Aura and Retaliation of Shadows as well. Being clean and presentable was never a bad thing, and the shadows would help if he were getting ‘vanished’.

An hour passed, then two, and Joe began to get antsy. Just as the third hour rolled over and he was getting ready to leave and come back another time, two Legionnaires stepped through the doorway, locked eyes on him, and motioned for Joe to follow.

The higher-ranked of the two spoke, “Candidate, usually this process is a simple and easy transition. As a courtesy for what you have accomplished, I am allowed to explain to you that there are a few problems with your promotion. Not only are you the first human to get to this point, but you caused enough damage that there are many opposing your advancement. This simple trial has been pushed up to a full tribunal.”

“I’m guessing that’s not a good thing.” Joe sighed as they closed in on a set of double doors with dozens of shouting voices pouring through the slight opening.

“Dude.” The Dwarf on his left grabbed Joe’s shoulder roughly enough to get a shadowy slap to the face. “Heh, that never gets old. Don’t know if you recognize me, I was in the Shoe with you. You’re the only reason we got outta there, so I wanted you to know I’m pullin’ for ya. Good luck.”

Joe was touched by the sentiment. The next moment, he was shoved through the doors by the first of the guards. He managed to catch himself and walk through the boundary to the next room under his own power, even if his steps were a little… springy. The Reductionist looked around, surprised by the normality of the place. When he heard ‘tribunal’, he was expecting to be looking up at Dwarves behind a table, standing in judgment of him.

This place looked more like a simple room with a table designed for staff meetings, and there was even a seat for him. All the Dwarves stood and went silent as Joe walked into the room, none moving -though some were openly glaring—until Joe was also standing by his assigned chair. Only then did one of them clear their throat and announce, “With the Candidate present, we can begin. All remain standing for General Court-Martial, the final voice on any subject relating to the Oligarch's Code of Military Justice!”

A door opposite to the one Joe had entered was slammed open, and a Dwarf whom Joe could only describe as a Dwarven silver fox stepped into the area. His stern face was lined with age and experience, his every movement was clearly practiced and graceful, and his voice was smooth when he spoke.

“Thank you all for attending this absolute farce.”

Joe blinked at the opening statement. That had not been what he had been expecting to hear. The silver-bearded General pulled out his own chair and sat down, followed by everyone else.

There were more than a few furious glares being directed at General Court-Martial, but he ignored them and began lying out the issues they were there to discuss. “The fact that this has risen to a level where I must get directly involved is a mark against our people, the military process, and the OCMJ. I have very little patience for this foolishness. By all accounts that matter, the Candidate has done an excellent job, and I am confirming his position as a Major General right now. This remainder of this tribunal is now officially to determine additional rewards. If there are those among you that have something to say, for or against, it will all be taken into account.”

A massive smile uncontrollably washed over Joe’s face. He had been expecting his success to be downplayed and to miss out on cool rewards. The fact that he was guaranteed his position allowed a wash of relief to flow through him. It had been a… hard few months. He had desperately needed a win.

Other people were less than happy.

“Hold on! I have a list of grievances against this Candidate!” One jowly Dwarf slapped a large scroll of parchment on the table and began listing off all of the trouble Joe had caused, from killing a swath of the Legion, all the way down to demanding the attention of Grandmaster McPoundy—and getting it multiple times—in a public setting.

“I also have my concerns!” Another Dwarf, this one in unadorned armor began listing other, tiny things the first had missed.

Nearly forty minutes had passed before these two ran out of things to complain about, and General Court-Martial started moving for the first time since the rant began: he was nodding along with them. “I see. I shall rebut these issues myself, and without need for additional testimony. But first, a fine of one hundred reputation with the Dwarven Oligarchy for you, Major, as well as five days of extra duty.”

“What! How dare-” The jowly Dwarf swallowed back his bellow as he rose from his seat and remembered who he was speaking with. “On what grounds, sir?”

“For ignoring rank and intentionally belittling a superior officer.” General Court-Martial’s words were calm, but the steel in them could have been forged into an entire set of matching swords. “I just confirmed his rank as Major-General, and you called him a ‘Candidate’. Even spitting in my conference room as you did so. Such disregard for rank is a terrible precedent, and the insult to myself cannot be ignored.”

The Major sat down, his face twitching. General Court-Martial looked around the room, then knocked on the table once. “Send in Major Infraction, General Information, and High Priestess Dawnesha. Major-General, these three have asked to speak during this tribunal.”

Joe, in a daze, nodded at the odd confirmation. “Should I-”

“You have no speaking lines in this play group, Sir.” General Court-Martial informed him respectfully. As the three people walked into the room, only General Information was staring at Joe maliciously. “The three of you have requested to speak. Please feel free to explain your interactions with the newly advanced Major-General.”

The announcement of Joe’s rank made General Information’s stare wither slightly, and his eye twitched as he rapidly worked thought of how to reword his forthcoming comments to be respectful and succinct concerns. He didn’t get much time to plan, as he was called on first due to his rank in the Legion. General Court-Martial stared him down, “You first, General. Your thoughts on the matter at hand?”

“All I can say, due to apparently changing circumstances,” the General ground out through gritted teeth, “is that when the person on trial was at the Candidate rank, he held zero respect for military authority. He intentionally harmed his people, and let anywhere from dozens, to hundreds, die even at his own hand to secure small victories.”

“I see.” General Court-Martial nodded at this information, making notes on a pad of paper. “In order for this to be held against him, I must confirm a few facts. After these deaths, the Major-General then abused his authority as a Candidate, and made the Commissioned Officers in the area pay the resurrection costs. Further, his actions did not aid in the overall victory, simply small personal successes for personal honor and gain?”

General Information’s teeth ground against each other hard enough that Joe was almost certain he would need to find a specialized healer sometime in the near future. “He did contribute to the overall victory. He did resurrect the Dwarves that died to his actions.”

“Understood. His actions then were only somewhat helpful, and he resurrected only the Dwarves that were directly slain by his actions.” This time the Major-General didn’t write, instead waiting for more from Information.

“That’s… he…” General Information went silent, his hands clenching and unclenching along with the rhythm of his heartbeat. “I have no more to say on this matter.”

“How very interesting that you would leave off at that point, without clarifying the data. I’ll need to ensure that your reports for the last few years are audited for authenticity after this. It seems you are willing to damage reputations, but not build up the people around you. I’ll make a note to look into the people that have been requesting promotions, and those that have received them. You are ordered to remain here on the premises until this investigation has been thoroughly carried out. Major Infraction, your thoughts, if you so please.”

The room was so silent that Joe could hear his pulse racing in wild exultation. Just as the silence was going from shocked to oppressive, Major Infraction coughed and began speaking on how Joe had pulled off an overly complex spell, going on to explain how even though this action had caused death, it had saved likely the entire deployed Legion from falling to illusions and trickery. She then gave a thorough accounting on how Joe had saved the Legion and brought back all the Dwarves that had fallen through the entire area, as well as pulling all the fallen Elves to their side as newly-recruited Dwarves… all out of his personal war spoils.

Princess Dawnesha stepped up next, not waiting to hear orders or commands. The high-ranked people in the room all stood and bowed as she did so, making Joe feel the need to reassess her importance to the Dwarven people.

After she explained Joe’s actions in bringing the deities to step in on their side, and how thousands of previously unfit-for-duty Dwarves now had productive roles in the military and society thanks to their new classes, she stated something that shook the group at large. “Finally, not only am I recommending the highest rewards for Joe, I have put forward my personal sponsorship for him as a Noble Candidate based on his contribution to the Oligarchy, and have already filed the necessary paperwork with the Oligarchs.”

The gasping around the room, and the reddening faces of his detractors, clued Joe in that this was something… wildly out of the norm. General Court-Martial took it in stride, “Princess, though he has done well militarily, what you are proposing is outside of my power to grant. As of this moment, he already outranks me. I-”

“He is already gaining the Shoe to be turned into a fortress, yes?” The Princess interrupted without hesitation. “On my authority, assign him the most stringent of Noble assessors to gauge his prowess, and allow him to turn the enclosed cavern into a settlement instead of a fortress.”

There was a long moment of strained silence, then General Court-Martial shrugged, once more standing and bowing with the rest of the room as she retook her place in the line. “As you wish. This will impact the further rewards he is allowed, as there are rules on what the military can offer any individual Noble.”

“I trust that he would rather have long term success over a short-term influx.” She turned her eyes on Joe, and widened them fractionally. “Right, Major-General?”

“Honestly? I’m kinda hoping for a big ol’ payday.” Joe looked on at the group with a weak smile, The room went totally still as General Information gained an excited, hungry expression, and the Princess glared at him. Joe let out a tired sigh. “No, no. I’m joking. Cultural differences, my apologies. That sounds amazing.”

There was a low rumble from the assembled Dwarves, and General Court-Martial began speaking before anyone else could take the floor. “Good. Very good. With all this new information, Joe… I shall hereby officially confirm your rank and title. Welcome once more to the Legion, Major-General Pyrrhic, Noble Candidate for Baron.”

Each of the assembled people, no matter if they had been against him to this point, stood and clapped loudly. Joe heard a notification but ignored it in favor of listening to the people speaking.

“As an additional reward for your service and merits, you will be granted five thousand reputation with the Dwarven Oligarchy, as well as ten Rare, fifteen Uncommon, and twenty Common Cores. The Legion hopes that you will continue to use your talents for the betterment of Svaltarheim, and the Dwarven Oligarchy.” The General motioned Joe forward as a few of the people around the room stopped clapping and began choking on their attempted words, Joe simply saluted and stood forward. He was handed a box, then the General leaned forward and whispered, “Run back to your town and stay away from the gossip mills for a few weeks. Public opinion’s gonna be rough on you.”

Joe stood tall, saluted, and practically skipped out of the room; missing the moment where Captain Cleave—his guard and chaperone—was pulled aside by General Court-Martial.