On top of that, you’ve got internal politics—who gets control of the Dungeon World? Which faction is in charge? What kinds of benefits would each faction gain? After all, if they won’t get any benefits from those in charge, would it not be better to make a deal with those on the Dungeon Worlds already and get something from them for opposing the Dungeon World sole-government?
As I said, it’s complicated. Even when Katherine made headway, managing to get a few allies on our side—various governments, races, merchant groups and guilds—the direct opposition by the Council has driven many of them away. Suddenly, the benefits no longer outweigh the cost.
When we suggested my plan of physically dissuading voting groups, Katherine was quite adamant that it’s a horrible idea. Reqm threw his weight behind her, pointing out that any action we take on the vote will reflect badly on Earth.
The only good news Katherine had to offer is that to make a major change in the Galactic Constitution requires a significant Mana flow. It’s the equivalent of 80% of the Mana generated by the System-planets in a month, making it a big ask.
Because of the cost involved, Katherine’s actually found a number of people who are willing to vote against or abstain entirely. In some cases, only for a single vote. But a single vote of abstinence from each party is what we need now. Which is where the list and information she gave us comes into play.
As for future votes, we’ll have to get past this one before worrying about it.
In truth, the Galactic Council have tried to take away Earth’s seat before—by contesting its legitimacy in courts, its standing in the Council as a Dungeon World, and even the legitimacy of the actual vote. In the end, all of that failed, leaving the Galactic Council with this final maneuver—striking off all rights of Dungeon Worlds to hold a seat on the Council and marking them as contested territories for now and forevermore.
The stakes have never been higher, and the problem is more insurmountable than ever, it seems. Thankfully, we’ve got a few options. And once we return to our residence and emplace our defenses, we go over those options, combining the knowledge Katherine has provided us with our own research.
“This is a very long list,” Harry says. The reporter managed to make his way back halfway through the next day, adding his own findings to what we were given.
We’ve been mostly reading, taking in details of political games that we have no idea about. Even as fast as we consume information, we can only take in an overview, since there are so many players involved.
Still, the information we garner is enough for us to do our job and, when things go south, hopefully not mess it up too much by improvising.
“Katherine’s highlighted one hundred sixteen different groups that might be open to convincing,” I say in confirmation. “We’ve got less than a month to convince as many of them as we can. Maybe as little as two weeks, if Katherine can’t stall the vote further.”
“One hundred eight,” Ali corrects, flicking over the new list. “I just finished the info dump Harry brought back. If he’s right, those eight are no-gos.”
I grunt and accept the correction. One hundred sixteen or one hundred eight, it’s too many for me to tackle anyway.
“Either way, too many. We have to split this up if we have any hope of doing any good,” Mikito says.
“Just like before, triage.”
I poke the information, sorting it out by number of seats. At the same time, the spreadsheet keeps the details of what kind of needs they have pre-sorted. At least, what they’ve told Katherine what they need. Reading over the list, I can’t help but shake my head.
Title: Master Duelist (Beat a Heroic Class in a formal duel)
Title: Galactic Gourmet (Consume 2,500 different kinds of monster meat within a year)
Class: Breaker of Chains (Advanced Prestige. Must break a Master Class Binding Skill)
Class: Paen of Pain (Advanced Prestige. Receive over 1,000,000 points of damage)
Class: Inheritor of Secrets (Master Class. Be given a dozen Tier I secrets)
…
“What happened to sex, power, and money?” I mutter. “Isn’t that what most people want?”
“You want the sex ones?” Ali says, raising an eyebrow. His fingers flick and my jaw drops as he sorts the information.
“Not doing that. Or that. Maybe that…” My gaze moves down the list, making Mikito pause and look at me.
“There are some of those you’d do?” she says, sounding surprised.
“It’s just sex.” I pause. “Well, that one was just sex. If I have to, I’ll put a bag over their head.” As the group stares at me, I face their incredulous gazes and open my hands wide. “It’s my fault, people. Taking one—okay, six—for the team isn’t that bad.
“Though I might need a bath or two.” I scratch my chin and add, “Also, have you noticed how, if you’ve not had sex for a bit, it’s fine. You can deal with it. But once you get used to being… ummm… regular, then the next few months or so is rather difficult?”
Mikito blushes slightly, muttering curses under her breath at me. I grin at her, though I must admit, I’m blathering on a little to cover up my own embarrassment. Sometimes, the only way through it is to head in deep.
Harry snorts, the Brit—who, come to think of it, I know indulges with his fans and other races regularly—ignoring my segue. “Perhaps we should consider selling your body last. Many of the more carnal desires are more tentative, as Katherine has noted. People in the positions of power like that often have access to such…”
“Conveniences?” I offer.
“Dalliances?” Ali says.
“Fetishes?” Mikito supplies.
“Opportunities,” Harry says with finality. “It’s more a case of finding the right timing for them.”
“So what you’re saying is that they might not be willing to offer their vote for boy-o’s sweet, sweet body,” Ali says.
“Exactly. Whereas providing access to Titles and Classes…” Harry shrugs. “Those can be more difficult. Especially these…”
Class: Jesuit Priest
Class: Hair Metal Drummer
Class: Babalawo
Class: Micro-Expression Interrogator
Title: Neither Rain nor Shine
Title: Virtual Killer
Title: Triad Leader
…
“Restricted Classes and Titles,” I say, sighing. “I guess that’s a form of power, isn’t it?”
“Especially when it’s unexpected,” Ali says. “The System might not like to balance each Class against another, but with the variety out there, there’s always a balance to be found against another. Or an exploit.”
I nod. While most types of Skills come down to the System-equivalent of punching someone in the head until they fall, when it comes to non-Combat Classes, there’s a lot more variety. And sometimes, certain Classes and Skills just slip under the radar of other Skills.
Being the new kids on the block, we’ve got a bunch of new Classes waiting for exploits. Add in interesting Titles that might provide either prestige or stackable bonuses, and I can see these Titles being desired. Still, there’s no way to know for sure without actually gaining a Class or Title and testing it to see if they can be exploited. I’m sure the vast majority of them won’t be anything particularly new or interesting, but as any good fighter knows—it only takes one lucky shot to end a fight.
Except that’s not really true with the System. Health Points give us an unnatural level of resilience, such that even a cheap shot or one that lands perfectly cleanly won’t necessarily take out someone with high health. The tyranny of Levels can keep those below chained to the bottom.