Before we begin, I wanted to extend a huge thank you to all of you who've taken the time to read my stories and offer encouragement, support and feedback! Particularly Jaime Metcalf, Shane Freshwater, Walt Burrell, Soulreclaimer, the Starforged Fan Page on Facebook, the Ironsworn Discord, Matt Risby from The Bad Spot, Steve Morrison (Silverquill) from the Errant Adventures podcast, and especially artist Joshua Meehan and author Shawn Tomkin for bringing us this fantastic game and universe in which to share our tales!
And now, back to our story...
The Diary of Kain - Chapter Ten
They had threatened to rob me. Then they threatened to kill me. Then they lied to me. Then they lied to me again. Then they threatened to kill me again. Then they actually struck me. Then they drugged me at gunpoint...
And now they were begging me to help them? I was torn between suggesting that Whiz perform an anatomical impossibility and going back home, or hearing her out because I'd come all this way and endured so much already. Since I needed something from her as well, I opted for the latter.
"Walk with me," Whiz said. She led me through the base that had once been a ship, past squalid crew quarters, where a dozen people would bunk in one room; past filthy, quiet forms who huddled together on bare floors, and finally to a room that had clearly once been an observation deck. Vast transpex windows showed the massive curve of Nimbus, high above. But what was in the room was of greater interest.
Tray upon tray of plants floated in nutrient solution, under banks of grow lights. I grew up on a farm, and even in space, I knew a farm when I saw one. "How many people does this feed?" I asked her.
"About twenty people," she answered. Between the corsair crews that brought me here, the guards, her lieutenants and herself, that was about half that number. Then there were the people I had just seen... and surely there were other ships operating in the system. She could see the realization dawning.
"Our standing crew for the base and our ships is usually between 20 to 24 people. Then we have the transient population while we try to relocate them somewhere safe," she explained, "so this farm alone has never been enough to sustain us all. We rely on plunder to survive."
All of this time, I had been imagining Nyx as some sinister pirate base, and now I realized... it was a waystation for people who could not live safely in the orderly, structured society that the Covenant imposed. People... like me. "This is a... refugee camp?" I asked her.
"In not so many words, Hellion, yes it is. They have nowhere else to turn. The so-called 'civilized' worlds require conformity, and the vaunted 'justice' of the Covenant has no room for notions like compassion or leniency. The uncharted worlds are lawless, and these people would only be victims. We take them in until we can find them passage out of the sector. But we need to be able to feed them. We need to have water, to drink, to make air. We aren't pirates, Sor Hellion, and we're not murderers. We raid because we need to, and we kill only when we must."
I wasn't sure what to think. "If you needed my help, Whiz, let's just say you've got a frakked-up approach to building allies. You can't treat people the way you treated me and then expect them to aid you. Why didn't you just say all this from the start?"
She hung her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Hellion, I truly am. I didn't know if I could trust you. We weren't expecting you - you're not the one who usually does these runs. I needed to be sure this wasn't all some elaborate trap. Most of my crew are fugitives from Keeper re-education camps. After a while, you start to suspect everyone you don't know. You know what it's like to live on the run. Don't you sometimes feel the same way?"
I was dumbfounded. We were all the descendants of refugees, of the Exodus, but I had never considered that I would have anything in common with people like this. With raiders, with smugglers... "So why do you need these drugs?" I asked her.
[Gather Information: +Wits, 2+2 vs 1 and 4. Weak Hit. +1 Momentum (+3)]
"We trade them for some of the things we need," she answered. I wasn't satisfied with that answer. I asked her "Well, then why do you stoop stealing from travelers?"
She put her hands on her hips and looked at me defiantly. "Let me answer your question with a question, Hellion. How was your trip here?" I wasn't sure where she was going with this. I thought of the balefire, the supergiant star, the apparitions... "It nearly killed me." I finally said.
"Exactly. So do you imagine we get many traders who come through here, looking to barter food for all the things our little downtrodden band can't produce? It's not profitable for honest businessfolk."
"So who do you trade the drugs to?" I asked. I couldn't imagine the other leg in this triangle between Redhaven and Nyx. She paused for a moment. "We had a regular client who would trade them for food shipments, and sometimes passage for refugees, but they missed last week's rendezvous and haven't shown up since." She shook her head and said, "I'm not comfortable telling you more. I'll give you what Breaker asked for, but I need to know that I can truly trust you before I'm able to share that answer. I need to know that you'll put your life on the line for us, because the answer to your question could get us both killed. Will you help us?"
I thought I had an answer to this problem. I knew of a way I could assist, and somehow I knew that I needed these answers. I pulled my pendant from under my collar and I held the medallion in my hand. "Whiz, I swear on Iron that I will bring you the food you need for Nyx to survive."
[Swear an Iron Vow: Bring Food to the People of Nyx, Troublesome. +Heart, 5+3 vs 4 and 6. Strong Hit, +2 Momentum (+5)]
"Thank you, Hellion. These people need our help, and this is how we pay it forward. I'll need some biometric data from you before you leave, but by the time you return, I'll have your new identity ready." She gazed at the massive gas giant above us, lost in thought. "And the answers to your questions."
[Ending Stats: Momentum +5 Health +5 Spirit +4 Supply +5 Fire: 4]