The Fire and The Storm - The Nexus of Kellaran #2

Chapter 91

Part 15

“Before we get to that, we should fill you in on some of the other major developments in The Game of

Status.” Visinniria put in.

“Three days after you entered the time-bubble, Zarkog appeared in the Hall of The Just Alliance. No

one, god or mortal, knows how he learned its location, or how he evaded all of its security measures.

He swore the oaths of The Game of Status on the Truthstone, and left before anyone could question

him.

“Four hours later, Zwak Deathbringer announced that he was no longer Prince of The Sylvan Nation,

he was now second in command in that nation and second in the standings of The Game of Status,

and that Zarkog was now Prince of The Sylvan Nation and first in the game. The fact that Zarkog is not

a Sylvan seems to be irrelevant to everyone involved. Our investigation revealed that Zarkog had done

nothing to earn the position beyond asking for it while being extremely intimidating. He’d spent a couple

of hours intimidating his way up the ranks of the top league before he did so, just to solidify his position.

“He then delegated all of his duties to Zwak, and returned to astronomy. He’s been watching the

demons as closely as possible, and has provided us with excellent observations. You might think he

could achieve no more than the gods in this regard, but the fact is that the gods are no more

intellectually creative than mortals, and we often tend to become very set in our ways and in our

thinking over the eons, and that diminishes our creativity even more. While Zarkog is proving to be a

very creative and capable astronomer indeed, and is constantly inventing new techniques, despite

being the eldest living mortal and being quite set in his own ways in many aspects of his behavior.

“Then last week, the positions of Prince of The Sylvan Nation and first in The Game of Status were

taken by one Kovink Seg Mivtz, a fourteen-year-old gnome. Zarkog and Zwak both publicly

acknowledged this change in status, and they are now second and third. Kovink also delegated all of

the administrative duties of Prince of The Sylvan Nation back to Zwak, and the new Prince immediately

returned to further increasing his status as quickly as possible, mostly in the form of increased wealth.

“It’s almost unbelievable that Zarkog and Zwak were so thoroughly bested by a fourteen-year-old-

gnome. This sequence of events was so astounding that I investigated as thoroughly as I could without

breaking the law or invading anyone’s privacy. I still don’t know how it was done specifically, but I know

generally. Little Kovink Seg Mivtz has a brilliant and evil mind, but that’s not what allowed him to gain

so much so fast. His true stroke of genius was to appeal to the racial pride of the gnomes, and to ask

them for their help in his efforts to be first in the game. In order to ensure that one of their own sits atop

the standings, almost all of the gnomes are helping him.

“By this I mean all the gnomes who are not registered players of The Game of Status, almost two billion

of them. Though they aren’t playing, they still send him every nasty idea and evil plan that they think of,

and he has a staff of hundreds to sort through all the submissions and categorize them and prioritize

them for him. They also help him in every legal manner, from gifts and contributions to low-interest Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

loans and information of every kind. Most of the other gnomes who are registered players work for him

directly, almost ninety thousand of them.

“He also has a unique perspective on the game. He has no dealings with non-players other than to

accept the help of the gnomes, but he does deal with players in the nine lower leagues of the game.

He’s never been caught doing anything illegal to them, so he’s still within the rules, but he uses his

money and power against them in every legal way. In this way he is quickly amassing everything that

was formerly owned by every other player of the game, leaving them on the edge of poverty. He then

makes sure they at least have a bed in a barracks and enough food to stay healthy, so he cannot be

charged with causing dissent in the ranks or diminishing the effectiveness of the military.

“These developments, along with the absence of yourself and Povon, have lead to an increase in the

viciousness that the rest of the players are using in their dealings. Increasingly, they are committing

crimes against each other that the mortal authorities have been unable to solve. Players have been

turning up dead in greater numbers every day, and the perpetrators have been escaping the

punishment they are due under the rules of the game; that being a beating of similar duration and

severity to what Zarkog would have given them for the same offence when he was Lord of Serminak.

“They have also taken to manipulating their standings. The players are ranked into ten leagues

according to their status and how dangerous they are, but many would rather be first in a lower league

than last in a higher one. Thus when they reach the top in any given league, they will attempt to make

no more visible gains in order to avoid being ranked up into the next higher league. Meanwhile, their

skills, abilities, and hidden assets continue to improve, making it harder for the other players in their

league to topple them. They seek to remain atop the standings in their league until they can make a

great move that vaults them to the top of the standings in the next-higher league.”

“We of the gods could have solved all of this, but we do not have the legal authority to do so.” Falgaroth

explained. “And even if those in charge of the game at present were to ask us and authorize us to do

so, we would still refrain without very strong reason. For any of the gods to assume direct authority

over any mortal would go against the spirit of the withdrawal, and of our ban on religion since the

withdrawal ended.”

“Though there are factions among us who disagree.” Visinniria added. “That doesn’t matter though,

they’re in the minority, and the council of the gods will allow no change in our policies regarding our

interactions with mortals without complete consensus among us.

“The other problem that’s presented itself is that many non-players have suffered as a result of the

actions of players. Many non-players are calling for an end to the game outside Serminak, and the idea

is gaining popularity. I’ll show the Revealing of the interview with Nepetin Goslab that was largely

responsible for popularizing the idea; over half the people in the world have seen this. She’s the

informal leader of the movement, and started the petition to support it.”

She cast a small Revealing, which showed a florid and gray-haired dwarf woman sitting in a public

square in Kletiuk at a table with huge stacks of papers on it. A long line of Kleti stood in line to sign, and

many more stood around, all of them stridently discussing the issue.

The female voice of an unseen interviewer spoke in Kleti, and was echoed half a second later by a

slightly louder translation in Trade Common. “Goodwife Goslab, can you tell us why you decided to

start this petition?”

“My damned fool husband decided to join The Game of Status, over my objections.” Nepetin Goslab

angrily declared. “It was his right to do it, and I had no right to stop him. An hour later he’d been

swindled out of our house and our business, and an hour after that he died from a heart cramp at only

seventy-nine years of age. Maybe he had the heart cramp because he lost everything we had, but I

think he was murdered somehow, not that it matters. My children and grandchildren and myself were

left homeless and penniless, and he was buried in a pauper’s grave. My relatives have helped us out,

but the loss still hurts just as much.

“The rules of the game say that they won’t kill any player with dependent children. My children are all

adults, but they and their dependant children shared our home and our business. Maybe it was my

husband’s right to join the game, but me and my children and grandchildren did nothing to deserve the

loss we’ve suffered. Those who’ve done this to us deserve at least a monumental beating for causing

dissension, because I’m feeling a lot of dissent right now! But even that won’t bring back my house and

my business, and nothing can bring back my husband!