Dead Star Dockyards

PHUNK

"Thaaaaaaat's better." Donovan rubbed the fingers of his right hand together while inspecting the bow in his hands. "I'd still prefer a bit more weight, but it feels leagues ahead of the other one. Do you mind if I keep it for the hunt?"

"By all means, sir. I am no longer capable of utilizing it." Lasse too was inspecting Donovan's handiwork. His first shot had gone way too far, probably a result of his training with the regular bow, but the second struck true. Not perfect, it struck the lower third of the target, but neatly centered below the bullseye. "I do wonder why you want a larger bow though."

"Simple. I don't feel like I'm drawing my maximum weight." Donovan nabbed another arrow from the quiver and looked it over. The other arrows, while crafted to a consistent degree of quality, felt like unrefined twigs in comparison. "Did you make these?"

"Leno, actually. He was my squire until recently, so he often handled these matters. I haven't been able to use this bow in a while, so I haven't needed to replace them."

PHUNK

"I don't know much about fletching or whatnot, but the feel a lot better than the other ones." He had over adjusted again, hitting the upper third. "The weight feels much more consistent, and they don't wobble as much."

"The size of the arrow is probably the bigger factor here, not that I disagree with your assessment. If he weren't so good with his hands you would still feel a difference."

PHUNK

"Do you think I could make one myself?" Not quite a bullseye, but close enough. "An arrow, I mean. The bow is probably beyond me at the moment."

"Certainly. We can cannibalize some of the arrowheads from the smaller arrows you used earlier, and I'm certain tonight's dinner will include a bird that needs plucking."

PHUNK

"Perfect."

- - - - -

Time was a precious commodity, of that no mistake could be made, but it could not always be spent in a meaningful manner. For example, obstacles or external schedules could make it impossible to do anything but wait. Mass transportation methods were the classic example, the need to wait for a bus or plane meant you couldn't exactly leave to do something productive, so people often brought auxiliary forms of entertainment to keep themselves occupied during this 'down time'. Updates are released by novel(ꜰ)ire.net

Unfortunately for Diana, the discomfort brought about by waiting here was not so easily resolved.

"None of it comes from chimneys . . ." She had taken up residence in the central spire of the castle, a reasonably spacious tower from which the entirety of the capital could be seen, as well as some features beyond the walls. The sparkling beacon needed no explanation.

"If the sight is so painful to you-"

"I need to burn it into my mind." Every day, hundreds to thousands of people died in this city of cities. Hundreds of thousands were dying ignoble deaths across this globe in the same span of time. Some would almost certainly be considered normal - old age or workplace accidents - however an increasing proportion were due to decay or symptoms related to decay. "I need to know what the worst situation looks like to appreciate the progress we make."

". . . thank you." Titanyana was also looking at the columns of smoke with a solemn expression. Just like Diana, she had nothing better to do. A tour this close to her coronation was ill advised, but her recent return precluded her from leaving. The Grandmasters needed to be greeted within a reasonable span of their arrival in the city, regardless of her desire to be elsewhere.

"We'll distribute the food we brought soon. A day or two won't mean much."

"I will ask Lasse to organize the rationing, so we needn't worry about that aspect." Even if he wasn't the person to do the planning, he would know who to get in contact with. Given the anticipated length of stay, there would be plenty of time for Donovan to coordinate with them and get vital information across. "Is there anything you would like to see or do here?"

"Me? I mean, what is there to do?"

"Well, none of our architecture is as impressive as yours, and we don't have the sort of historical memory that would make tours of various locations interesting, nor do we really have anything entertaining in the direct sense . . ." Titanyana was slowly talking herself out of a trip. Nothing she had to offer seemed like it would entice Diana. ". . . but we do have a few pretty places! Mountains and such, you know?"

"While a hike would probably do me some good, I don't think scaling a mountain on such short notice would be enjoyable to anyone but Donovan." She wanted to see some of the natural wonders of Nekh, if such features existed, however she wasn't in proper shape to do anything excessive. Needless to say, she would be frequenting the Pegasus' gym in the future. "What did you do to entertain yourself before?"

". . . I didn't?"

"Huh?"

"I didn't do anything of note. I might have taken a trip here or gone fishing there, but outside of training and education I didn't do much."

"Why don't we go fishing, then?"

"You . . . you would be okay with fishing?" Titanyana was stunned. "But, it gets wet, and cold! And what if you don't catch anything?"

"So what if I don't? It's called 'fishing', not 'catching' - just spending some time to talk with you and see how your people spend their free time is more than enough."

Titanyana stared blankly at Diana for a second, confused by her words. The tone of delivery served as evidence it might be some joke utilizing the English language, perhaps one of those puns she had been struggling to comprehend the humor of, however she didn't catch what the joke might be.

"Um, never mind the reason. Let's just say I would appreciate some time in nature, something I haven't been able to enjoy for a long time."

"But we can do that anywhere. Don't you want to do something unique to Nekh?"

"You mean to say fishing isn't unique here? With all the dams you've built for them?" Diana knew full well the cultural implications of such a reliance, something unlikely to be replicated elsewhere. "We can't forget the opportunity it presents either."

"Opportunity?"

"To sit next to Donovan in a cramped boat, or to have him help you with a big fish, or to drag him down into a playful romp in the water, or-"

"I get it." Titanyana really wasn't liking the topic at the moment. "I, um, I don't think our dynamic will be so innocent at that point."

"So you'll be announcing it?"

"I can't avoid it, unfortunately. It seems like everyone is obsessed with the topic, and I don't think we can justify keeping it from Donovan."

"Would you like to tell him before the meeting? Just so you do it on your own terms?"

- - - - -

The awning of the tower creaked slightly as the watcher laid down, his powers as a god unable to completely conceal the fact he had mass. This didn't mean he was powerless to stop the sound, he just chose not to. Donovan told him to announce his presence, and this was good enough . . . for now. As much as Donovan's order to watch over and protect Diana made sense, it provided an interesting spot of conflict with his other order to 'make his presence known'.

Diana was the type to engage in various sorts of private or secretive conversations frequently, such was her occupation. While it might be fine for her to be aware of a 'friendly operative' listening in on some of her interactions with rivals, neutral parties, or even friends, the dynamic wasn't as clear when she talked about Donovan's secrets or information she wanted to keep secret from him. The Watcher was, ultimately, subordinate to Donovan. If he wanted to know what Diana was up to, there wasn't much the Watcher could do to obfuscate for her without being seen as deliberately disobeying orders - and Donovan really wasn't a fan at the moment.

That being said, this observational role of his offered great opportunities to plan Donovan's development. He was already a very competent individual, however he did not have skills or experience in many of the areas the Watcher thought were necessary. Archery was the most convenient example, however the general idea of his plan was to have Donovan become an expert in many fields. Donovan needed to become a god, and the Watcher would push him towards that objective without letting him know.

Diana would need to be a god as well, and it looked like Titanyana being a god would be convenient in more ways than one, however he didn't think he would need to do much with them. Diana's field of battle being the realm of relationships put her at an extreme advantage given both her nature and the knowledge of her forefathers, while Titanyana had . . . something else going on. He didn't know what it was, but the Arboreal Maiden insisted he keep his mitts off of her and let nature run its course.

He wasn't about to worry himself over someone ancillary to his primary charges, which meant more time to focus on Donovan.

The only question left was what the focus should be. The martial nature of Donovan's path in life suggested something to do with combat, however there were very few fields which did not have a god associated with them. Granted it was possible for multiple gods to be associated with a single thing, however achieving godhood in an occupied field wasn't going to be an easy undertaking. Doing so would require an intense amount of talent, effort, and luck - none of which the Watcher could guarantee Donovan had or could sustain. He wasn't some hermit or psycho who could dedicate his life to the sword or spear, he had shit to do.

This was why the Watcher insisted on archery, aside from the functional benefits he might get from it at the academy. As far as he knew, there was no god of the bow, so achieving the level of skill required for that status would be relatively easy if a bit obtuse. His proclivity for the weapon would certainly help though. Being able to draw a heavier bow was an incredible advantage, one that flipped the paradigm into favoring ranged combat and opened up many opportunities for him to show off.

It was a stroke of fortune Donovan cared little for honor or how others perceived his fighting style, which would have been the only hiccup for most people. To fight at range was dishonorable, the reasons for which confounded the Watcher even now. Maybe it was a manifestation of their insecurity regarding powerful Sorcerers who could decimate a battlefield from a distance, or perhaps they thought it showed less skill, but either way only one in a thousand nobles would even consider archery as an acceptable form of combat and only a fraction of them would actually practice it.

"Should we consider bringing one of those rifles along?" The conversation below had shifted to the hunt again. "I think it would be a good way to demonstrate the difference in prowess between us."

"As much as I think a demonstration would be beneficial, I see this as more of a ceremonial event than an actual hunt. There will be many opportunities to display our weaponry, so I don't want to sacrifice the chance this event offers us." It was good to see Diana on the same page as he was, even if the reasons behind it differed. "As much as I would like your people to integrate into our culture, I recognize they won't do so unilaterally. Even if we change nothing in our habits, participating in and accumulating an understanding of your ways will make it easier to accept our rule."

"True as that may be, the grandmasters will look upon him poorly if he misses the shot."

"He won't miss." The confidence was welcome, if unsubstantiated. "I have complete faith that Donovan will not embarrass himself. So long as the target isn't moving, he'll land the hit."

"One week isn't a long time."

"Titanyana, he lived in a world of perpetual and chaotic motion for half of his life, I'd would even say he thrived in it. Even if had computer assistance, he's become so familiar with hitting small targets zipping around in three dimensional chaos that nailing a stationary target within a reasonable range should be child's play. He only needs to learn how the weapon behaves."

Maybe her confidence wasn't unsubstantiated after all. There was quite a bit the Watcher didn't know about Donovan, knowledge only extending to what he had overheard or directly seen. If projectiles were as natural for Donovan as Diana claimed, then perhaps becoming a god of archery would be easier. Although . . . was it really a good idea to make archery the base of his godhood?

If Donovan was going to engage in a form of ranged warfare more effective than archery on a frequent basis, why not make him the god of that? The experience gap would shorten, and he evidently had talent in the area. The only difficulty remaining would be figuring out how to make him godworthy.

It would be the backup plan. The Watcher did not have the patience or faith to rely on something he knew little of. Archery wasn't his strongest point, however he practiced it relatively frequently given the nature of the Nameless' work.