Thereafter Chapter 12: Compromises
The Exalted Heroes negotiate with Eltern, who tells them of a very dangerous individual.
It wasn’t the same Eltern that entered the Exalted Room that had a mere day earlier. He hadn’t changed in any way the eye could detect, but still, his entire presence was markedly different. The transcendent arcanist from before was gone, his vague but omnipresent authority had faded, been rendered as impotent as it was immaterial by the grind of reality. In a way, Michael couldn’t help but pity him. Sure, the announcement had been an unforced error with how under-planned and rushed it was, but was it not natural to want to show results? After potential weeks of putting out fires and spinning plates to make sure you and everyone you know don’t die in a number of ignoble ways, was it not very human to want something to go right? An unambiguous W to show that yes, you are stressed, but your efforts are leading somewhere. You have a plan. You got this.
“I hope I am not disturbing, Exalted?” Eltern spoke like a humbler man, but there just was no shaking the sonorous power of his voice. A lion was still a lion without its claws, after all.
“Oh, not at all Eltern, we were hoping to talk to you today, actually.” Michael looked up from the book he had been reading. It hadn’t been a particularly good book, a bodice ripper prominently featuring lizardfolk. It was probably written by lizardfolk but it wasn’t easy to be sure about these things.
“We’ve got some notes,” Lex said as they scurried down from the hiding place on top of the bookshelf where they had been engrossed in some arcane tome or other. They had pitched it as needing a place to sit in peace, but Michael was pretty sure it was just an excuse for Alicia to lift them again. No judgment from Michael of course, when one is attracted to women who look like they could bench you, having one hoist you ought to be at least part of your agenda.
Alicia watched Lex’ descent, looking, at least to Michael, like she was processing the same row of thoughts that he was, or at least some very similar thoughts a few steps to the left.
Felipe, for his part, perched on the back of a chair, his feet planted solidly on the seat. It looked like he wasn’t paying attention as much as he was brooding. He was whittling something or other out of wood, but Michael found himself pretty sure Felipe was actively, if covertly, listening.
“It’s not, uh, we’re not going to tell you how to do your job or anything,” Michael continued on Lex’s lead. “We just have some thoughts about what our role in all of this is going to be.” Michael motioned as to indicate “This whole Thereafter business.”
“That is fair,” Eltern said as he sat down in the chair opposite of the couch. He placed a bowl of green grapes on the table, it read as something much more than a snack for the meeting. It was a peace offering. “You have a right to be part of that conversation.”
“That’s what we thought too,” Michael said as he leaned forward to pluck a grape and pop it in his mouth, only remembering Lex’ talk about eating eyeballs when it was too late to stop himself. He needn’t, as it turned out, have worried. The flavor of the grape was definitely off, but in a rather pleasant direction, like whoever had conjured up these grapes had imagined grapes to be sweeter than they are, and as such had conjured grapes with a higher fructose content.
“I recognize that the announcement was poorly planned.” Eltern said, as if to pre-empt a criticism he was expecting.
“A few more rounds of laying out the practical stuff might’ve helped,” Michael conceded, “but we’re more concerned about the presentation. The… semiotics, I suppose, of the situation.”
“How so?”
Michael hesitated. The words Lex had used in their estimation of the process was “fashy display of strength bullshit,” and while he could find little flaw in that, it wasn’t exactly the most diplomatic phrasing available, and neither was Felipe’s “politician dick-waggling.” Alicia’s suggestion of “messianic deluded self-aggrandizement” was a touch kinder, but not much.
“You went out there trying to look like you had a solution,” Michael said at last. “You don’t have one. We don’t have one. It could very well be no-one will have one, because clusterfucks like this doesn’t have simple solutions.”
Eltern took that idea in, let it simmer a little bit. Michael wasn’t going to let him take the helm of the conversation, though.
“That’s not to say we’re giving up of course,” Michael continued. “We want to help, we’re all in agreement about that,” he motioned to the Exalted’s side of the table. “So we’re not going for a solution. We are going for solutions.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re going to be Exalted Heroes, sure, but we’re going to be helping where the help’s needed. We’re going to help you figure out the magic situation, which Lex here tells me is pretty complicated, we’re going to help you figure out farming, we’re going to help you scavenge, and anything else we can help with.”
“Basically we are done being mascots,” Lex added. “Figureheads, whatever.”
“We didn’t drag you across the void between worlds for you to be laborers…” Eltern protested.
“True,” Michael conceded with a nod that said the “no, but” part pretty clearly. “You called upon us to be heroes. Securing the food supply would be a very heroic task if you ask me.”
Eltern shook his head, there was resistance there that made Michael wonder if there was more going on than he was privy to. This, of course, was always possible, and so Michael found it best to assume what he thought was going on was indeed what was going on and not get lost in his own paranoia.
“Listen,” Michael started
“It’s too dangerous,” Eltern’s voice was rushed, like his words weren’t spoken as much as they escaped.
“We’re not entirely unfamiliar with danger,” Michael said. “The Lightlord didn’t go down without a fight, and neither did the Dragon Thane after what I hear,”
Alicia didn’t quite grunt in assent, but there was a throaty quality to the sound that Michael assumed was from the Steppelands.
“This talk of danger does, however, bring us to our next point. We’re not going into this looking for a fight, but we have a history with righteous violence, and so we can’t guarantee we won’t be called on to do that again.”
“Where are you going with this?” Eltern looked at Michael like he was trying to puzzle out some hitherto hidden riddle in his features.
“We’re going to have a place to get back into the swing of things. A training room of some kind, some sparring dummies, that kind of thing. Nothing huge, we just need to prepare for less than great outcomes.”
Eltern scooted back on the couch that previously had supported the Exalted heroes all bundled up in various states of undress. Michael hadn’t necessarily chosen to avoid the couch out of any conscious reason, it was just kind of weird to think about. He was still sour about not remembering much. The relinquishing of control that came with being blackout drunk wasn’t fun, even though it evidently had gotten him into a pretty sweet position, so to speak. There was no denying it to Michael, Alicia and Felipe were both solidly out of his league. They were more successful at their craft, hell, they had a craft, and their dedication to physical fitness sure had left them looking quite alright. Then there was Lex of course. Strange, clever, little Lex. More than a match for him in the brain department, and in much the same way as with a honey badger or wolverine, the fact that he was considerably bigger than them physically felt like it wouldn’t count for much. Sure he could bundle Lex up and throw them, but there was every possibility they’d enjoy that just fine.
“You seem hesitant,” Michael found himself saying, snapping his mind away from the thought spiral.
“And you, Exalted, seem eager.” The reply wasn’t quite a rebuke, but it certainly had the slight sting of an observation hitting entirely too close to home. “Now make no mistake, I am glad our goals are in alignment, but I hope you understand that letting you go wherever you want in the city is a solution I find myself hesitant to approve of.”
“How so?”
Eltern sighed, the deep sigh of a tired man.
“The situation in Thereafter is a bit more complicated than I have let on. It is time, I suppose, to lay some cards on the table.”
A bead of sweat had formed on Eltern’s bald head. It wasn’t a huge dramatic thing, but Michael couldn’t help but see it as some sign of the strain the magus was under. As if he was feeling the same, Eltern wiped his head with his hand.
“As I said, I may have simplified things a bit with regards to the political situation here in Thereafter,” Eltern said. “I’m not even sure if “political situation” is the right phrase to use, we’re in quite a unique bind, you see.”
“The end of the world will do that to you,” Alicia opined, a point Eltern conceded with a tip of the hand.
“While I say The Council rule over this city, this ever-growing refugee camp really, I’m not so sure that is technically correct.”
“You live in the biggest dumbest house and you tell people what to do, that does sound like you’re ruling it to me,” Lex said as they absent-mindedly tossed a particularly brave empedocling into the air and caught it. Eltern smiled silently at this, but otherwise did not acknowledge the comment.
“We organize the scavenging efforts, administrate resources as best we can, try to stop people from hoarding or fighting over resources but we don’t have any authority per se.”
“Go on,” Michael said.
“We collect no taxes, employ no military, no police or guard, hell, we technically don’t even pay the people who help us running the ledgers. It’s a volunteer position.”
“That does sound pretty sweet if you ask me,” Lex interjected.
“Sweet until the sour comes along, perhaps,” Eltern said. There was a clear chiding tone in his words that Lex either did not hear or chose to not honor. On the top of the bookcase behind them, the Empedoclings tried with little luck to slide the book Lex had left there off the edge. “The fact of the matter is that we’re very dependent on the ongoing consent of the people in this city. All leaders are on some level I suppose, but for us it’s down to the fine details. We can’t arrest people who do wrong, as I said we have no constabulary. We can chide or even banish a troublemaker, but only if they have no supporters. The moment someone speaks up for a rogue element our ability to in any way deal with them shrinks to damn near zero.”
“And now you have an interloper with some clout…” Michael said, he was pretty sure he knew who the interloper was, even.
“Now we have an interloper with some clout,” Eltern said as way of confirmation, looking every bit as tired as Michael had ever seen him. “You’ve met him in fact, Nih’Ka is a person of low morals and some persuasion.” Michael nodded. There was the painful abscess in the center of this whole situation. “If we had laws here in Thereafter he’d be a crime boss of sorts,” Eltern said with a shrug. “But as things are he’s a... problem, I suppose.”
“So what’s his grift?” Alicia asked.
“Anything he can get his paws into I believe,” Eltern said. “It started as a racketeering ring back in the early days. Nih-Ka got a bunch of former city guards and low-prestige adventurers on his side and started selling “protection,” mostly against him and his boys, of course. It worked though, so he started stockpiling the supplies he took as payment and pulling in bigger and more accomplished bullies to his side. Not everyone who survived the Calamity deserved it, I suppose.”
“Ok, so he’s doing the Mafia thing,” Michael said, trying to piece together a puzzle that he was starting to suspect was incomplete. “Surely it’d be easy to get the city on your side to oust him?”
“Oh, were it that easy,” Eltern shook his head. “You see, Nih-Ka ran into a problem we ourselves are struggling with. Perishability. Doesn’t matter if you take home half of all the resources scavenged if most of them rot before you get around to using them, and it’s not like he could sell the darn things. No established currency in the city, even unofficially.”
“I suppose that’s a mercy. So what’d he do with it? Barter for other goods?”
“Worse, he started trading it for goodwill and support.”
“Huh, so he… gave it back?” Michael briefly felt stupid. This, he thought, had to be a self-correcting problem.
“Oh, nothing so altruistic I assure you. Usually it’s trading food and other perishable supplies for favors. Fresh fruit, vegetables, or even sweets they say. The favors aren't big at first, maybe mentioning Nih’Ka and his protection service to some of your people, maybe not telling the Council about things you may or may not have witnesses one of his boys doing, that kind of thing. It often escalates from what we’ve heard, but it’s hard to get any details about the inner workings of his organization.”
“I suppose people aren’t keen on ratting out the person who keeps them fed…”
“We keep everyone fed,” Eltern insisted. “We, the Council. It’s not the best food and it’s seldom varied, but nobody goes hungry in thereafter on the Council's watch. Nobody!”
“Food’s more than sustenance bro,” Felipe said, looking up from his whittling like he hadn’t been listening this entire time. It was pageantry, but Michael had to admit it was well done. “The wallpaper paste and meat sticks breakfast kept me from starving but after a month of it I would sell Saint Mary herself to the Devil’s granduncle for… like a burrito or something.”
“You are way underselling the breakfast we had today, Felipe,” Alicia said, “but you’re not wrong.”
“I’m sure a more varied pantry can be arranged for you Exalted,” Eltern said.
“Our pantry isn’t the problem,” Michael found himself saying. “And while he is a bit of an asshole about it I agree with Alicia. Felipe isn’t wrong.”
“Oh, so we’re going to let Nih’Ka off the hook then, is it?” Eltern said, his voice taking on a sharper tone. “Continue to exhaust goodwill and the consent of the people to keep people alive and let that scoundrel recruit the best and brightest with his little treats?”
“No, no, of course not,” Michael said. “But we won’t get any sort of leverage on him if we assume it’s all frailty or entitlement as the source of his power. Variation and the occasional treat is a human need, and I think his understanding of that’s what helps him stay untouchable to you.”
Alicia’s hand shot out to catch something, after the motion was complete, Michael saw it was the book that the Empedoclings, somehow, had gotten over the edge. He wasn’t sure if Alicia had seen the falling book coming, or if she simply had fast enough reflexes to react to it falling. Either way he was impressed.
Eltern closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Very well,” he said. “The council will consider ways of providing more varied rations. We’ll attempt to frame it as an initiative by the Exalted, that should buy this entire endeavor some goodwill.”
“Might work,” Michael said. “And you agree to provide us a place to train and some new equipment so we won’t make fools of ourselves?”
“As soon as some can be arranged,”
“Good. One more thing though,” Michael rubbed his jaw, as if this thought just occurred to him. “If you know of any woodworkers in the city, I am currently looking for a cane.”
Author’s note: I had a curiously hard time writing this chapter. Turns out writing the Tough But Necessary Conversation isn’t much easier than having it yourself. Still, you can’t have your pudding if you haven’t had your meat, and so we keep on exploring the political and practical challenges of this strange city. In the next couple of chapters we’ll be seeing some new places and, perhaps, some new faces as well. Very exciting times.
-VSD-