The Next Game Master Pt. 02

Marshal, the morning after we arrive what will the priorities be? Do not forget to secure our treasure. We should divide out the coins before we get there as a precaution. Give everyone a fair share."

He nodded, "Then we need to look at selling stuff."

He nodded, "Including some of the excess horses; again, wait until we know how many we will be leaving with before selling any horses or gear. They might need something. Make sure they are fed well when we get there as we picked up food from the camps for them.

We got rid of a few but this number is unsustainable for this size of our current group. You need to make some hard decisions before we split the money from what we sell. Like do we need a second wagon or a bigger one? Given what we have been pulling for treasure."

He nodded, "Was thinking a bigger one but that would mean more horses."

Raven nodded, "True but we have extra horses now. That is a decision you should make before we get to town. The rogue, barbarian, cleric and I have to go into town as much as I hate it. The barbarian to see about a bounty for that dragon we took out.

I have that skin to sell at an enchanter's shop or leather smith who does exotics. I could get someone else to sell it so I can avoid the stench. The dwarf will need to pick up brewing materials from the alchemy shop. The barbarian is also the muscle. You or the rogue have the best skills in negotiation the selling of some of this stuff, so you should probably deal with that. Gardner could work on getting a list of supplies together."

Marshal nodded, "I am human depending on the merchant and the sex."

Raven smiled, "Or sexual orientation."

He laughed at that comment. "I will get Gardner started working that list of supplies."

Raven smiled, "Good and I can let you know if you missed anything like feed for the horses. I also wanted to talk about your character. With paladins, I usually like them to go straight. You are not straight."

He laughed at Raven's reference. He continued, "There is a small prestige class only three levels. It adds a level of flavor to your paladin if you want. It is called a Justicar. Another is Noble Scion which has ten levels but you would likely only take the first two. There are a couple of others but what I really need to know is what was your goals with this character? You told me that we are going after a wizard creating abominations. What kind of abominations?"

He looked at me, "Reports are of mutilated animals, undead, and creatures from other planes."

Raven looked at him, "That is not 'A' wizard that is 3 wizards minimum!"

He looked at Raven, "3!?"

Raven nodded, "Necromancy, transmutation, and conjuration schools of magic. Three specialists with apprentices. If they are being effective in a large area it would have to be at least 3. Necromancy for the undead, transmutation for creating abominations, and conjuration to bring in creatures from other planes. We better find another party on this same quest. Maybe two!"

He groaned, "It sounded too easy."

Raven thought, "I hope you are not looking at a raid group."

He heard back, "What is wrong with a raid group?"

He thought and groaned, "If they have experienced players between Shia and me. Nothing. If they all mostly first lifers and a group of total fuck-ups then it will never work."

He heard back, "This group struggled the most. Yes, there are several first lifers in these other parties."

He thought, "Sounds like I need to separate from this party at the next inn."

He heard her respond, "I need you to teach them."

He thought back, "They are all teachable? These people you want to add?"

It was quiet for several moments. He thought back to her, "You are asking for a failed run. They will likely never reach level twenty."

He heard her respond, "What would you do?"

He thought, "You want me to teach a couple of other parties fine. I can teach them between the second and third inn as long as they are teachable. You have to break up the quest objectives of a party of eight to ten can take on each objective maximum."

He heard, "I will consider your input into this."

He thought back to her, "You told me before I could switch out groups later if it was not working out and a raid will not work out."

He heard her groan, "We can talk about this, this evening."

He looked at Marshal, "See what parties are doing what. You may find we have another group headed to the same area for different reasons. They might even be interconnected. We will not know until we try. If you want to focus on one consider celestial knight for the undead.

We are geared for a necromancer with the clerics, two casters, and tanks including a paladin. We need more information on this. I hope we can trim down what we are going after. You got this from your church you should see if the church here has more details."

He nodded, "I will. Before we decide on what to do next. I will consider those options when I level. Thank you for the suggestion."

He nodded, "Can you send Lirana over so I can work with her for a minute."

He nodded and rode off and Lirana rode around behind and then up beside Raven. Raven looked at Flar, "You gotten any new cantrips. Maybe one called 'About Last Night.'"

He thought for a moment, "Never heard of it before but yes. Why do you know about it?"

He smiled, "I requested it. Hell, I created it. Get a goddess to do one night as a human virgin. Then tell her she cannot wish the pain away. She has to heal it like a cleric. Then tell her you did right by her and imagine what it is like for all these fucking virgins coming in every life.

Having to be deflowered over and over again. Then only have a low-level cleric to do the healing. Spending days in an inn healing. I also requested that all children born into this world know the proper way to deflower a virgin. I did 2 last night in the dream state and they are both pregnant.

But it was a demonstration for 30 graduates, 7 males, and 23 females. Every life they will have the memory of that lecture. Sorry, we got sidetracked. Have you thought about your character and where you want to go with it Lirana?"

She shook her head, "My plan is to stay pure barbarian."

He smiled at her, "That was my suggestion for you. Anything that takes away from your power in that class is not worth taking. At least from what I have seen of you playing the role. You are the epitome of barbarians. You kick ass!"

She smiled at him for the first time today. She looked at Raven, "After the first night in the next inn I am going to limit my bed this life to Flar."

He nodded, "I understand your reasoning. I suggest halfling for your next life. You will only get pregnant with another halfling."

She looked at Raven, "How can you bring children into this?"

He sighed, "Compared to polluted water and air. Toxins in the food and nuclear weapons? I have divined some insight that I am not allowed to share. I understand the reasoning behind some of the things in this universe.

I will tell you that our children here are just as real as the children on Earth. We just live in a different culture. Like going from Hong Kong to Boise Idaho. You are experiencing a change in culture. We cannot go back. I am certain of that.

I also know that if you get really good at the game you could be a goddess. Something no man can do. You have an incentive there. Part of that is having children. Imagine being in a city like Chicago with only a dozen people living in it.

The more children we have here, the less they have to go back to Earth to help. Because of what I did to my first world the recruitment from Earth was getting altered. It will strongly curtail them bringing in new players.

But the players will be fully informed of the consequences and have the choice to reject the offer knowing the consequences. This is not from Myssara. This is from the creator of this universe. I call Mother Creator or Mother. She answers every question honestly, even the ones she does not want to answer.

You have to do something extremely over the top for her to take notice of you. Like destroying a world. That had not occurred in over 200 Earth years. Think of God on Earth and how many people have spoken with him? The number is very small. Like one in ten billion. The secret is you look at the challenge. Learn, love, and live."

She sighed, "You have a fair point."

He smiled, "When you see your children in your dreams is that the dream or the reality?"

She looked at Raven and smiled. She chuckled as he continued. "Just change perspective and be a bit happier. If you find that too hard you can stop visiting them. This visiting in dreams is a trial program. If it succeeds with us it will be expanded.

Think of how many other women could be helped. Your pregnancies are shorter, there is no pain, and you are back in fighting form by morning. How many women on Earth would love those benefits? Losing daytime contact with them is a major drawback. But you still have your nights if we can prove the success of this program."

She nodded. "Learn, live and love. You have the opportunity to have hundreds of children and become a Goddess. You got the looks for it already!"

She laughed, "Now you make me sound like EVE."

He laughed, "With thousands of swing cocks ready to fuck you silly."

She laughed even harder, "Thanks for the pep talk. I will stay pure barbarian."

He smiled, "I figured as much. Live like a barbarian female. Fuck as often as you can consequence be damned! They had no birth control. I did warn you about me so once your pregnancy is over you will have to decide what you want to do. The dwarf loves your bed. You know I will fuck any woman who asks. At least so far."

She laughed and rode off.

He slapped the dwarf on the back, "I have no designs on taking her from you Flar. Might I suggest you two-coordinate and she can be halfling rogue and you a big human barbarian and drill her all the time."

He chuckled, "You think we will be together in the next life?"

He shook his head, "Not all of us. I and maybe one or two others from this group. Hard to say but they will break us up into different starting points at least two or three in a group if I had to guess. They will want Marshal leading his own group. The same could be said of Shia and Lirana. That makes you a likely pairing for her."

He nodded, "He has come a long way under you. We all have."

Raven looked at him, "You can only train the willing."

He slapped his back as he jumped down. Flar laughed as Raven caught his foot on the edge and tumbled onto the ground. He looked to him, "That is why tumbling is important."

Flar laughed some more as Raven went and got his horse.

He thought. "Well my love, how did I do?"

She chuckled, "Except for the fall pretty good. You really helped Lirana. She was thinking of falling on her sword. You gave her perspective and a reason to live without making her one of yours. Why did you not pursue her hard? The dwarf?"

He smiled and thought, "All of the other males. If I have every woman in the party that fucks with the dynamics. You told me she would need my comfort but she needed more than that. As to Marshal, I was not wrong about what he described. That is at least three specialists."

She chuckled, "You will have to wait and see what he finds out or wait and see. Why did you decide to question him now and not before?"

He smiled and thought, "I was not out to become the party leader. I was not ready to tip my hand on how much experience I had at that point. I could have also put him off of by seeming like a fucking jerk. Besides, the closer you get to a problem the more information and more accurate the information becomes.

I wanted to get him thinking about it now to give him a couple of days to come to terms with the revelation. Get him thinking about what to do better when asking questions when being given a quest."

She smiled, "Always the teacher."

He smiled and thought, "We need to make another modification to that altar. We need to extend it out five and a half feet and add another set of handles. When one lady is bent over the altar another can slide her cunt up and under your face. I want you to try that out with Lirana."

He heard chuckling, "I like the modifications. They are in place. I have a perfect fuck height for dwarves and halflings now. I cannot wait to try out that barbarian's cunt on my altar. I want you fucking me while I do her."

He chuckled and thought back, "Your ass or cunt?"

She laughed, "Cunt this time love. The new cleric wants to spend some time with you as well. The other ladies and I will be entertained until you finish with her."

He thought and sighed, "Don't make any long-term plans with this cleric. She will not be Kerria and I asked to take it slow."

She sighed, "We are trying to help you."

He thought back, "Lyria thought the same thing. Best to give me free will over the matter. Fuck her. Sure. Long term companion. The jury is still out, but it is highly unlikely as she has multiple past lives like Shia."

He heard her sigh, "We will work to keep her in the dark on certain things then until you decide that aspect. Are we good?"

He chuckled and laughed, "Yes we are, My Love. Did Mother tell you anything?"

She thought back, "Just that you had the keys to the kingdom and you set them on the table and asked for very easy things to get in return. Nothing outlandish. She said she has not figured you out yet."

He smiled to himself and thought, "She is looking too hard for a knife in the back. I understand that. I felt like that with my first goddess here. The fact is I do not want to be her. I would like to help her make this work as she is very powerful.

She may not realize that different men are driven by different things. I had my True Love taken from me. I was told even after I destroyed the world that I would never see her again and then why. I was told I was lesser because I was a male. I had every reason to be trying to find the door out.

Now I am looked at as a Game Master, trainer, mentor, and lover. I have a measure of respect and I am helping to make changes. Men, women, people on Earth, and goddesses. I am as benevolent as you will let me be and as big of a pain in the ass as you force me to be. My anger toward her has subsided. I see both my daughters tonight."

He heard, "What?! She did not tell me that. You get to see her once?!"

He smiled and thought, "Yes love. No designs on taking her only daughter. I will have many children. Especially this first life. I am already starting to think about what to build next. I have been thinking half-elven Blade Bound Magus, or maybe human. Have the black sword already."

She laughed, "We will get to that another time. You have an encounter to look at."

He sighed as his raven came in, "Lots of men on the road. Wagons flipped."

He looked at the bird, "More than 20."

He went to Marshal, "Sounds like we got a blockage ahead. Marshal rode ahead a bit and stops as he got to the next turn in the road. Raven joined him and sighed. The forest fell away to nothing on both sides. A rocky ridge. The ridge had a giant slice out of the middle of the road. The wagons had one flipped and one upright. Raven looked at Marshal, "A fight we cannot avoid."

Marshal looked at me, "How do you know?"

Raven asked him, "Use your heraldry skills."

He rode forward about fifty feet and came back, "The Baron's banner. Not his troops. His."

Raven nodded, "Well leader I would suggest no more than a hundred feet from here. Yell down to them to find out what they want."

Raven moved back and held up his hand to the wagons. Marshal rode forward. Raven rode back as the Wagon Master approached. He looked at Raven and could tell Raven was pissed.

He looked at Shia, "Tie those hides onto the right side of the wagon so they are just above the ground. Same for the bedrolls."

Raven looked at the Wagon Master, "This is not your fight. This one is mine. You have several small barrels of oil in your cargo. How much do they go for?"

He looked at Raven, "How many you want?

Raven looked at him, "How many you got?"

He looked at Raven, "Fifty. What are we facing an army?"

Raven looked at him, "Just about. The Baron and bodyguards. Probably 30 plus men."

Marshal rode back, "They said we give them the half-breed with the sword they might consider letting us live."

Raven looked at the Wagon Master, "How do you feel about adding an extra half-day to your trip?

He looked at Raven, "You got something in mind?"

Raven nodded, "Yes, but it needs to be closer to nightfall. Everything goes well we will be using their camp tonight."

He smiled, "What are you going to do?"

Raven smiled, "Pick a fight."

He chuckled, Raven looked at the wagon, "We have to start unloading it. Just in case, how much for all fifty?"

He looked at me, "200 gold pieces. You going to us all that?"

He shrugged, "We can pay you when we are done for what we use. Deal?"

He chuckled, "This should be entertaining."

Raven nodded, "It will be. Put ten on the wagon for now. Two in here." He held out his bag of holding.

"Do not know how many will make it but to take the advantage away from there ranged fighters and archers we need something closer to dark."

He pulled the top off of the wagon and laid it flat. He grabbed soot from the smoking braziers and a little water. He started making a design on the top. When it was done, the Wagon Master was about ready to piss himself.

Raven looked at Marshall, "Does your heraldry tell you what you need to know Marshal?"

He laughed, "You placed it from the front to the back over the middle. Instead of on the side."

Raven nodded. Marshal smiled, "It means fuck you! What is that smaller symbol below it?"

Raven smiled, "The horse he rode in on. As in fuck you and the horse you rode in on."

He pulled out the sledgehammer and 6 metal spikes.

They rolled the wagon out about 350 feet from the barricade and set it sideways. They spiked in the tarp to the ground, They hung the top half along the top of the wagon as they took the horses away.

He looked at Shia and Lirana. "Place 4 barrels under the wagon. The line of sight is blocked by the skins and the tarp. What we have here is a good old-fashioned ground slingshot. Gardner you are going to pull the canvas back under. Put two barrels in it. We set them side by side. They will roll."

He looked at Shia. "You get to the woods with your bow and dagger. Go into the woods behind us and then make your way around on the far side. Here is my bag of holding with 2 barrels inside in case this does not work you can sneak up when it gets really dark."

She nodded. "Lirana I need you to go out and draw a line across the road about 10 feet from the front of the tarp. Then get back and hand Gardener the other 6 barrel."

He looked at them and Grabbed 2 ropes, "I am going to tie off the ropes on the top of the tarp. Ersa, I want you up in the wagon. One of those barrels explode across a wagon or some asshole picks it up, hit it with snapdragon. After that fire them one at a time at the section they have designed to move. When it gets to the last round cast your second.

She nodded, "Light show!"

He smiled, "Poor man's fireball."

He looked at Shia who nodded and smiled. He got onto the wagon and shouted, "Tell the Baron if he wants this sword all he has to do is come over here and stand on that line. I will gladly shove it up his ASS!"